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What did you have for breakfast this morning? At 7:30, I had a cup of cereal with skim milk. Sounds pretty healthy. In the scheme of things I could have done a lot worse, except by the time I got into work at 9:30, I was starving.
Then came what I call my “second breakfast,” when I’m suddenly stuffing my face full of whatever I can get my hands on to curb my hunger. Since it’s a new year, and I’d like to get things off to a good start, I think it’s time for a new breakfast.
But what to eat?
Oatmeal is as close to perfect as you can get for a breakfast food.
For starters, it’s quick (less than 5 minutes if you’re using the quick-cooking kind). (More Recipes to Try: Healthy Breakfast Recipes in 15 Minutes)
It’s got 4 grams of fiber per cup and research suggests that increasing your intake of soluble fiber (a type of fiber found in oatmeal) by 5 to 10 grams each day could result in a 5 percent drop in “bad” LDL cholesterol. If I top it with fruit, like 1/4 cup of raspberries for example,
it’s not only delicious, but I also tack on an additional 2 grams of fiber. That means I’m well on my way to that extra 5 to 10 grams of fiber with just my breakfast.
AND it could help you lose weight in two ways. One, all that wonderful fiber makes you feel fuller longer, so sorry, second breakfast, you are no longer necessary.
Two, according to a recent study in the Journal of Nutrition, eating a breakfast made with “slow-release” carbohydrates, such as oatmeal, 3 hours before you exercise may help you burn more fat. Here’s why: in the study, eating “slow-release” carbohydrates didn’t spike blood sugar as high as eating refined carbohydrates, such as white toast. In turn, insulin levels didn’t spike as high, and because insulin plays a role in signaling your body to store fat, having lower levels may help you burn fat.
I always thought the perfect early morning breakfast was left-over fried chicken! C’mon we all know it’s true but hate to openly admit it
Good for you.
But I tried that diet of high carbs shortly after it was recommended by our government, and low and behold, 25 years later I had a life full of health problems.
After I read that article, I immediately reversed my diet by reducing to damn near to zero my carbs and lived the next the 5 years on protein and vegs.
Sympton after sympton disappeared, and I feel great after 10 years.
Whatever works, Ah.
Whatever works for you. People are different. If I ate that breakfast everyday I would be obese in no time unless that was all I ate all day. For the last five years I have eaten a breakfast consisting of oatmeal with a hand full of raisins, a healthy sprinkle of Siagon cinnimon and a splash of fat free half and half. My main meal of the day is lunch in the early afternoon. with a light snack in the evening. My weight and blood sugar are just fine, thank you very much.
Who would you trust to give correct answers on what constitutes healthy food for you? My personal answer when it comes to an eating plan is nature, not nutritionists. Some of us remember nature – she evolved us.
I spent several decades of research to find an answer to the simple question: what should I eat to live a healthy life? The mumbo-jumbo answer of today is usually: eat a diet high in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Would it surprise you to learn that some of the plant foods we consider as vegetables contain toxins put there by nature to discourage humans from eating them? Would it surprise you to learn that whole grains cannot be eaten right from the ground without human processing, were not part of the human diet until recently, and also contain natural toxins to discourage us from eating them? What are the odds of fooling with nature and winning?
While I do believe that there are folks that can live a healthy life eating Twinkies and Coke, are you one of them?
A description and references for an eating plan nature evolved humans to eat can be found in "The Original Diet."
Pardon me while I finish my breakfast: a rib-eye steak dripping in fat from a humanely raised pastured animal, and an organic ripe raw whole grapefruit from my yard. Yum.
Roy Mankovitz, Director
http://www.MontecitoWellness.com
A research organization
What kind of beer?
We buy the large bags of frozen mixed berries in the winter when we can’t get fresh and put a handful in oatmeal along with sliced banana, cinnamon and whole milk, not water. YUM!
My oatmeal cookies certainly are!
Thanks for the response, Chauncey. Let’s just say that it took me 15 years to figure out the diet/energy relation (for me) and the past 10 years to refine it (again, just for me, not you or others.) It’s not just oatmeal, but any grain, and that’s been confirmed by my health care provider, I just can’t eat ‘em. Both my sisters have the same problem. What was most frustrating for me all those years of feeling horrible was that I read all the articles in health food magazines, by all these experts, and the more I ate the "perfect diet" (organic whole grains, rice, pasta, juices, tofu, tempeh, seitan, etc) the worse it got! That was my point. I’m happy to report now that for several years, a diet of green leafy vegetables, sprouts, nuts, grass fed beef and organic chicken has sorted it all out.
yum – I just had some with fresh raspberries, blackberries, blueberries a little brown sugar, tablespoon of sliced almonds and a splash of almond milk. delicious!
