12 Healthy Breakfast Ideas - Paula Owens, MS Holistic & Clinical Nutrition

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12 Healthy Breakfast Ideas

12 Healthy Breakfast IdeasHealthy breakfast ideas that are guaranteed to start your morning off right to ensure that you feel more balanced, energized and sustained throughout your day.

A nutrient-dense, real food healthy breakfast will encourage greater weight loss, reduce afternoon cravings, boost your metabolism, fuel your brain, stabilize your mood, fight fatigue, stabilize blood sugar and increase energy! Plus, they’re delicious!!! Even the kids will love these 12 healthy breakfast ideas.

Are you tempted to skip breakfast because you’re not really that hungry in the morning or you’re in too much of a hurry? Or, perhaps you’re like many Americans, grabbing a bagel and a cup of coffee as you run out the door. If this sounds like you, keep reading.

Skipping breakfast is a guaranteed recipe to an increased appetite later in the day, weight loss resistance, obesity, fatigue, afternoon caffeine and sugar cravings, cardiovascular problems, and self-induced type 2 diabetes. Meal timing is a potent synchronizer for the circadian clock.

Skipping breakfast has been shown to be associated with weight gain and other adverse health outcomes, including insulin resistance and an increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes. In addition, in individuals with type 2 diabetes, the omission of breakfast is associated with a significant increase in HbA1c and all-day postprandial hyperglycemia (PPHG) even without overeating in the evening.

Katherine Tucker, PhD, Professor of Nutrition at Tufts University says, “When you skip breakfast, you miss out on vital nutrients that promote peak cognition.” Nowadays many kids skip breakfast or if they do eat breakfast it’s void of nutrients and they end up suffering from attention disorders, fatigue and low performance scores on tests.

Children aren’t the only victims of skipping breakfast. Men and women alike fall prey to this habit as well. Research has shown that approximately 60% of teens regularly skip breakfast.

A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that when women missed breakfast they consumed more food the remainder of the day and their cholesterol and insulin levels were negatively affected with a decrease in HDL, an increase in LDL, and elevated glucose, A1c and insulin levels.

Another study from the University of Massachusetts Medical School found that those who skipped breakfast were 450% more likely to be obese than individuals who ate a healthy breakfast.

Skipping breakfast affects your blood glucose levels. When blood glucose levels are low (for example, from skipping breakfast) or when the body has impaired use of glucose (as in diabetes, pre-diabetes and insulin resistance), willpower is impaired. Numerous studies confirm that low blood glucose levels and poor glucose use are associated with lack of self-control and emotional and behavioral problems.

Consuming protein at breakfast within an hour of waking has a significant role in preventing self-destruction or deregulated autophagy in trichology (hair and scalp problems) and cosmetic dermatology, and may prevent various autoimmune, inflammatory, and metabolic diseases. [Indian Dermatol Online J 2019;10:115-24]

A significant number of subjects (68.4%) were consuming less than half of the recommended daily allowance of protein and faced problems like hair loss, acne, pigmentation, vitiligo, hirsutism, melasma, and premature aging. Those who skipped breakfast were found to have hypothyroidism, diffuse hair fall (hair loss), autoimmune disorders like vitiligo, lichen planus, and alopecia areata.

Now that we’ve confirmed that skipping breakfast isn’t the smartest idea, what you eat for breakfast is just as important.

What you choose to eat first thing in the morning will reflect how you feel. function and think the remainder of the day, your energy levels, mood, and your cravings and appetite later in the day.

Consuming a bagel with a sugar-sweetened coffee drink or sugar in a box (cereal) with low-fat or non-fat milk (more sugar) are some of the worst choices for your morning meal. Although cereal or the coffee/bagel option may be convenient, the high-glycemic load of a bagel or cereal, low-fat or non-fat milk with a banana and juice causes a blood sugar roller coaster and is a hormonal disaster activating an aggressive insulin response – the perfect blend if you want to get fatter, crash in the afternoon, feel like crap or end up with diabetes. A study in the journal Advances in Nutrition reports that consuming sugary beverages such as orange juice with your meal reduces fat oxidation.

Go ahead and enjoy your morning cup of coffee. Just make sure it’s organic since coffee is highly sprayed with pesticides.

The majority of boxed cereals are a combination of insulin-spiking processed grains, fructose, sugar, artificial colors, soy, GMOs, trans fats, toxic heavy metals, chemicals, BHT, mold, fungicides, pesticides and sprinkled with synthetic vitamins. And, the pasteurized milk you pour on cereal is mostly sugar-water because the nutrients are killed off during the pasteurization process so what you end up with is a nutritionally-void, insulin-spiking meal where your blood sugar increases rapidly followed by a sharp drop in your energy level a couple hours later. No wonder you crave that afternoon coffee and reach for gummy bears or some other sugary snack.

A study from the Environmental Working Group (EWG) reviewed 84 brands of breakfast cereals marketed for kids. Guess what they found? Two thirds of the reviewed cereals contained more added sugar by weight than the government recommends.  Kellogg’s Honey Smacks contain more than 50% added sugar by weight with 4 teaspoons of sugar in a 3/4 cup serving.

