Breakfast is one of those subjects in nutrition world, where you hear lots of different opinions! Some say, you’d better start your day with only a fruit for maximum energy, some say you must have a protein and healthy fat rich one, some say just have a green juice or smoothie and stay liquid until lunch time! The main reason for different opinions is something called Bio Individuality, meaning, everybody has their own metabolic character and there is no single solution that works for all. You’d have to test, try and discover the best healthy breakfast for yourself. There is a a lot of research and proof behind the fact that a strong breakfast would sustain your energy for a long time and avoid insulin’s ups and downs. It is also great to start a day with powerful nutrients for maximum energy and performance.
Fasting
However, another view, especially on the intermittent fasting plan side, is to keep your meals between 12:00-18:00pm so that this upregulates the enzymes that are designed to burn fat as a fuel, and down regulates the glucose enzymes. Maybe you can start this kind of plan by starting your day with a green juice, again for better energy and digestion and eventually fat burning due to 18hours of fasting. I do both ways depending on my mood, needs and conditions of my life at the moment. If I do juice or other detoxes, I just have a green juice or smoothie, if not I enjoy a strong, big breakfast or sometimes a smaller one! I am coming from a very rich and nourishing breakfast culture and usually enjoy a big one! Here is what some experts eat as breakfast, all very different!
I wanted to share with you my favourite healthy breakfast options. You can also find some recipes of porridge, homemade muesli and omelettes in my blog, so are you ready?
My Favourite Healthy Breakfast Ideas!
- For detoxing days, a smoothie is a highly rich protein and health fat content option, that keeps you full until lunch time easily! I also do a simpler version with homemade almond milk by soaking a cup of almonds over night, and then after draining it, mixing it with 2.5 cups of water, frozen berries, 2 dried dates, cinnamon and some seeds like chia. This would make approximately a later of smoothie which you can use for afternoon snack as well.
- For green juice detox days, my favourite is a green juice like this, mainly 1 apple, 1 lemon, spinach, cucumber, ginger, celery, orange or pear, mint!
- For other days, here is the logic that my nutrition school, Institute of Integrative Nutrition suggests ( a version of My Plate in USA):
- When you look at this plate, you should be having half of it as fruits and vegetables, about 1/4 protein and 1/4 complex carbohydrates-whole grains. Healthy fats are also an integral part of it.
- Water is best if you have it first thing in the morning, about 30-60min before breakfast, a glass of warm water with half lemon juice will help your metabolism to start easy and nice!
Guideline & Healthy Ingredients
So you can mix and match these different options and make delicious omelettes with spinach, porridge or homemade muesli with nut milks, yogurt with seeds, salad with avocado….endless options! Some creativity for breakfast is good! Just pick them one by one, try and see how you feel afterwards. It should take you until lunch time and usually better not snack in between to keep insulin levels under control. Homemade almond milk with nuts, seeds, berries for me or yogurt with them, for my husband, all good depending on your choice!
- Protein of your choice: Fresh Cheese like cottage or mozzarella, egg, yogurt/kefir, or vegan sources like Flax/chia/hemp seeds, Nuts
- Whole grains: whole wheat bread, whole oats, etc
- Fruits: Dried figs, dates, apricot, goji berries or berries
- Healthy Fats: Avocado, Nuts, Seeds, Olives
- Veggies: Mini salad of Cucumbers-tomatoes-peppers-fresh parsley-mint
