Healthy Breakfast Menus

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. We should be eating something within the first half hour that we are awake to get our metabolism cranking. A lot of times we don't want to take the time needed to eat breakfast so a small nutrition packed meal is the ticket. I absolutely love my yogurt parfait. In fact, I have it every day. I just don't get sick of it. After reading about the nutrional benefits of wheat germ and almonds, I came up with this concoction:

  yogurt

  2 T wheat germ

  handful of almonds

  handful of blueberries

First I'll start with the benefits of wheat germ. There are so many! It is a great source of vitamins, including vitamin E and most of the B group. Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant known for it's importance is fighting cancer and heart problems. Along with the vitamins, it contains folic acid, iron, calcium and zinc. The minerals promote healthy skin, nails and hair and also stronger bones and teeth. Wheat germ is especially beneficial for women as it alleviates premenstrual symptoms as well as menopausal symptoms.

Almonds have there own host of health benefits. They too are rich in vitamins and minerals, including vitamin B17 which is an anti-cancer nutrient. Others found are vitamin E, magnesium, potassium, zinc and iron. They are also rich in fiber. Basically, almonds promote lower cholesterol levels, prevent heart disease and help you lose weight. Great benefits to protect against critical illness and they taste good too!

I picked blueberries as my fruit of choice because they have been shown to have the highest level of antioxidants. Antioxidants protect the body against the damaging effects of free radicals and the chronic diseases associated with the aging process.

Finally, the yogurt itself is packed with nutrition. I buy the probiotic kind to boost the immune system. Yogurt also helps to prevent osteoporosis with it's calcium and sometimes vitamin D. Studies have also shown it to reduce the risk of high blood pressure.

So, you can see that this, easy to put together, breakfast is just full of all the nutrients you need to get your day started off right. Not only that, it tastes delicious and jump starts your metabolism, a recipe for success!

So now you know some nutrionally power packed ingredients. Probably, most people don't want to eat the same thing every morning so here are some variations to try:

Menu 1:

Oatmeal w/ skim milk topped with a little brown sugar and a handful of almonds

cubed melon sprinkled with wheat germ

Menu 2:

Whole wheat bagel with cream cheese

Strawberry-banana smoothie

Recipe:

1 cup orange juice

3 T nonfat dry milk powder

1/2 banana cut up 

10 strawberries - hulled

3 ice cube

*Combine in blender until frothy

Menu 3:

Bran muffin

Blueberry smoothie

Recipe: 

1 pint fresh or 2 cups frozen blueberries

1 cup pineapple or orange juice

1 8 oz. lowfat vanilla yogurt

2 t. sugar

*Combine in blender

I didn't include drinks in the menus so be sure to include water and coffee - yes coffee! Studies have shown that coffee has a number of health benefits. A major benefit is in lowering the risk of type 2 diabetes. It also lowers risk of Parkinson's disease and colon cancer. It will even lift the mood and treat headaches - so feel free to drink up! A small glass of fruit juice can be substituted for fruit in a menu but shouldn't be done regularily since juice usually contains sugar. Natural juices are best.