Breakfast Battles: Nutrient Dense Food On The Go

by Kayla Grossmann

The "low fat" movement made its debut on national television in 1956 when several American Heart Association doctors conducting a fundraiser encouraged their audience to replace traditional American foods with boxed cereal, margarine and vegetable shortening. At this time we waved a tragic goodbye to breakfast as it should be: no more protein-dense eggs, bacon simmering in the pan, slowly baking soaked grains and fresh vegetables tossed in a coat of delicious shimmering butter. An era had ended. Now we are pushed towards heaping bowls of sugary cereal drizzled with low fat milk, bulky bagels slathered in commercial cream cheese and scrambled egg whites plopped over toast- or nothing at all. Are these really the "healthy options" we are looking for? September is National Breakfast Month, marking a time for all of us to reconsider breakfast and get back to some of the traditional kickstarter foods our bodies deserve.

nutrient dense foods for breakfast

Fake Foods for Breakfast?

The USDA recommends a breakfast that is high in whole grains, includes low-fat dairy, fortified juice and a lean protein. These foods are all "conveniient, but what else do they have in common? None of them are real! Most of the foods recommended by modern nutrition programs have been industrially stripped of their naturally balanced nutrient content. Cereals and dairy products are harshly heated and mass produced to oblivion, then fortified with profitable synthetic vitamins and minerals. Then they are re-bulked with irritating preservatives, flavorings and refined ingredients that cause gastric upset, dysregulated appetite, blood glucose swings, anxiety and many other symptoms. The picture to the right shows the popular guidelines for a "healthy" breakfast menu. Decide for yourself: do these foods provide enough quality nutrition to sustain the intricate workings of our bodies and minds?

We Don't Think So!

Breakfast ought to be a meal filled with naturally nutrient dense healthy fats and proteins, which provide the vital nourishment the body requires to function optimally throughout the day. Sometimes we open up the cabinets in a half asleep morning stupor and try to think about what we want to eat for breakfast. It can be downright tempting to grab at convenient boxed options and wash them down with a slug of milk from the grocery store. But don't give in! Nutrient dense doesn't have to mean complicated. There are plenty of ways to prepare hearty traditional breakfast foods in a hurry, or to do the work ahead of time so that they are ready to munch on the go. Check out some of our favorite traditional breakfast tips and recipes.