Yeah, keep laughing all the way to diabetes hell.
The joke will be on you.
Here is an article I believe saved my life from that low fat high carbs diet you extol.
By Gary Taubs, "What If Its All Been A Big Fat Lie?"
It’s a long read, but well worth your time.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/07/magazine/what-if-it-s-all-been-a-big-fat-lie.html
I found it mildly entertaining.
For some reason when I eat oatmeal, I start to get cracks on the sides of my mouth.
Small red patches and I don’t know why cause oatmeal is so good.
Does anybody else get this?
Except that your being comatose can come from a variety of factors and deficiencies elsewhere in your diet or even have to do with your weight or level of exercise. While what you say at the end is partially true, to blame your energy problems on oatmeal is tenuous at best.
The large breakfast canard is hilarious. Your breakfast is a marketing gimmick started 100 years ago and larded onto over the years. The oatmeal is the better breakfast. Complex carbs aren’t the kind that lead to diabetes and Americans eat 50%-70% more protein than they need a day anyway. Your idea of breakfast and nutrition is (literally) cancerous and kidney damage city.
Thanks for the laugh, Poboy.
Those are 2 things I never thought of. Toasted coconut or toasting the oats themselves. I’m going to try that -sounds good. (If I did the toasted oats I’m thinking I might toss in a small spoonful of dark chocolate. I’ve always loved chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and it might give the same effect. )
Here is a good breakfast.
3 eggs, 3 saugages or strips of bacon, 1 slice of whole wheat toast, fried potates or hash browns and a cup of milk.
High in protein, low in carbohydrates, the very opposite of your low in protein, high in carbohydrates diet, which is the express train to diabetes.
Repeat for lunch and dinner.
Excercise your body and mind, and you will have a diet worthy of a strong body and mind.
Sorry Hilary, I used to eat oatmeal for breakfast. Two hours later, I wasn’t hungry….but more like comatose. Same with any other cereal or fruit-based breakfast. It’s great that some people can have cereals, grains, breads, fruits or even pancakes for breakfast... if I could, I would. I’ve tried everything, but only protein in the morning keeps me from falling asleep an hour or two later. It’s troubling when published experts say "you (everyone) should eat this", because we don’t all process and digest all foods the same way.
This article shows very clearly how distorted our understanding of nutrition is.
"Low Fat" isn’t healthy: it’s void of essential vitamins; it’s a refined food. What about saturated fat? Numerous studies have vindicated it (two such studies were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition just last year). Fat also helps to keep you full.
Oatmeal can’t hold a candle nutritionally to eggs. Eggs are rich in most every vitamin, EPA & DHA fatty acids, and choline. But don’t eggs raise cholesterol? No. That study was done in the mid 50′s, on powdered egg yolks, and sponsored by the cereal institute.
Secondly, I will add that cholesterol is not as simple as "HDL" and "LDL". Chris Kresser tears apart our distorted understanding of cholesterol in 15 minutes (http://vimeo.com/12515512). For a more thorough understanding, I would suggest reading through the writings of Dr. Uffe Ravnskov (http://www.ravnskov.nu/cholesterol.htm)
Oatmeal is a fine food, but to call it the #1 breakfast food is embarrassingly inaccurate (unless you subscribe to the USDA’s bought-and-paid-for suggestions (see Dr. Marion Nestle’s book Food Politics)).
Ms. Meyer, as a board certified health coach, here are some books that I think may help to enlighten your understanding of nutrition:
Integrative Nutrition (Joshua Rosenthal)
Healing With Whole Foods (Paul Pitchford)
Eat Fat, Lose Fat (Sally Fallon & Mary Enig)
Nourishing Traditions (Sally Fallon & Mary Enig)
I add chia seeds, banana slices, a handful of raisins and a spoonful of peanut butter to my oatmeal every morning. It’s completely awesome and totally delicious.
Creamy calcium oatmeal secret…..
Cook it in milk rather than water.
