FOOD & NUTRITION
The Ultimate Guide to Breakfast
September 6, 2018
Challenge yourself to make one change in your life this month to better your health. Where to start? Begin at the beginning—with a healthy breakfast and quick breakfast recipes that will energize your entire day.
Making healthy lifestyle changes is not always easy if you’ve been used to doing something else for a long time. But making small changes is one of the best ways to start revamping your routine and successfully meeting your health goals. Switching up your breakfast is one of the easiest changes you can make, but it has a huge impact. A healthy breakfast can can help you lose weight, increase energy, and decrease cravings.
If you’re currently skipping breakfast or not having a healthy breakfast, take one month to improve this meal to see what effect it has on you. Find out the benefits of a better breakfast and get easy, nutritious recipes and breakfast ideas for a busy lifestyle.
Why a low carb breakfast is the way to go
When you think of breakfast, you probably think of “typical” breakfast foods like cereal, bagels, muffins, toast, oatmeal, and orange juice. But these sugar and carb laden breakfast foods are missing key nutrients, such as protein and healthy fat.
Sugar and carbs might temporarily give you an energy boost, because they quickly spike your blood sugar, but they also lead your blood sugar to quickly crash. As your body rides this blood sugar roller coaster, you’re more likely to have sugar and carb cravings later in the day.
Every time your blood sugar dips, the sugar and/or carb cravings will become strong as your body searches for a quick energy hit.
Studies find that keeping your biggest carbohydrate intake to dinner can reduce hunger levels, lower inflammation , and support weight loss , so low carb breakfasts are great if you’re trying to lose or maintain weight.
They’re also good if you usually wake up still feeling tired and groggy, because it’s likely that your cortisol is low in the morning when it should be at its peak. A low carb breakfast increases cortisol levels, which can help you feel more energized in the morning.
The perfect healthy breakfast
A healthy breakfast has protein, healthy fat and fiber . This combination of nutrients will satiate you, keep your blood sugar smooth and steady, and help to eliminate cravings later in the day.
Protein
A high protein breakfast will boost your metabolism, give you energy, and help you stay fuller, longer. Research shows that a breakfast with 35 grams of protein stabilizes blood sugar, prevents body fat gain, and increases satiety. Additionally, a high protein breakfast helped to reduce night time snacking, found research in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition .
Fat
Including healthy fats such as nuts and nut butter, high quality oils (avocado oil, extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil) and pasture raised ghee helps to provide energy and keep your blood sugar more stable, which results in metabolic benefit and weight loss.
Fiber
On average, U.S. adults eat less than ½ the daily recommended fiber intake, which is 25-30 grams a day. To put this in perspective, the average hunter-gatherer (our early ancestors), who of course didn’t eat any process food, ate somewhere between 80-100 grams of fiber a day. Dietary fiber intake can reduce one’s risk of developing heart disease, improve digestion, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and improve insulin and blood sugar levels. Some of our favorite fiber boosts are ground flaxseed, chia seeds, psyllium husk and acacia fiber.
3 easy breakfast recipes
Avocado and greens smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 serving Vanilla Rebuild Protein Powder
- 1-2 handfuls of organic baby spinach
- ½ of an avocado
- 1 ½ cups of unsweetened almond, coconut milk or water
- 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
Directions
Place all ingredients in blender. Blend on high for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Cauliberry smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 serving Vanilla Rebuild Protein Powder
- ½ cup frozen organic blueberries
- ½ cup frozen organic cauliflower rice
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 cup of unsweetened almond or coconut milk
Directions
Place all ingredients in blender. Blend on high for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
On-the-go eggs and avo
Ingredients
- 2 hard boiled eggs
- ½ an avocado
Directions
Grab some sea salt, pepper, a fork and knife, and maybe some hot sauce and enjoy.
Final thoughts on a healthy breakfast
Trying to overhaul your entire diet all at once can be daunting, but by focusing on one meal at a time—breakfast is an easy and profound place to start—you’ll be well on your way. Want more breakfast ideas? Check out a few more of our favorite recipes:
Jackie is the Director of Coaching Services at Parsley Health. She has over eight years of health coaching experience, both in person and virtually, in functional medicine settings. Before joining Parsley Health she worked for Dr. Frank Lipman in his NYC practice. She holds a Health Coaching Certification from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition as well as additional training from the School of Applied Functional Medicine.
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