September is many splendid things and a hearty breakfast on a crisp fall morning can be a slice of heaven!
“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,” said Piglet at last, “what’s the first thing you say to yourself?”
“What’s for breakfast?” said Pooh. “What do you say, Piglet?”
“I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?” said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully. “It’s the same thing,” he said.
― A.A. Milne
To breakfast or not to breakfast. That is a question on the list of all things nutrition that changes by the minute.
Breakfast became a human norm when we all started to go “work for the man” (in this case, we mean the English Tudor King in the 16th century). As peasants went off to work the Royal fields, they needed to fuel up. One never knew when they’d get a bite to eat again that day.
Eggs were an easy staple because they were hearty with protein, filling, accessible, fresh when people woke up, and plentiful. Side note, pairing them with bacon didn’t happen until the 1920’s when the packaging company Beech-nut marketed the heck out of the union. In those days, social media came in the form of doctors. For a nice fee, over 5,000 of them signed a letter touting the benefits of such a great breakfast. Beech-nut published the letter in every newspaper they could buy.
Feel duped? Yeah. Well, to be honest, the notion that we should eat breakfast has never been properly researched in random controlled trials, so we don’t really know for sure if it is indeed the most important meal of the day.
What DO we know? In observational studies, people who eat breakfast appear healthier. The question is, which came first, the healthier part or the breakfast eating? Further, what kind of breakfast they are eating matters.
Science is working hard to try to help us get the unbiased low-down. Here are the highlights:
ONE: In the morning, our body is most insulin-sensitive, meaning it uses blood sugar most effectively. Cortisol is also at its highest because we’ve likely been fasting during sleep. If we don’t eat, cortisol can wreak havoc thinking we’re in crisis. Further, when we do finally eat, our blood sugar can skyrocket to compensate for lack of food earlier (and our pancreas gets lazy about creating insulin when we fast too long).
Thus, morning is a great time to eat fiber-filled carbs that are low on the glycemic index (less likely to spike blood sugar) and high in protein (more likely to help you feel satisfied and build your muscles into powerful furnaces of energy).
TWO: Your brain needs fuel to function. Breakfast can help you be more alert, focused, and upbeat. Obviously, if your brain is in fight or flight because it’s not getting fed, fogginess and a bad mood are just around the corner.
IN A NUTSHELL, current theory says: our stress hormones, our brain, and our blood sugar are better regulated when we eat healthy and balanced meals at regular intervals throughout the day and especially after 8-10 hours of not eating the night before.
Ok, so if eating breakfast IS important, what we eat must be equally important…
But… Raise your hand if you don’t slide into morning like Speed Racer. Anyone? Crickets.
TIPS: What follows are some QUICK, healthy breakfast tips:
Smoothies: Throw in a serving of fruit (e.g. ½ an apple or banana, ½ cup mango, ½ cup berries), a serving of a veggie (e.g. ½ cup spinach, a ¼ cup carrots, beets, celery or cucumber), a healthy fat (avocado, nuts, nut butters, flax seeds, other oils), and a protein (protein powder, Greek yogurt, sunflower seeds, pepitas); blend and drink on the go. You can also add in lots of powders from the health food sections of the store (mushrooms, greens, etc.).
Yogurt Bowls: Try 1 cup of Greek yogurt (2%), 1 ounce sliced or chopped almonds, ½ cup raspberries which equals 30 grams of Protein! (362 calories: 19g Fat, 22g Carbs, 13g Sugar, 7g Fiber)
Overnight Oats: Toss some oats into a mason jar with any milk you like, some berries, spices like vanilla (or pumpkin spice blend), maybe a little honey or maple syrup and let it sit overnight to soften. In general, use a 1-2 ratio of oats to liquid. OR, cook up some hot oats in the morning and stir in protein powder, nut butter, and a smidge of maple syrup. Sprinkle walnuts on top. It only takes 10-15 mins.
Omelets: Eggs are still a great source of protein along with organic (and humanely raised) meats. Try 1 egg, 2 egg whites, 2 ounces of chicken sausage (organic), 1 ounce goat cheese, ½ cup spinach, which equals 29g of Protein! (276 calories: 16g Fat, 5g Carbs, 2g Sugar, 1g Fiber)
Make Ahead: Oats, casseroles, egg cups, healthy muffins, energy bars and bites, granolas, etc., are all yummy breakfasts you can make over the weekend to have as grab-and-go foods for the week. Planning is everything when it comes to a busy life, of course.
Make Ahead Healthy Waffles: Dash of sea salt; 1 cup pumpkin puree; 3 tablespoons virgin coconut oil melted and cooled slightly; plus more for the waffle iron; 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract; 6 large eggs, beaten; 6 tablespoons coconut flour; 1 teaspoon cream of tartar; ½ teaspoon baking soda.
Whisk the pumpkin, coconut oil, vanilla and eggs in a medium bowl until completely combined. Vigorously whisk in the coconut flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and ¼ teaspoon salt until no lumps remain of dry flour. Add in some berries. Cook on a waffle iron about 6 minutes. Add more berries on top.
Last Resort Packaged Foods: If you do end up popping into a convenience store last minute, look for energy bars that are low in sugar — ideally less than 7 grams of added sugar.
Type in “Quick, healthy breakfasts” to a search engine and you’ll get hundreds of ideas. Here are some links to sources we trust:
— Six Tips for Better Breakfasts from The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: https://www.eatright.org/food/planning-and-prep/snack-and-meal-ideas/6-tips-for-better-breakfasts
— Five On-The-Go Ideas from the Cleveland Clinic: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/5-on-the-go-hearty-heart-healthy-breakfast-ideas/
— 15 Tips from Eat This, Not That: https://www.eatthis.com/best-healthy-breakfast-tips/
Cheers to a happy, healthy start to your day.
See you in October, on the PATH Ahead.
The VEHI PATH Team