Desperate to find a healthy breakfast that isn’t a bowl of sugar but also doesn’t require a sous chef to prepare, I stumbled across quinoa puffs and came up with this super simple recipe.
The first meal of the day is an important one – we haven’t eaten for at least 10 hours and our digestive system is ready and raring to go. With the right food, we start the day clear-headed, with lots of energy to get us to lunch (without the hangry), sugar lows, and brain fog that comes with eating the standard packaged cereals.
Let’s discuss quinoa, an excellent healthy breakfast choice:
Quinoa is a gluten-free seed from the Chenopodium quinoa plant. These plants were originally cultivated in the Peruvian Andes, but are now grown throughout the world. The unique thing about quinoa is that it is a carbohydrate as well as a whole protein, which means it has all nine essential amino acids.
Some reasons for the hype:
Quinoa has high levels of fibre, B vitamins, iron, magnesium and a whopping 15% protein. Making it a high-fibre, low-fat, super beast.
100-gram serving of quinoa pack the following:
Calories – 120
Carbohydrate – 21.3g
Fiber – 2.8g
Protein – 4.4g
Fat – 1.92g
Selenium – 5% of the DV
Manganese – 274% of the DV
Folate – 10.5% of the DV
Iron – 8.2% of the DV
- DV = Daily Values
- Learn more about Healthy Breakfast
Some reasons for the hype include a healthy breakfast.
A high-fibre diet may help certain types of cancers and may lower LDL or the ‘bad’ levels of cholesterol and boost digestive health (1).
A study from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that daily intake of magnesium reduces the risk of total stroke by as much as 8% (2).
Magnesium intake is also linked to improved heart health (3) and diabetes (4).
Selenium plays a vital role in maintaining optimal immune function and helps to reduce certain free radicals that impact immunity. (5)
Folate is mostly obtained from foods and is vital for cell division and homeostasis. Inadequate intake of folate could increase the risk of many chronic diseases (6).
* Bulk of this information was sourced from Everydayhealth.com
Alright, enough of that – let’s get to the recipe.
You’ll need:
- 1 cup of quinoa puffs
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup milk (or alternative)
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- Handful of almonds (I like mine slow roasted in the oven on fan bake)
- Handful of walnuts (raw)
- 1/2 to 1 banana
- 2 strawberries
- handful of blueberries and/or raspberries
Method for a healthy breakfast:
- Pre-slice banana, and berries
- Cook the quinoa puffs and milk in a saucepan with nutmeg and cinnamon for about 5 minutes or until soft. Make sure there is enough milk otherwise, it dries up quickly.
- Place in a bowl, add a little more milk if dry, pop in almonds, walnuts, banana, and berries on top and voila, ready to eat!
I hope you enjoy this simple and healthy nutritious start to your day.
For more information on diet and lifestyle and how we can help with any concerns you have please, Reach out.
On Point Natural Medicine Newcastle, Provides acupuncture to the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie area, with over 20 years of experience in health care using acupuncture, Chinese herbs, bodywork, diet, exercise and lifestyle advice.
References
1. Jonnalagadda S, Harnack L, Hai Liu R, et al. Putting the Whole Grain Puzzle Together: Health Benefits Associated with Whole Grains — Summary of American Society for Nutrition 2010 Satellite Symposium. The Journal of Nutrition. May 2011.
2. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 95, Issue 2, February 2012, Pages 362–366, Learn more about healthy breakfast.
3. Magnesium. National Institutes of Health. March 2, 2018.
4. Barbagallo M, Dominguez L. Magnesium and Type 2 Diabetes. World Journal of Diabetes. August 2015.
5. Selenium in the Immune System
John R. Arthur, Roderick C. McKenzie, Geoffrey J. Beckett
The Journal of Nutrition, Volume 133, Issue 5, May 2003, Pages 1457S–1459S, More about Healthy Breakfast.
Published: 01 May 2003
6. Folate Metabolism and Requirements
Lynn B. Bailey, Jesse F. Gregory, III
The Journal of Nutrition, Volume 129, Issue 4, April 1999, Pages 779–782, Reach out about healthy breakfast.
