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Month: September 2019

5 nourishing breakfast ideas to start the day

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1. Have a green smoothie

I wouldn’t necessarily recommend a liquid breakfast every day, as chewing our food triggers stomach acid production which encourages optimal digestion,  however, you can’t get much more efficient than throwing a few ingredients into a blender and blitzing them up. It’s also a great way to get some greens into your morning as many people wouldn’t start eating vegetables until later in the day. Ideally you would have around 2-3 serves of vegetables such as spinach, kale, zucchini or cucumber and ½-1 serve of fruit such as banana or berries. To make the smoothie more satiating, add a handful of nuts and/or some avocado, both good sources of whole food fat and full of other helpful nutrients. You might like to try this berry energy smoothie.

2. Make a frittata

One of the great things about a frittata is that you make a whole batch which you can then eat over a few days. Eggs are a wonderful source of protein and many other important nutrients such as B-group vitamins, choline, vitamin A and vitamin E, plus they contain some iron. Eating eggs in the morning can help sustain you for longer and if you add some nourishing greens to the mix you’ve got a clear breakfast winner when it comes to nutrient-density! Try this Extra Green Frittata from my Real Food Chef cookbook and video series. It provides about 6-8 serves. Have more mouths to feed? Just double the recipe.

3. Eggs and avo on (good quality) toast

Staying on the eggs train for a little longer, eggs take around 3-6 minutes to cook so even if you were to make them each morning, they’re not a time-consuming meal. If you prefer something a little more ‘breakfasty’, two poached eggs on a good quality piece of organic sourdough or gluten free toast with some avocado is a delicious and nourishing choice. Add a handful of baby spinach for a greens hit.

4. Dinner leftovers

Who says you need to have ‘breakfasty’ things for breakfast? In Japan, for example, they have foods like rice, miso, pickled vegetables and fish for breakfast—things that are very similar to what they eat at other meals as well. If nourishment is the priority, it doesn’t matter if what you choose for your meals is a little out of the box. Dinner leftovers can be an easy reheat and high in nourishment to start your day.

5. Chia pudding

Homemade chia pudding can be a good alternative to packaged cereals or store-bought muesli if you’re looking for a less savoury breakfast option. A great option if you are short on time in the mornings – take a couple of minutes to mix one up at night before bed, pop it in the fridge and it will be ready to eat in the morning! Chia seeds are an excellent source of fibre, and they also contain nourishing omega-3 fats and some protein.  Mixed with liquid, they take on a jelly-like consistency as they set, not dissimilar to rice pudding. You can use water or a milk of your choice, such as unsweetened rice, almond, coconut or oat milk. Add a spoonful of good quality unsweetened dairy or coconut yoghurt, a handful of nuts and seeds and a serve of fruit (such as berries) and you’ve got a delicious yet nourishing start to the day.

Cortisol: the chronic stress hormone

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The human body makes two dominant stress hormones. They are adrenaline and cortisol. Cortisol is our chronic stress hormone. In other words, we tend to make too much of it when we are stressed for a long time. It also has other important duties in the body which you can read more about here.  

Historically, the only long term stress humans had were floods, famines and wars; all sceanrios where food may have been scarce. Today our long term stress tends to come from relationship or financial worries, or health or weight concerns.  

However, because cortisol was designed to save your life when food was scarce, even though food may be abundant for you today, cortisol sends a message to every cell in your body that your metabolism needs to be slowed down so that those precious fat stores can keep you going until the food supply returns. 

Cortisol has a distinct fat deposition pattern. It lays fat down around your middle, on the back of your arms and you grow what I lovingly call a back verandah. Most people’s response to fat accumulation around their tummies is to go on a diet, which means eating less food. This only confirms to your body what cortisol has driven your body to believe is true, when in fact the opposite is true and food is likely to be abundant for you. 

When you restrict your food intake on your “diet” you slow your metabolism even further, making it feel like you only have to look at food for weight to go on! If cortisol is a contributing factor to your weight gain, going on a calorie restricted diet is not your answer, sorting out your cortisol is. And there are numerous stress busting methods that you can use to do this. 

