You don't need to Sugar-Rush your Breakfast
Breakfast is fundamental to kick-starting your metabolism and setting you up for the day; and making your own delicious breakfast won’t waste your time but power you through the morning. I believe no matter how busy life can get, one can always make time to have a nutritious breakfast. If you have time to make a coffee, or brew a cup of tea, you definitely have time to grab something out of the fridge that you have prepared the night before and can eat with ease on your commute, or while still in the kitchen before leaving for work.
So many of us are lured into buying quick-fix on-the-go breakfast bars and biscuits. Although these products are laden with claims to how energy boosting, high-fiber and generally beneficial they are, in fact they contain vast quantities of unnecessary refined and processed sugars.
Yesterday I read the following article in the Telegraph on this exact subject: www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/06/18/breakfast-biscuits-contain-unhealthy-levels-of-sugar-nutritionis/ As the Nutritionist interviewed stresses, people must choose their breakfast wisely and not be ‘misled into buying products that are convenient but not entirely healthy.’
Now, of course, there is no need to quit sugar completely – processed sugar in moderation isn’t detrimental, providing that you have a balanced diet and a healthy and active lifestyle; but opting for non-refined sugars (i.e. those found in fresh or dried fruit, or low GI sugars such as those in coconut sugar) is always going to be a better solution to satisfy a craving.
Endless articles will tell you how refined sugar is devoid of nutrients and horrifically damaging when consumed in excess; but even if this weren’t true, loading up on sugar first thing in the morning is also extremely impractical. Sugar enters our bloodstream so rapidly that our bodies don’t have time to process it properly, creating an energy boost which can’t be sustained, and therefore causing us to start feeling ravenous mid-morning, making us eat more that we probably need to.
Thus it’s fundamental that we don’t gorge on unnecessary sugary foods when there are so many delicious and nourishing – and quick and easy – alternatives to bought breakfast biscuits and cereal bars. ‘But what if I don’t have time??’ I hear you cry. All you need is 5 (max. 10) minutes either the night before or in the morning to throw together a healthy, hearty and sustaining breakfast.
If you wish you had time to sit down and savour a bowl of porridge, Overnight Oats provide a great potable solution. You only need to dedicate 5 minutes the night before to prepare them, and they’ll be ready and waiting for you when you wake up in the morning. Check out this easily adaptable basic recipe: www.cookfirst.co.uk/overnight-oats/
Soaking oats for a few hours also makes them easy for our guts to digest and these minimal sugar complex carbohydrates will keep you feeling fuller and satisfied for longer. And soaking dried or fresh fruits will also provide sweetness without having to use any refined sugar.
Smoothies are the ultimate lazy breakfast. These can easily be prepped the night before. Just throw all the ingredients together (except the liquid which you add in the morning) and blend away first thing when you wake up. Enjoy experimenting with fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, oats and more: www.cookfirst.co.uk/smoothies
And if you have time on the weekends, you could always make healthy banana breads, or raw bites, or breakfast muffins (sweet or savory), which can keep in the fridge and gradually work through during the week. Have a browse of the snacks and puddings sections for healthy sweet breakfast ideas: www.cookfirst.co.uk/samplerecipes/
Above all, we should feel confident that what we are putting in our bodies is nourishing our brains and frames; and creating delicious and nutritious breakfasts makes a wonderful start.
