START THE DAY ...

Eight ideas for better breakfasts

Toast with a bit of Marmite isn’t the worst thing you could eat for breakfast, but you could do a lot better. Stumped for ideas on how to create a nutritiously well-rounded breakfast that actually tastes good? Here are eight ideas, none of them containing expensive so-called superfoods.

1. Best for staying full, and promoting all-round health

Hundreds of studies prove the benefits of oats, the satiating low GI carbohydrate food that keeps you fuller for longer. Oats help control blood pressure, regulate insulin response, promote weight loss, reduce inflammation and they’re full of fibre for regular bowel movements.

To make them healthier, cook them up and add high-protein and good fat items. A single egg and some chives on top of cooked oats, for example, will add essential Vitamins A, B2, B5, B12, and C into your breakfast, plus folate, phosphorus, and selenium.

2. Best for the sweet tooth

Keep those oats handy if you like a sweet brekkie, too. One-third of a cup of oats and 100ml of milk will give you nine grams of protein plus a satiating 32 grams of high-quality carbohydrates, for all-day energy. Stir in a heaped spoon of peanut butter for an additional five grams of protein and seven grams of healthy fats, and sprinkle some vanilla bean flakes or cinnamon on top. What you’ll have is a sweet but nutritious breakfast, without any nutritionallydevoid sugar. Scientists now agree that eggs are great for human heath – a three-egg omelette or scramble has eight grams of protein.

3. Best for pre-exercise

Morning exercise on a full stomach is an uncomfortable experience. The best ‘‘breakfast’’ you can have before hitting the gym or going out for a run is actually black coffee. Without the milk it won’t make you feel like your insides are curdling, but the caffeine will increase your metabolism and performance for a more effective workout. Just make sure you follow up your cup with a proper breakfast as soon as you’re done sweating.

4. Best for your muscles

If you were around in the 1970s you might be still wary of eggs – now debunked science once told us they increased bad cholesterol in the body. Now scientists uniformly agree eggs are great for human heath, eating them any way is the best way to feed your muscles (and actually improving good cholesterol levels).

A three-egg omelette or scramble has a whopping 18 grams of protein, while the addition of a slice of wholegrain bread will add another four grams – making this breakfast as beneficial for muscle maintenance as a whole chicken breast.

5. Best for sensitive stomachs

As brilliant as oats are, their high-fibre content proves too much for some people, resulting in bowel movements that are a little ‘‘too regular’’. An alternative? Make either sweet or savory porridge using brown rice flakes. They only pack half as much protein as oats, but contain the same amount of filling carbs, and also have a good amount of manganese, selenium and the same anti-oxidant volumes as ‘‘superfoods’’ such as berries.

6. Best for boosting brain activity

Omega-3 fatty acids, which make your brain cells communicate better with each other, are found in abundance in salmon. However, the typical cream cheese and salmon bagel will leave you with a highly refined, very high calorie breakfast.

Instead, put a good helping of salmon on wholegrain bread or into an omelette. It’ll protect the brain’s neurons from injury, reduce cerebral inflammation, and produce the neurotransmitters that allow for quicker transfer of information between different parts of your brain.

7. Best for toast lovers

Old habits die hard, and some people can’t wake up without having their toast. Jam or honey taste great, but both are very high in sugar. Replace them with an alternative spread – like, avocado, cottage cheese, or almond butter – all of which add protein and healthy fats to an otherwise carb-heavy breakfast.

8. Best for people who don’t like eating in the morning

While we all know breakfast sets us up for healthy eating for the rest of the day, some people don’t feel like eating when they wake up. If you can’t stomach food for breakfast, make your own meal replacement drink. Don’t chock a smoothie full of only fruit – you’ll end up with something more sugary in fructose than anything else. Instead, blend protein-laden whey or pea powder with one or two pieces of fruit, milk or a milk alternative, and some nuts/seeds of your choice.

Lee Suckling has a masters degree specialising in personal health reporting. Do you have a health topic you’d like Lee to investigate? Send us an email to life.style@fairfaxmedia.co.nz with Dear Lee in the subject line.

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