  1. Use your breath to alter your stress response. The way you breathe is key, even though that sounds too simple to make a difference. Start the day with 20 long slow breaths before you get out of bed or alternatively, breathe and move your diaphragm while you wait for the kettle to boil (to make your lemon and warm water of course!) or while you sit at traffic lights. When you breathe in this way, you communicate to every cell in your body that you are safe, as breathing is shallow when your life is literally in danger. Nothing lowers stress hormones faster than diaphragmatic breathing. 
  1. Make simple swaps. Consider whether you are using caffeine to amp yourself up and wine to wind down. Simply swap caffeine for green tea and wine for sparkling water to give your nervous system a break, which can have a huge influence on fat burning and appetite. 
  1. Gratitude. It is impossible to feel overwhelmed or stressed when you feel grateful. Volunteer, give thanks to those who have passed before us or for the beautiful nature that surrounds us in this country, or recite positive affirmations, what ever works for you. Always take time to slow down. Live, breathe, and learn. Take a look around you and be grateful for all that you are and all that you have. 

The importance of fostering more alone time

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With our busy lives, it can feel as though there isn’t space for us to create any time for solitude. Having a young family in particular can make it feel as though none of our time is our own and, when coupled with work commitments, it can quickly begin to feel overwhelming and as though there is no space for anything else. And we don’t have to have young children to feel the pressure to fit more and more into our days. Yet, research clearly demonstrates the benefits of solitude for strengthening our relationships, improving our creativity not to mention that—for those who identify as introverts—it can be key for happiness.  

A common phrase I hear from people is “I don’t have time”. I’m too busy to prepare my own meals, too busy to have a proper lunch break, too busy to take any time to myself—the list of things we, as a culture, don’t have time for is nearly endless.  

Yet, with the advents of technology and the flourishing of social media, many of us squander opportunities for quality solitude by connecting in the digital world and foregoing the opportunity to take time out. MIT researcher and founder of the Initiative on Technology and Self Sherry Turkle calls it “social snacking” and like ‘junk food’, it can be harmful to our health.  

While it might feel as though flicking through social media feeds is relaxing, research suggests that the personal use of smartphones to scroll through social networking ‘news’ is linked to anxiety and increased stress levels. In fact, the more regularly people use their smartphones to access the web for personal reasons, the greater the anxiety. Additionally, in a world that already inundates our minds with information, we further overstimulate ourselves when we engage in this kind of ‘downtime’ practice.  

It wasn’t all that long ago that we were unreachable from the time we left the house in the morning to the moment we arrived at our next destination. We had no emails to check at traffic lights or while waiting for public transport, and no phone or social media catch-ups to make between our destinations. While these modern advancements certainly make for convenience, even those moments that were naturally a suspension of time where we could perhaps just take in the world around us or read a paperback have been swallowed by our smartphones.  

Perhaps we’ve simply forgotten how to enjoy solitude. We’ve become so conditioned to be on the go from sun up to sun down (or beyond), that when the moments present themselves we don’t know what to do with ourselves. In fact, I often hear from clients that they feel guilty about ‘doing nothing’ or not using their time productively. Then, of course, there are times when we feel as though being alone will cultivate feelings of loneliness. We are social creatures by nature and we need to feel a sense of belonging and community so there will naturally be moments where we feel energised by social interactions. The problem lies in our constant busyness and when we begin to feel as though people are putting pressures on our time that we’d rather be spending elsewhere.  

Our bodies need time and space to cope with the pace of modern living. Never before in human history have we lived at such a relentless pace and it’s having a significant impact on our biochemistry. We need downtime, outside of sleep, to allow our bodies and minds time to recalibrate and rest. And solitude can help us foster that. For many, the only time they can truly feel as though they don’t have to ‘be’ or ‘do’ anything for anyone else is when they are alone. Solitude creates space for us to reflect on our priorities and needs, rather than those of others. It’s an opportunity for us to replenish both our body and our mind at the same time.   

So schedule some alone time weekly, or daily. It might be that you take a full hour for your lunchbreak each day where you leave your mobile at your desk so you don’t have the temptation of social media or emails. You might ask your partner to look after the kids for half an hour while you go for a walk around the block. You might like to build it up to an entire day. Get into nature, open that book you’ve been meaning to read for months or draw yourself a bath. Whatever feels like it will revitalise you the most.  

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