“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day” so the saying goes. Personally I don’t believe that’s true. Everything you eat is important.
But it is true that breakfast is often the healthiest meal of the day.
Why? It’s all down to habits.
A habit is something our “habit brain” does without thinking about it. It’s efficient, gets the job done. It’s a fabulous way to lead a healthy life. Simply build healthy habits and you’ll be doing it all on autopilot. Healthy living doesn’t have to be difficult. Check out Dr. Orlena’s podcast on “how to make healthy living easy”.
The problem with habits is that our brains don’t care whether it’s a “healthy habit” or a “not so healthy habit”. But clearly our bodies do.
Why is breakfast often the healthiest meal of the day?
Breakfast is often a “habit” meal. Most people have a strong morning routine. Which includes a regular breakfast. Simple and easy. We do the same thing every day on repeat.
As we go through the day, we make more “food decisions”. When we’re tired and stressed we often don’t pick the healthiest foods. We’re more likely to go for easy, convenient and the “treat factor”.
So if you can nail the “healthy breakfast habit”, you’ll stand yourself in good stead. It’s easy to get into a groove and an easy way to fuel your body with delicious and nutritious foods.
Let’s start by “what’s not a great healthy breakfast”.
What I call “white floury carbs”. In short, anything that comes out of a package. Many breakfast cereals market themselves as “healthy” when really they’re considerably processed.
They often contain sugar (check the ingredients label and beware there are many ways to say “sugar” without using the word “sugar”.) Even if they don’t contain sugar, they have often been processed.
Why is that important? Aren’t we always told to eat whole grains?
Think of an ear of wheat. (You can buy it as “spelt”.) It has a fibrous husk around the outside and flour in the middle. The processing method may take away that husk. That husk is good fibre for us. Our gut biome (those friendly microscopic things that help keep us healthy.) feed on that fibre. Taking away the husk isn’t great.
Even if the husk stays in the cereal, it’s been whizzed up. When you eat the grain whole, your body has to digest it and break down the husk before it gets to the energy in the flour. When it’s been whizzed up for you, your body doesn’t need to do so much work. Your blood glucose level will spike more quickly.
How Can You Make Breakfast Healthy and Quick?
– Find a recipe or a few recipes that work for you and your family.
– Get into a routine.
– Be brave and ditch the packages. (If not, go for whole-grain cereal that include the husk.)
– Get the kids involved. Overnight oats is a really easy thing for kids to make.
– Add fruit, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Yes, vegetables! There’s no reason you can’t eat vegetables for breakfast!
– Go for whole grains such as spelt, barley, whole oats, quinoa (not really a grain but it’s easy to prepare.)
Remember to Make it Work for Your Family
I love spelt and would eat it every day. Except I have kids. They won’t touch it. As a happy compromise, we eat oats during the week in the form of “porridge” or “oatmeal”. Rolled oats are halfway between “processed into flour” and “whole grain”.
We add fruit. I have 2 portions of fruit. Plus nuts, seeds, and “delicious goodies”. (Typically sunflower seeds, linseed (aka flaxseed), pumpkin seeds, soaked raw peanuts, and shredded coconut.) No added sugar but super delicious and sweet thanks to the fruit.
This is our family habit. It’s normal life for us. Easy, routine, and delicious.
Sugar-Free Oatmeal Recipe
If you would like to find more sugar-free oatmeal variations, check out these 10 healthy oatmeal toppings.
This makes 1 serving. Double, triple, or quadruple this recipe to make enough for your family.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats, rolled oats, or whole grain oats (not quick oats)
- 1 cup of water or milk (or milk substitute)
- 2 portions of fruit (a portion is 1 piece of fruit such as an apple, peach, or banana or 1/2 cup of berries.)
- 1 tablespoon seeds or shredded coconut
Directions:
- Add the oats to a pan. Stir in the water.
- Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat.
- Spoon the oatmeal into a bowl. Stir in diced fruit, berries, and any other desired toppings.
My kids don’t think of themselves as “healthy eaters” but I know they have a healthy breakfast habit that they’ll carry forward into their adult lives. Sign up here to receive a list of fiber-rich foods to help you (and your family) eat 30 grams of fiber a day.
Printable Recipe for Sugar-Free Oatmeal
Sugar-Free Oatmeal Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats rolled oats, or whole grain oats (not quick oats)
- 1 cup of water or milk or milk substitute
- 2 portions of fruit a portion is 1 piece of fruit such as an apple, peach, or banana or 1/2 cup of berries.
- 1 tablespoon seeds or shredded coconut
Instructions
- Add the oats to a pan. Stir in the water.
- Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat.
- Spoon the oatmeal into a bowl. Stir in diced fruit, berries, and any other desired toppings.
Dr. Orlena trained as a pediatric doctor and now works as a health coach. She teaches busy mums how to create healthy habits they love so they can lead a healthy life, feel amazing and be confident knowing their kids are growing up with healthy habits. She hosts a weekly podcast “Fit and Fabulous at 40 and Beyond” to inspire you to enjoy your healthiest and fittest life.
Judee says
I agree that a habit makes things much easier. I too eat oatmeal every morning for hopefully good health but I add some flax seeds and turmeric to mine. I love the idea of overnight oats..