It’s not a time for my best breakfast ideas. Or any ideas for that matter.

That’s why I go for the same old, same old breakfast. Usually something with a mule-like sugar kick and loads of carbs. Delicious, don’t get me wrong, I love the sugary, carby cereals. Fortunately (or is that unfortunately?) there’s lots of breakfast cereal brands out there to fill the gap.

It’s now 7.48pm on a Monday night…

…Perfect breakfast ideas time.

So here’s some of my favourites:

1. Liquid Breakfast – blend a banana, low fat milk or soy milk, soy, linseed and almond meal, low GI cereal and go, go, go. Actually make it a fruit salad smoothie. Throw in whatever fruit you have, even the slightly overripe stuff.
2. Eggs-cellent breakfast idea – eggs on whole grain toast are a great under-rated way to start the day.
3. Low GI diet breakfast – sounds complicated but low GI foods and cereal products are easy to find. And well worth the effort. Start the day with a slow-release food and avoid the m-id-morning ‘sugar low’.
4. Oats with grated green apple – simple, delicious, cheap and nutritious. A great combination.
5. Healthy Breakfast – low GI cereal, whole grain toast, fresh juice and a green tea. This is not only super healthy, a low GI diet helps keep your hunger away for longer than higher GI foods.

Sometimes the best idea is to prepare a little before bed the night before.

Also, a healthy breakfast sets you up for a virtuous day. You just feel better about yourself safe in the knowledge you’ve started the day healthily.

Enjoy!

There are many moods of breakfast. Sometimes I crave all natural cereals, sometimes sugary cereals, sometimes high fibre ones and sometimes just plain old wheat-bix.

(There’s never a time that I don’t eat breakfast. Not from a virtuous ‘the most important meal of the day’ mind, more that, like I said, I love breakfast cereals).

So, I’ve listed the best breakfast cereals by category.

1. Best for kids: Weetbix or any whole gain wheat biscuit type cereal. Kids can burn the carbs off in minutes. They’re cheap, easy to eat, easy to add fruit and stuff to and filling. Many active sportsmen claim to eat as many as nine each morning.
2. Best for weightloss or weight management. Anything low GI. Forget low fat. Most of these are high in sugar. Sugar is the weight losers enemy. Actually, with the amount of sugar we consume, it’s all of our enemy. A nutritionally well-balanced low GI breakfast cereal will keep you feeling fuller for longer so lessening the urge to snack.
   

   Best for weight loss? Low GI breakfast cereal.

3. Best for sugary hit. Take your pick. For mine it’s Crunch Nut Cornflakes. Just the other evening I was talking to a friend about our secret cereal fetishes and lo and behold the next morning the honey covered cornflake delights were on the table. My wife had bought some for a kids’ treat. More lo and beholding as I chowed through three bowls of the stuff. Fun while it lasted but regretted it the whole day.
4. Best breakfast recipes using cereals. I’m a serial cereal mixer. If you’re in a sugary mood, offset it by mixing the madness with some healthy breakfast cereal, especially anything low GI and high fibre and protein.
   For extra healthy breakfast, mix your healthiest cereals with some soy grits or protein. They don’t taste too bad but need to be part of a mix.
   A fresh breakfast recipe is to add some grated green apple to your cereal. Actually any fruit in season is a good idea. They add flavour, freshness and fibre.

Enjoy!

In today’s world it just means fast. No-one has time for cooking or complicated breakfast recipes in the week, especially the working week.

But, that’s no excuse for eating badly in the morning. I think most of us have heard breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It’s just that not many of us treat it importantly.

Looking at the supermarket breakfast aisle we’re faced with a wall of cereals all making some sort of health claim. To be perfectly honest not many of them really live up to their healthy messages. But this is not an article about the pros and cons of breakfast cereals.

In short, a good short-hand for a healthy start to the day is a low GI, all natural cereal with less than 10% sugar (nb. even low GI products can be high in sugar).

Low GI foods are in good taste

Fast Breakfast Recipes

Low GI cereal with low fat milk and fresh fruit. Not only good for you the low glycemic index (GI) means you’ll feel fuller for longer.

Eggs and sausage. Yes, eggs and sausage! Use a non-stick pan (no oil), free range egg and a low fat sausage. Fast to prepare and filling.

Fruit salad, low GI cereal and yoghurt. Just grab whatever fruit you have handy or is in season and chop roughly (no time to spare on nice cuts). Adding low GI cereal adds some texture and protein. Yoghurt adds some calcium and sweetness.

Bubble and Squeak. Almost forgotten gem but one of my all-time favourite fast breakfast ideas. Using last night cooked (ideally steamed or stir-fried) vegetables, add an egg and pan-fry. Add a slice or two of whole grain toast and away you go.

Get creative with your breakfast recipes. In no time you’ll break free of the cereal routine.

Enjoy!

Well, basically a glycemic index is a measure of the way in which carbohydrates or carbs, affect a person’s blood glucose levels. But how does low or high glycemic index food work and why is a lower one preferred?
High glycemic index foods break down very quickly and release a larger quantity of sugar or glucose into the bloodstream at once. That is why you get a huge sugar rush from your favorite chocolate bar but in an hour’s time feel hungry again (not to mention a little tired).

