Start your day off right. Don't skip breakfast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
These sayings have been around for generations, but have you ever not felt hungry for breakfast? Have you ever felt tired after eating breakfast despite sleeping well the night before? Have you been unsure what constitutes a healthy breakfast?
You are definitely not alone, and I think it's time to rethink breakfast.
Over the years, results from research have sent mixed messages. A good example is the egg debate. Are they healthy or not? It seems the studies flip flop the answer quicker than a sunny side up egg on the flat top at a diner.
Turning to East Asian dietary thought, there are some guidelines that are simple to follow and ultimately support our health.
1. Eat breakfast between 7:00 am and 9:00 am - The Chinese medicine body clock is an excellent tool that illustrates certain energy patterns tied to specific organs during specific times of the day. The stomach functions best between 7:00 am and 9:00 am. What you eat is Qi for the body, and fueling the body sometime between 7:00 am and 9:00 am allows the stomach to function optimally by breaking down the food into Qi that can then be distributed throughout the body.
2. Skip breakfast if you're not hungry - I know....that statement seems counterintuitive to what I just shared. Sometimes the digestive system needs a break, especially if it's been subjected to overeating and stress. On days like this, try eating two meals in one day and make the first meal a bit larger. By doing this you should still get enough calories and nutrients to support your body.
3. Eat warm leftovers - What I really want to say is don't eat the typical breakfast foods. In general, many of these foods can cause energy spikes and dips, bloating and hunger before lunchtime. Also, it's important to eat warm food in the morning to support your Yang energy, which builds first thing in the morning. Below are a few suggested breakfast options, many of which I'll make for dinner so that it's easy to heat them up in the morning.
Sauteed vegetables and chickpeas in a turmeric coconut milk sauce with brown rice - I like sauteing onions, pepper and shredded kale but I've also added carrots, mushrooms, squash and broccoli. Once they're softened I add a few cloves of chopped garlic and a can of chickpeas (drained well) and cook until they're slightly browned. I then add a can of coconut milk (sometimes I'll use coconut cream if I really want to indulge) and a heaping tablespoon on turmeric. I cook until thick (anywhere between 10 minutes and 30 minutes depending on how much water is in the vegetables). A few large spoonfuls of the vegetables and chickpeas over rice is one of my favorite things to eat. Sometimes I'll use lentils instead of chickpeas to switch it up.
Butternut squash soup - My recipe is super simple. In a large pot I saute an onion until it's brown. I add chopped butternut squash and cook until softened. I add a box of low sodium vegetable broth and let simmer for about 45 minutes. Then I blend it until it's smooth. A variation suggested to me by a patient....roast chopped butternut squash, a chopped onion and 4-5 red bell peppers until cooked. Put in a blender with chicken stock. It's simple and tastes divine!
Vegetable bean soup - I hardly ever eat pork products for various reasons, but this soup is my one exception. In a large pot, saute 8 ounces of pancetta (it gives the soup a richness that I haven't been able to replicate with anything else). Cook through. Add chopped carrots (2 large), a chopped onion and chopped celery (2 stalks) and cook until softened. Add a can of drained great northern beans and a can of drained red kidney beans. Add a can of San Marzano tomatoes. Add 4-6 cups of vegetable stock and a bay leaf and simmer for 45 minutes.
Rolled oats with diced apple, peanut butter and cinnamon - You can use steel-cut oats but rolled oats have nearly the same nutrition and cook so much faster. Boil 1 cup water. Add 1/2 cup of rolled oats and about 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Lower the temperature to low and allow to cook (about 10 minutes, sometimes faster) stirring occasionally. Add 1/2 chopped apple. Add 1 TBSP of peanut butter (I like chunky for the texture). Stir a bit but don't mix too well. It's nice to have a burst of peanut butter in a spoonful
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