The Solution. Fuel your brain and body with a nutrient-dense real food breakfast that includes approximately 20-40 grams of organic protein. Protein and fat prevent blood sugar fluctuations, boost metabolism, increase energy, fuel your brain, nix afternoon cravings, and improves glycemic control in type 2 diabetics. In fact, the first 40 grams of protein you eat every day goes to rebuild your immune system. If you are not rebuilding your immune system, you’ll have a hard time rebuilding your brain chemistry to be happy and think straight.

Protein initiates thermogenesis (energy production through heat/fat burning) and is rich in amino acids, which help balance brain chemistry by boosting the levels of mood regulating neurotransmitters (chemical messengers in the brain).

Protein-packed foods like organic grass-fed, pasture-raised and free-range meats, pastured eggs, grass-fed whey protein or non-GMO pea protein, wild fish and seafood provide amino acids that produce nerve hormones aka neurotransmitters. Eating a protein-rich healthy breakfast will reduce carbohydrate binges and sugar cravings later in the day, optimize cognitive function, elevate your mood, boost metabolism, prevent afternoon energy crashes, eat less later in the day and you’ll lose weight!

Numerous studies have found that diets with higher protein quality lead to better compliance and success for losing weight and more importantly keeping it off.

Add a handful of nuts or seeds to your breakfast (if you’re not allergic). A study in the Nutrition and Metabolism journal reported that eating nuts at breakfast stabilize blood sugar and induce feelings of satiety versus a high-glycemic breakfast of juice and toast.

Below are some delicious, nutrient-dense, protein-packed healthy breakfast options that will increase energy, fuel your brain, boost your metabolism, performance, and start your day off right. Remember, there is no rule that says you must eat the typical American breakfast foods for breakfast. Below you’ll find some of my favorite healthy breakfast ideas. I hope you enjoy them too!

12 Healthy Breakfast Ideas

Fuel your Brain, Balance Your Hormones, Increase Energy & Lose More Weight!

Upon rising and before breakfast, enjoy 8-12 ounces of water with the juice from a fresh lemon or lime. Add a pinch of unprocessed Celtic sea salt.

12 Nutrient-dense Healthy Breakfast Idea

1. Avocado-Grapefruit-Mint salad. One avocado (sliced), one grapefruit, Celtic sea salt, sliced red onion and fresh mint for a healthy refreshing salad.

2. Organic, pasture-raised eggs cooked over-easy in grass-fed ghee, sautéed mushrooms and your favorite leafy green such as spinach, mustard greens or collard greens. Serve with sliced avocado and a small bowl of blueberries

3. Green Smoothie: Blend dandelion greens, parsley, cucumber, fresh fennel, a small pear, fresh ginger root, turmeric root, avocado, and the juice from a lime in a Vitamix (with water and ice) for a high-fiber, nutrient-dense smoothie. Blend in 20-30 grams of your favorite organic protein powder or collagen peptides.

4. Gluten-free, grain-free cereal. In a bowl, add 1 cup of grass-fed, pasture-raised full fat yogurt, goat yogurt or sheep yogurt. Stir in 1/4 cup unsweetened, organic coconut flakes, 2 tablespoons ground organic flax seed or chia seeds, 1/4 cup walnuts, sprinkle of cinnamon, 1/2 cup organic raspberries or blueberries, and 1 scoop vanilla Vital Whey protein (optional) or collagen peptides.

5. Quinoa Amaranth porridge. Soak the quinoa and amaranth overnight, rinse and cook in the morning. Add coconut oil or pastured butter, cinnamon, pecans or walnuts, and a handful of organic blueberries.

6. Hawaiian delight. Grass-fed organic, full-fat cottage cheese (or goat yogurt, sheep yogurt or organic grass-fed full fat yogurt), 1/2 cup fresh organic pineapple, handful of macadamia nuts, and a sprinkle of Ceylon cinnamon.

7. Gluten-free, Grain-free coconut pancakes.

  • 4 whole organic, pastured eggs
  • 1/4 – 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp. Ceylon cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp. raw honey
  • 1/4 cup organic coconut cream (carrageenan-free)

Mix the ingredients and let it sit for 5 minutes. Add a small amount of coconut oil or grass-fed ghee to your pan and heat over medium heat. Pour about a 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Allow to brown before flipping.

Enjoy these pancakes with your favorite berries or wrap up some eggs or your favorite chicken or turkey sausage for a healthy breakfast burrito.

8. Here’s a homemade breakfast that’s loaded with enzymes, healthy fats, antioxidants, plant-based protein and fiber that gives life!  Watch this video for a great breakfast alternative to try.

9. Chicken Apple Walnut Goodness: sauté one chopped apple, sliced chicken apple sausage, and walnuts in coconut oil or grass-fed ghee. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

10. Burger Breakfast. Bison burger, turkey burger or beef burger wrapped in Swiss chard, a paleo wrap or a warm cassava coconut flour tortilla drizzled with salsa, slice of avocado, and one fresh kiwi or one cup of your favorite berries

11. Sriracha Jalapeno or Apple Chicken Sausage and Veggie Stir-Fry. Stir-fry the following: chopped sausage, onions, spinach, asparagus, and mushrooms. Season with Celtic sea salt and pepper.

12. Keto coffee: Blend 16 ounces of freshly brewed organic coffee, one teaspoon of MCT oil, and one scoop grass-fed collagen power in a high-powered blender. Enjoy after eating breakfast.

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