On the opposite end of the spectrum there is low glycemic index foods. These carbohydrates break down much slower and release glucose into the bloodstream at a much steadier rate. That is why when you eat a healthy breakfast with a lot of fruit and whole grain you feel less hungry throughout the day. Instead of a huge rush you have a long lasting and sustained trickle of energy to keep you going.

The glycemic index concept was first brought about in the early 1980′s by a researcher studying diabetes and the effect of certain foods on their bodies. Before this research was conducted it was assumed diabetics should just avoid sugar all together and they would be fine. What was discovered was the fact that carbohydrates affect a person’s glycemic index just as much as sugar. In fact they are broken down in the body and made into glucose in the same manner sugar is. With this in mind a no-sugar diet was reformed for diabetics and others wanting a safer blood glucose level and it was made into a low glycemic index diet instead.

Foods lowest in their glycemic index count include nuts, fruits, vegetables, whole gains, soy/tofu and vegetable protein or “fake” meat products. With all of these food items your meal plan can be endless. There is no certain low GI or glycemic index diet to follow in amounts of food or how and when to eat them. You simply have to make watching the GI counts in your food part of your lifestyle. And try to limit or cut down in moderation of how much high glycemic index foods you intake per day.

Some high glycemic index foods carry a number of 70+ on their glycemic index. These foods include white bread, watermelon (one of the only fruits on the list), cornflakes, baked potatoes, and any sort of candy or sweet baked good. For the most part, they are foods you should be limiting anyway. Low to low-medium glycemic index foods are rated 55-65 respectively and include most of the rest of your basic food groups.

“The glycemic index, glycaemic index, or GI is a measure of the effects of carbohydrates on blood sugar levels. Carbohydrates that break down quickly during digestion, releasing glucose rapidly into the bloodstream, have a high GI; carbohydrates that break down more slowly, releasing glucose more gradually into the bloodstream, have a low GI. For most people, foods with a low GI have significant health benefits.”

One of those significant health benefits of low GI foods, like super low GI SuperStart, is how they help satisfy your hunger for longer. For people looking to lose or manage their weight the benefit of less hunger pangs and sustained energy is obvious. (If not so obvious…it’s less snacking!)

WHERE IS YOUR BREAKFAST CEREAL ON THE GLYCEMIC INDEX?

When independently tested with low fat milk SuperStart indexed at 32. Low GI foods are any that index below 55.

SuperStart achieves its low glycemic index from its unique blend of high quality cereals, grains, nuts and seeds.

We recommend people check the nutritional panel and ingredient list on all their products, especially breakfast cereals.

NOT ALL LOW GLYCEMIC INDEX BREAKFASTS ARE EQUAL.

Some low glycemic index cereals achieve their rating through highly condensed sugars found in most dried fruits, which result in a slower blood sugar reaction but are hard to digest.

One low GI muesli on the market, made from rolled oats, oat flour, diced apple and fruit concentrate has a low 7.8g (per 100g) of protein, carbohydrate total of 72.4g (per 100g) and sugar of 25.2g (per 100g). One-quarter of every serve is sugar!

SuperStart, on the other hand, has all natural ingredients like puffed Kamut, amaranth, roasted buckwheat, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, and whole hazelnuts. All the 13 ingredients give you:

- 16.6g (per 100g) protein.

- 44.5g (per 100g) of carbohydrates.

- 2.1% sugar…that’s all, and the sugar is found naturally in the ingredients, there’s none added.

- 13.3g (per 100g) of dietary fibre.

I love the the fact that eating is the best strategy to losing weight.

Diets, especially those that demand complete and instant change to routine, in many cases are counter-productive. That is, after the diet you put the weight straight back on. Maybe even more weight than you lost.

Plus, diets are plain boring, hard-work, anti-social and expensive.

Much better to eat your way to weight loss or weight management. Or to general health and wellbeing for that matter.

And there’s no better place to start than at breakfast.

If you had just one weight loss strategy to use then a good, filling, healthy breakfast would be it. (On the other hand, skipping breakfast is probably the worst weight loss strategy).

It’s pretty simple. What you eat at the start of the day sets your body and your mind up for the rest of the day. Throwing down a high carb, sugary cereal may be quick and taste great but the sugar rush is over as quick as it starts. What you’re left with is the familiar mid-morning slump. And that takes many of us straight to the cookie jar for yet another quick, tasty, sugary hit.

The good news is a filling, low carb, low sugar, high protein and fibre breakfast is easy to make and will keep you going through the day. You just need to top-up with smaller meals at lunch and dinner.

Here’s a few breakfast ideas and breakfast recipes to get you started. We recommend low GI cereal for weight loss and general health for many reasons especially it’s ability to make you feel fuller for longer.

Traditional Big Breakfast

Low GI cereal with low fat milk

Eggs, poached

Wholemeal toast, no butter

Coffee or tea with low fat milk and sweetened with a natural sugar alternative like stevia

Banana or small juice

Breakfast, Fast

Low GI cereal or porridge with low fat milk and fresh fruit and mint

(avoid cereals high in carbs and sugars, even the so-called ‘healthy’ cereals)

Chinese herbal tea throughout the day

Sweet Success

Low fat, low GI cereal with low fat yoghurt and fresh fruit (look for cereal high in protein and fibre)

Chinese herbal tea

Breakfast Crunchie Smoothie

Blend low fat milk or soy milk, banana, strawberries, low fat yoghurt and low GI cereal

Enjoy!