Breakfast

Today I’ll tell you about my breakfast – what I eat, when, and why. If you want to know more, read on…

What’s in it?

The bowl above was my breakfast today and it’s quite typical. Here’s what it contains:

• First thing into the bowl is always a helping of my own oat-based breakfast mix. I’ll give you the recipe later in case you’d like to try it.
  
• Next I add plenty of milk. Oats absorb water and swell so it’s good to provide enough liquid to support that. Usually I use oat milk, but sometimes semi-skimmed dairy milk or a mix of the two.
  
• Fruit next. This time I chopped a small banana and added some grapes. Other favourites include blueberries, pear, and segments of satsuma.
  
• The final ingredient is a helping of kefir over the fruit (similar to a thin yogurt).

Why those ingredients?

My base mix contains oats, dried fruit, seeds, and nuts. Oats help to control cholesterol, help with blood sugar levels, and support gut health. Dried fruit is a good source of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants and may reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. Seeds are a good source of protein, healthy fats, fibre, vitamins, and minerals, helping to lower the risks of heart disease, stroke and cancer. Nuts have similar benefits to seeds.

Milk is good, especially dairy milk, but oat milk is probably better for the planet. And kefir contains a range of microorganisms that are good for gut health.

Timing

I try to eat breakfast no earlier than 10:30 every morning, often later. I restrict my eating time each day, fasting from 20:30 in the evening until breakfast, so fasting for twelve hours or longer. This is called intermittent fasting, and it gives the gut microbes the time they need to clean up the gut before facing the next day’s meals. There are a number of benefits, perhaps including increased longevity.

Recipe for my base breakfast mix

• 380 g of fruit and nut mix (I use Grapetree Luxury Fruit and Nut Mix*)
• 60 g mixed seeds
• 90 g granola (I use Bio & Me Super Seedy & Nutty*)
• 800 g rolled oats (Ideally use organic oats as they are free of glyphosate residues)

This makes enough for a large container and lasts me for some time.

*It doesn’t matter which companies you buy from, of course; just try to avoid anything ultra-processed and with plenty of different healthy ingredients.

Final thoughts

This is just the pattern I normally follow for breakfast, but it’s important to be flexible about both what I eat and when. If it’s convenient to eat earlier I’m relaxed about breaking my intermittent fasting. If going on a journey, I might eat at 08:00 instead of 10:30. Sometimes Donna I and might have breakfast in town and I’ll choose a full English or whatever I want. And that’s OK, it’s a normal pattern, not an unbreakable commitment.

See also:

• Benefits of oatmeal – Zoe
• Best sellers – Grape Tree
• Eight tips for healthy eating – NHS

Useful? Interesting?

If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!