It's hard to have a healthy breakfast in a country where the coffee croissant is a state religion. However, even the official recommendations direct us towards a meal that is too sweet, especially for the first hours of the day. But then, what do we eat when we wake up? Let's see.
Why avoid sugar at breakfast?
If it is better to have a light hand on sugar, it is because it is what causes the famous cravings of 10 or 11 am. Without even realizing it, you can ingest up to 20 small white squares by following the French model of a “balanced breakfast”: a cereal product, a dairy product, a drink, and possibly a fruit.
White bread or cornflakes, jam, fruit juice, yogurt… All these products contain sugar, sometimes in large quantities. However, science has shown its many harmful effects: weight gain, fatigue, irritability, skin problems, diabetes...
Worse, sugar calls for sugar. The more you ingest, the more you crave. Indeed, in response to the rapid rise in blood sugar levels, the pancreas produces insulin to lower it… Until hypoglycemia. And bam, it's the craving, which usually results in a craving for sweets. A real vicious circle, with the risk, in the long run, of developing insulin resistance and therefore type 2 diabetes.
Of course, glucose is necessary for the functioning of our organism: it constitutes the fuel of the brain and the muscles. But excess sugar turns into fat and can lead to weight gain, disease...
To minimize our daily intake, we can start by eliminating the added sugars present in processed industrial foods (which contain almost all of them) or in hot drinks, pastries, etc. that you can sugar yourself.
Know that the most difficult is this phase of "detoxification" of sugar: once the habit is lost, you quickly find this disgusting taste...
If you can't do without it, at least prefer the more natural and therefore less refined forms: honey, agave syrup, maple syrup, coconut sugar, muscovado sugar...
What is the difference between natural sugar and refined sugar? In itself, nothing: the effects are the same on health. But natural sugars are present in foods that have not been stripped of their nutrients and properties! For example, fruits are full of vitamins, and minerals… that industrial cakes do not contain. Honey is antibacterial, and helps fight coughs… Unlike white sugar from beets, which brings nothing but a sweet taste. Do you follow me?
In short, rethinking your breakfast outside habits and clichés is the first step to improving your health and energy level!
A few habits to change for a healthy breakfast
1. Replace juice with fresh fruit
Come on, what did they do wrong, the fruit juices? It's natural, why bother?
So yes, fruit is cute. But in juice, it is above all a load of sugar that falls to the bottom of your stomach, without the whole process of chewing (where digestion begins) and without the fibers of the fruits which limit the absorption of sugars.
However, chewing and the presence of fiber are essential for satiety. Morality: we avoid juices, and more generally we limit fruits at breakfast, except the very little sweetened like red fruits, for example. It is best to eat them as a snack.
2. Swap jams for compotes (without No sugar of course)
A jam is made up of 60%… Sugar. Pure. In short, a very bad choice to start the day!
If you like to spread, prefer to spread applesauce without added sugars, sometimes referred to as apple puree. Cooked, fruits are better digested by the body early in the morning! Another option: oilseed purees, full of nutrients and which stall very quickly!
3. Say goodbye to sandwich bread, and white bread
All industrial versions of bread are to be banned, including your baker's white flour baguette. These are empty calories, with added salt and sugar as flavor enhancers.
If you are a fan of toast, prefer (real) bread with whole wheat flour, rye or spelled flour, and pure sourdough.
4. Forget industrial cereals
Ultra-processed and full to bursting with sugar, cereals have no nutritional value. Including when they feature fields of wheat and fruit on the packaging. Or that this one promises you a little weight. Seriously, who ever lost weight eating this?
Better to make your own muesli, but we'll come back to that 😉
5. Choose Natural yogurt
If you consume yogurt, avoid flavored and sweetened versions, including “light”. Fat is replaced by sugar. And even if the calorie count drops on the label, your weight on the scale does not. (Since excess sugar is transformed into… Fat. Yeah, gotta keep up, huh?)
6. Rediscover oilseeds
Fat has been demonized a lot. However, good lipids are also essential to our good health. Of course, it's all about measurement. But a handful of almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, or a (thin) layer of oilseed puree provide good fats, proteins, and minerals, in addition to being very satiating.
