5 Healthy Breakfast Ideas to Start Off Your Day Right
By: Tess Dinapoli
Tags: Healthy Living, Healthy Foods, Breakfast, Healthy Lifestyle, Healthy Eating

There’s a good reason why breakfast is often regarded as the most important meal of the day. As its name suggests, the meal you have in the morning right after waking up breaks the overnight fasting period, replenishing your depleted energy stores. A healthy breakfast provides all the energy and essential nutrients your body needs to kickstart a productive day.

Unfortunately, many people consume highly processed, sugar-loaded breakfasts that provide empty calories and insufficient nutrients, leading to chronic inflammation and several health conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Making the effort to prepare a nutritious breakfast is one of the best investments you can make in your health. Turn to these healthy, low-sugar, grain-free, and anti-inflammatory breakfast ideas to nourish your body and promote optimal health:

Grain-Free Granola Bowls

Traditional granolas are made with a variety of grains such as oats, barley, and rye. Most grains contain gluten, a protein substance that can trigger inflammation in the body. Inflammation damages your cells and tissues, contributing to many degenerative diseases. While pure oats don’t have gluten, they are processed in facilities that can contaminate them with the inflammatory substance. Grain-free granolas use nuts such as almonds and pecans instead of grains to protect your body from the damaging effects of inflammatory glutens.

Grain-free granola bowls are one the healthiest breakfast ideas you can make for yourself and your family. This delicious meal is quick and easy to whip up. All you have to do is place some dairy or non-dairy yogurt in a bowl, and top it with grain-free granola, low-sugar fruits such as berries or kiwi, and any nuts and seeds of your choice. This ultra-nutritious, low-sugar, and anti-inflammatory breakfast idea is packed with healthy fats, vitamins, and antioxidants to promote optimal wellness.

Omelets

The humble egg is one of nature’s most nutritious foods. Affordable, versatile, and easy to prepare, egg dishes provide a rich source of essential macro and micronutrients to meet your body’s nutritional needs. Eggs offer the lowest-cost and highest-quality protein of all foods. Besides being protein-rich, eggs also provide essential fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals. Omelets have insignificant amounts of sugar, making this breakfast perfect for people who are counting their net carbs or are following the Keto lifestyle.

There are two types of omelets: A thin one that you fold over, and a thick one that resembles Spanish omelets. To make a basic omelet, whisk a couple of eggs in a bowl, and then pour it into a frying pan with heated oil or butter to cook the mixture. You can make omelets more savory by adding any filling of your choice. Meat, vegetables, cheese, and herbs are popular ingredients used for omelet fillings. The extra fillings add more nutrients to the dish, making omelets a super-healthy breakfast.

Almond Bread

Traditional bread is often made with the flour of grains such as wheat, barley, rye, and spelt. These grains contain gluten, a pro-inflammatory substance that can damage healthy bodily tissues. Traditional bread is high in calories and carbs, but lacks essential nutrients such as proteins, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals, increasing the risk of obesity. Alternative breads are often made with the flour of nuts and seeds to provide a healthier and more nutritious option.

Almond bread is among the most popular alternative breads. It is low in carbs, and high in protein, healthy fats, fiber, vitamins, and minerals to promote optimal health and wellbeing. To make almond bread at home, mix blanched almond flour, psyllium husks, coconut oil, sea salt, warm water, and eggs into a batter and bake in a preheated oven until the top is very crusty. Let the bread cool completely before serving. You can substitute your traditional bread for almond bread to enjoy a healthier breakfast.

Breakfast Hash

Hash is a simple, hearty meal that can be cooked up for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They traditionally contain meat, onions, vegetables, and eggs, but you can make breakfast hash out of any leftovers you have in the fridge. That leftover meat and vegetables you have sitting in your fridge from last night’s dinner can be crisped up in a skillet to make a savory, nutritious breakfast.

Breakfast hash is very easy to make. To prepare this dish, fry some meat in a large skillet until hot and crisp, then set aside on a plate. In the same skillet, fry some onions until they become soft and golden. Add the rest of the vegetables to the skillet and cook them until they’re hot and wilted. Once your onions and veggies are fully cooked, add the meat back into the skillet, stir fry the mixture, and add seasoning and fresh herbs. And there you have it! A healthy breakfast packed with protein and vitamins to nourish you for the rest of the day.

Smoothies

If you don’t have time to make a hearty breakfast, smoothies are a great way to quickly supply your body with the nutrients it needs to kick-start the day. Choose a liquid base, such as coconut water, dairy or alternative milk, or fruit juice. Healthful ingredients such as protein powders, fresh or frozen fruits, leafy green vegetables, avocados, nut butters, and seeds are pureed in the liquid base to pack the drink with everything your body needs.

To make a nourishing smoothie, place all your healthy ingredients in a high-speed blender, and mix on high for at least 30 seconds or until all the ingredients are well-blended. You can serve and drink immediately or pour the mixture into a smoothie container and take it as a healthy breakfast on the go. Smoothies are a great healthy breakfast idea that can deliver a nutritional punch without taking up much of your time.

Start Your Day With A Healthy Meal

The quality of food you eat has a significant influence on your health and wellbeing. Traditional breakfast foods are often loaded with added sugars and grains, contributing to chronic inflammation and degenerative diseases. The healthy breakfast ideas we discussed are low in sugar and devoid of grains to help you live your healthiest and best life. Add these nutritious breakfast ideas to your family’s meal plan to provide quality fuel for kickstarting the day.

Images

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