Health & Nutrition :

Healthy Foods to Start Your Day

Posted In: Health & Nutrition, Nutrition : 1/12/2012

We have heard it before; breakfast is the most important meal of the day!

Starting your day with a healthy diet that provides you with the right nutrients to help your body get a kick start is a good choice.

“A healthy breakfast should be a variety of foods like whole grains, low-fat protein or dairy sources, and fruit,” says Andrea Gorman, MS, RD, manager of clinical nutrition at Rhode Island Hospital/Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence.

Here a few recommended, healthy foods that can help get your day started right:

1. Healthy Cereal - Start with a high fiber cereal and add bananas, low-fat milk or plain yogurt or sprinkle on a little granola. You will be getting fiber, protein, calcium and potassium.

2. Berries - Another possibility for breakfast is berries and low-fat Greek-style yogurt with a drizzle of honey and a sprinkle of toasted sliced almonds. How good does that sound!

3. Nutrition To Go - Smoothies are a great and healthy on the go way to start your morning.

4. Get a good “warm-up” - Susan B. Roberts, PhD, author of The Instinct Diet and professor of nutrition at the USDA Nutrition Center at Tufts University in Boston, recommends hot cereal: Microwave 1/4 cup each of instant oatmeal and coarse wheat bran with a cup of 1 percent milk.

5. Eggs – You can mix it up by mixing one whole egg with one egg white, some whole wheat toast and fruit and you are good to go.

6. Burritos – Egg whites, low carb, whole wheat wraps, low fat salsa & sour cream with just a sprinkle of cheese and you have got a healthy and nutritious breakfast.

7. Cottage Cheese – Mixed with fruit or nuts is a good source of calcium and high in protein.

8. Ham - Yes, ham! Two slices of lean Canadian bacon with one whole egg and one egg white scrambled, and a half of grapefruit and you have got a meal full of protein, fiber, and vitamin C.

9. Veggies – Add some vegetables like broccoli or spinach in your eggs.

10. Whole Grain – Whole-grain English muffins with peanut butter and sliced fruit like apples or pears, along with a glass of milk, can be filling while providing protein and calcium.