7. Add a protein source to your breakfast
Don't hesitate to add a source of protein to your breakfast, especially on days when you expect physical exertion: half an avocado, a handful of olives, an egg, a slice of white ham (nitrite-free) …
4 recipes for a healthy, balanced breakfast with no sugar
And concretely, what do we eat? I am not a nutritionist: I am interested in the subject, even if I do not know it in detail. With the four recipes that follow, I offer you nothing but four breakfast experiences that fill me with energy and are not followed by an urge to smash through the junk closet at 10 a.m. If you have any others, feel free to share them! 🙂
Homemade muesli
Remember, I was talking about making your own muesli (mixture of oatmeal, seeds, and fruit). Because indeed, commercial mixtures are full of added sugars.
We are starting to find preparations based on natural flakes mixed with dried fruit, but… They are overpriced! As you are never better served than by yourself, the idea is to concoct your own recipe. At home, I call it the globe, because it frankly does not look appetizing. But I assure you, it's a killer.
>> Recipe for a breakfast bowl you will tell me about:
- 2 very ripe bananas
- 75 g of buckwheat flour (or semi-complete rice, or chestnut)
- 50g cornstarch or arrowroot
- 1/2 sachet of gluten-free yeast or 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda (no more, otherwise the taste may become bitter!)
- 200 ml vegetable milk (soy, almond, coconut, etc.)
- Coconut oil (for cooking)
Mash the bananas and mix everything together until you obtain a thick but fairly liquid paste.
Heat the pan over high heat with a little coconut oil. Pour a good ladle of batter in, spread it a little by turning the pan, and cook until small bubbles appear on the surface (it takes a few minutes). With a wooden spatula, turn the pancake over and brown the other side for 2 to 3 minutes. Do not hesitate to lower the heat a little after one or two pancakes so as not to burn them.
To be enjoyed hot, warm or cold, plain or covered with a thin layer of oilseed puree (peanut puree, almonds…), compote without added sugar, fruit coulis…
I love this breakfast when I'm on the go and/or have to get up early. I then enjoy these pancakes with a good banana taste, which I let thaw overnight.
The chia pudding
Chia seeds are a very good source of protein, well known to vegans who use them, in particular, to replace eggs in preparations.
>> Recipe for a chia pudding:
- 2 tablespoons of chia seeds
- 20 cl vegetable milk (soy, almond, coconut, etc.)
- A fresh fruit cut into pieces
- Optional: a pinch of vanilla powder
The day before, mix the chia seeds, vanilla, and vegetable milk in a bowl. Chill all night. In the morning, the seeds have swollen and are surrounded by a kind of gel: this is perfectly normal. Cut the fruit and sprinkle your chia pudding with pieces, and possibly oilseeds, other seeds… And you will have a delicious, fresh, and satisfying chia pudding. Prepare to be amazed 🙂
The savory breakfast
Can a salty breakfast be healthy? If it is made up of tomato beans, bacon, eggs Benedict, and white bread, spoiler alert: the answer is no.
But nothing prevents you, of course, from biting into salty food in the morning. If you like that, it's even better!
You can eat fried or scrambled eggs, a slice of ham, smoked salmon, or two slices of avocado... Above all, don't hesitate to vary it from one morning to the next to give your body everything it needs. needs and avoid fatigue.
Accompany this breakfast with a hot drink, and presto!
What to drink for breakfast?
As you have understood, fruit juices – even fresh and squeezed by your little hands – are not very interesting from a nutritional point of view. Prefer a little lemon juice diluted in a large glass of water at room temperature (because heat destroys vitamin C).
Should I drink tea or coffee?
People prone to anemia should avoid tea close to meals, or even tea at all because it prevents the assimilation of iron.
Coffee lovers, prefer to prepare it with an Italian coffee maker, a French press, an espresso machine, or a Chemex.
Rather than a simple coffee maker that makes sock juice, or a pod/capsule machine that also makes bad coffee – in addition to being an environmental disaster.
- Coffee should be consumed in moderation. To vary coffee or tea, you can consume:
- rooibos (or red tea, naturally theine-free) in an infusate or in bulk,
- a herbal infusion (thyme, lime blossom, verbena, mint… let go!);
- an infusion of roasted buckwheat (soba cha or buckwheat tea has been drunk for a very long time in China!);
- or even an infusion of chicory (we get used to it, I swear.)
Comments
Post a Comment