Ten Healthy Breakfast Options

Smooties, museli and pure fruit juice for breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so it's essential that you make the most of it. But really it's not that difficult to get a good deal of nutrition from your morning meal. We've put down ten healthy breakfast options to help you prepare a nutritional feast that will keep you going all day.

Porridge and berries

Use oats and skimmed milk to make your porridge, then add any berries such as strawberries, raspberries or blueberries and honey. This is a great way to start the day as the oats have a low GI (Glycaemic Index) this tells us that oats do not raise the blood glucose level very quickly, which is good as it can help stabilise the appetite. Just go easy on the honey!

Beans on toast

Beans (whether they are just ordinary baked beans or kidney, borlotti or black eyed beans) also have a low GI like oats. They are full of soluble fibre, which helps keep you full for longer and can therefore help you manage your weight. Serve the beans on granary toast and pass on the butter; a great, low fat breakfast.

Bagel with reduced fat cream cheese and smoked salmon

Bagels are high in starchy carbohydrates, which help kick start the body into action for the day after a fast of at least eight to ten hours. The smoked salmon provides the body with omega-3 fat which is essential for the body. Many of us eat far too much saturated fat (which is bad for us) and not enough omega-3 fat that is vital for our health.

Fruit and yogurt

Try adding your favourite fruit to a small pot of low fat or diet yogurt for breakfast. A small pot of yogurt counts as one of your three portions per day of dairy foods, essential for the teeth and bones.

Bacon, tomatoes, beans, mushrooms and toast

For those of you who can’t resist a cooked breakfast at the weekends try this. It really is a healthy twist on a traditional fried breakfast; grill the bacon, tomatoes and large flat field mushrooms, if you pop the beans on top of the toast then you can even forgo the butter.

Crumpets and fruit spread

Crumpets are a starchy food (they should be the basis of every meal). The only problem with crumpets is the tendency to add lots of butter to them. Try a fruit spread, a great way to top them without adding all the calories and fat in butter.

Muesli and soya milk or low fat milk (such as semi-skimmed or skimmed milk)

Swiss style muesli has milk powder added to it, which increases the calcium content of this breakfast cereal. Add calcium-enriched soya milk or semi-skimmed milk and you have a bone friendly breakfast!

Pure fruit juice and iron fortified breakfast cereal

Next time you are in the cereal aisle at the supermarket, spare a few minutes to check out the labelling on the packets. Not all cereals are equal when it comes to the vitamins and minerals that are added to them. Iron is a mineral that is added to many cereals, try sultana bran or bran flakes, drink a glass of pure fruit juice such as orange or grapefruit and the vitamin C that the juice contains helps your body to absorb the iron more easily.

Smoothie

If you really can’t face breakfast try to have a smoothie instead. If you fancy trying to make one yourself (easy if you have a hand blender) then fruits such as berries, apples and bananas are great with some milk. All those anti-oxidant vitamins in the fruit help boost your immunity.

Scrambled or poached egg on granary toast

Eggs are not bad for us! It is what you do with them… Poaching or scrambling eggs with a little milk is a good way to incorporate them into your diet. They provide valuable protein, scrambled eggs on toast is a much better choice over a fried egg sandwich.