I don’t use quick oats because they usually have the bran removed and the texture is poor.My oatmeal of choice is Bob’s Red Mill steel-cut oats. My preferred cooking method is overnight in the slow cooker on low using a 4:1 ratio of water to oats by volume. I don’t add salt until after the cooking process, since salt makes the water less available to the starches and makes the porridge less creamy.My quick morning method is to use the rice cooker with a 2:1 ratio. If I start it first thing, it’s ready by the time I’m ready for breakfast. My indulgent method is to pan-toast a cup of oats in 2 Tbsp of butter until golden, then add 2.5 cups of homemade hemp milk and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.When I don’t have oatmeal for breakfast, I have granola. I probably have granola more often than oatmeal just because it’s easier to make ahead of time and serve quickly. Easy granola recipe:2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats2/3 cup seeds of your choice (hemp, sunflower, flax, etc.)2/3 cup nuts of you choice, chopped if necessary1/4 tsp salt3-4 oz sugar syrup of you choice (maple, honey, brown rice, etc.)1 oz canola oilPreheat over to 250F. Mix dry ingredient. Mix wet ingredients. Fold wet into dry. Lightly lube half sheet pan with nonstick spray. Spread mixture onto pan. Bake for 60-90 minutes or until golden brown to your liking, stirring 2-3 times during the cooking process. Let cool. Toss with dried fruit if desired.Granola is great with plain yogurt. Or ice cream…
I use a cup of regular oatmeal; a cup of water; add a handful of raisins; I mircrowave for 1 minute and 30 seconds; add a teaspoon of "can’t believe this is not butter" or similar; 1% milk and some honey. I also eat a cup of Activa and I am off like a dirty griddle to work!
About thirty yerars ago I switched from beer for breakfast to oatmeal. Have it every morning with honey or Vermont maple syrup. (Pure VT maple syrup only, no substitutes).
Yawn. Banal sarcasm. Moving on.
Oatmeal for breakfast? What a nutritional breakthrough. And to think that all these years, I was eating oatmeal as a bedtime snack. D’oh! And the fruit topping thing? Sheer genius. I knew something wasn’t right about that turkey grease I was putting on my bedtime oatmeal. It just didn’t taste, you know, fruity. But raspberries definitely do the job. They are the fruitiest! And the water thing–cooking the oatmeal in water with heat underneath? D’oh! What an improvement. So much better than the dry oatmeal I was eating at bedtime with turkey grease on top. But please tell me, what can I eat at bedtime now? I’m thinking maybe a roasted pigeon in bechamel sauce or maybe some pralines. What do you think? I need further guidance.
Totally agree, its the best start to the day. I eat it 5-7 days/week, and even for dinner sometimes. I usually toast dessicated coconut before adding water and oats, gives a nice flavour. And I always add ground flaxseed for omega.
Another variation is to toast the oats, giving a flavour boost.
3 words: I LOVE OATMEAL!!!
YUM!!
I saw a feature on one of the morning news shows several years ago recommending adding peanut butter for protein to morning oats. I try to eat oatmeal in the am at least 4x per week. When I cook old-fashioned rolled oats, I usually add a Tbsp. of Naturally More peanut butter (fortified with egg whites and flax seed), as well as a spoonful of honey, cinnamon, sometimes nutmeg, and dried fruit of choice (raisins, peaches, dates) and maybe half of a banana, sliced.
When I cook steel-cut oats (less frequently than the rolled as they take so much longer to prepare), I usually add 1/4 cup of plain Greek yogurt to the "Heart Healthy" serving. I also add a handful of some fresh/frozen fruit of choice (usually a type of berry), 1/2 Tbsp. of pure maple syrup or honey, a Tbsp. of golden flax seed (less "fishy" than brown flax), and 1/2 banana, sliced.
Of course I must always add a pinch of salt to the cooking oats in either form for balance. I plan to have some this morning if I’m not too tired to cook when I get home. Cheers.
I used to love oatmeal. Most oatmeal is contaminated with gluten, so I no longer eat it. Even supposed gluten-free oatmeal has bothered me.
Nevertheless, I used to enjoy it savory rather than sweet. With cheese and/or butter, maybe cooked in milk. So yummy.
I’m buying oatmeal tomorrow. You’ve got me craving it now.And I like it with fresh banana slivered up fine and all mushed into the oatmeal, then a dash of cinnamon and a tiny little spoonful of sugar (not too much – the banana is sweet) with a splash of cold skim milk.