Breakfast Is Your Medicine and Here's Why....
Breakfast we have heard it a million times it’s the most important meal of the day. When I began studying health and wellness I was able to make the connection to the reasons why eating breakfast is important, it literally builds healthier brains. When we eat in the morning we are able to control our emotions and actions better in school and work and it helps control our weight because we are more likely to make better food choices the rest of the day.
Back in my days of stress overload office work I used be so caught up in my work not paying attention to how I was fueling my body. Part of my regular routine would be to survive on coffee to get me through at least the mid-morning before I would even think about eating something. I thought I was doing myself a favor because I wasn’t consuming any calories. If I did feel hunger creeping in I’d start to graze the candy bowl until I would consume enough high fructose corn syrup in the FREE tootsie rolls to give me that sense of I just ate something substantial. YAS people I really did this! Can anyone else relate? This cycle continued on until the stress and terrible food choices caught up to my gut and brain and made me emotionally and physically sick.
It’s no wonder I wasn’t well and I wasn’t feeding my brain the food it needed! As I began to learn more about brain health I changed my mindset to using food as medicine for my brain. I discovered that toxic food equals a toxic brain. It boils down to my truth was that donuts/muffins/junk carbs/candy/etc brought in for "free" for the office wasn't doing anyone a favor because it’s not about nutrition or promoting healthy well-being when consuming. So why do we do this over and over? It's a pattern but patterns can be broken! If you are stressed or suffer from anxiety I would encourage you to examine the food you are eating first thing in the morning and even throughout the day for that matter. When you fuel your body with food from the Earth it loves will love you back.
To be your very best most vibrant best self we need to feed our brains the nutrition it craves and our children's brains too. Healthy well-balanced choices of protein to fill you up, healthy carbs (fruits and vegetables) provide nutrition for brain health and fiber to keep you feeling fuller longer. Did you know that processed food containing high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils and artificial flavors/colors actually make you crave more food in shorter time spans? It also interrupts the neurotransmitters and blocks in our brain we so desperately need to keep evolving and learning. Have you ever eaten a donut only to be hungry a short time later with possibly a little brain fog that follows? This struggle is real friends.
As I continue in this moment to forge paths I haven’t been on as I build my business, keeping my brain healthy is a priority. A brainy breakfast has the right balance of complex carbohydrates and proteins because they both stimulate and relax the brain for optimal performance.
Here are a few suggestions for a good healthy brainy breakfast:
100% Whole Grain or Sprouted toast with peanut butter or almond butter topped with bananas or your favorite berry
-Whole grain cereal or oatmeal with fresh fruit and peanut butter
-Chia Seed Pudding with fresh fruit and nuts
-Apples and Peanut butter or Almond butter
-Smoothie made with a plant-based milk (coconut, almond, rice) and fruit with some nut butter
-I love to add these plant-based proteins for extra boosts to my smoothie:
-Hemp Seeds contain 10 grams of protein in 3 Tablespoons +they have brain boosting Omega 3 and Omega 6
-Pumpkin Seeds contain 5 grams of protein in 2 Tablespoons + brain boosting Omega 3
-Chia Seeds contain 4 grams of protein in 2 Tablespoons + brain boosting Omega 3
-Ground flax contains 4 grams of protein in 2 Tablespoons + brain boosting Omega 3
Looking for these offerings and many more plant-based food options to be available at Vibe Organic Juice Bar, coming the beginning of March to open.
Love and Light~
Amber
