Healthy Breakfast Ideas for World Diabetes Day

Personally I believe Type 2 diabetes to be the biggest health risk for my children's generation, if not my own.  The increase in processed foods packed with hidden sugars and saturated fat and the super sizing of snacks has massively increased our sugar consumption.

Today is World Diabetes Day and this year the message is "a healthy start" with a big focus on breakfast. I completely concur with this approach as in my experience the better your start to the day the less likely you are to snack later on. 

That said it takes a change in mindset to move away from a standard british breakfast and start eating a more healthy protein rich lunch style breakfast.  Avoid cereals at all costs, most contain a shocking amount of sugar as does orange juice. Sugary breakfast cereals (even those promoted as "no sugar added" will still contain sugars in dried fruit, check out the food labels) trigger a big insulin response leaving you feeling low and sluggish and hungry again just a few hours later. 

Protein is key to keeping you going for longer and avoiding the hunger pangs. ‘No time’ is no excuse – omelette or frittata made the night before and eaten cold takes less time in the morning than pouring a bowl of cereal!

Try the following breakfast ideas:

3 egg Spinach and Mushroom Omelette
Slice a large field mushroom and fry in a little oil until soft. Add a large handful of spinach and a handful of halved cherry tomatoes. Continue to cook for a minute until it starts to wilt.

Whisk the eggs together and pour over the vegetables. Cook on a low to medium heat for a few minutes until the egg starts to cook but is still slightly runny on the top.

Place the omelette in the pan under a hot grill for 2 minutes until the egg is cooked through. Serve hot, or cook the night before and eat cold in the morning.

Variations: Try adding smoked salmon with the spinach.

Poached Eggs with Wholegrain Toast
Serve 2 poached eggs with a slice of wholegrain toast and some grilled tomatoes.

For those who can't stomach savoury eggs for breakfast (you can change, I proved it!) then try this alternative. It does contain sugar but much less than you will find in processed cereals. The slow release carbs in the oats will help keep you feeling fuller for longer too.

Apple and Blackberry Oaty
40g Jumbo Oats
1 grated apple
60g blackberries
100ml almond milk
1 egg
2 tsp honey
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Set the oven to 180 c
Lightly grease a large dish and spread over the grated apple and blackberries.
Whisk the egg then add the milk, honey and cinnamon and whisk again. Add in the oats, mix well and pour over the fruit. Cook in preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until golden brown and thoroughly cooked.