As we age, taking care of our bodies becomes even more important, including starting each day with a healthy breakfast. Eating a nutritious breakfast helps us stay energized and focused throughout the day and can also reduce our risk of heart disease, high cholesterol, and insulin resistance.However, preparing a balanced breakfast can be challenging, especially if you don't have the proper knowledge. In this post, we will share some easy breakfast ideas that are perfect for starting your day.

It's essential to start our day with healthy foods. Studies show that eating a healthy breakfast and doing so regularly helps reduce the risk of high cholesterol and insulin resistance, two conditions that knock on your heart health. More than this, the proper breakfast can improve your memory and helps to reduce impulse snacking throughout the day.

“We want you to start your day off healthy and strong.” –Brenda Senko.

A few things we want to include in our breakfast meal include lean protein, whole grains, and adding fruits and veggies wherever you can. Lean protein can consist of eggs, egg whites, low-fat cottage cheese, and plain Greek yogurt. You can even think about unsalted nuts, like walnuts or peanuts. Healthy natural nut butter, such as almond butter and peanut butter, is also a great option. When it comes to your carbohydrates, we want to ensure that it is wholegrain, such as wholegrain bread or old-fashioned oats. Yet, an essential part of a healthy breakfast is fruits, vegetables, or salad.

What do we want to avoid?

When deciding what to have for breakfast, try and avoid things like pancakes, sausages, bacon, or other processed breakfast meats, as these add a lot of saturated fats to your meal. These foods also often contain lots of salt and added sugars. In turn, this increases your blood pressure and can increase your stroke and heart attack risk.

It is worth mentioning that if you are not a breakfast person, start small. You don’t need a massive or typical breakfast meal –you may even want to eat dinner from the night before.What’s important is that you start your day with food. Routine is also key; your body works best if you eat around the same time every day. This will ensure you remain full throughout the day, with more energy and an improved mood.

Now, let’s create a healthy and simple breakfast. First, let’s pick our healthy carbs or grains. If you do buy dry cereals, make sure it is a high fiber, low sugar cereal, such as bran flakes or rolled oats, unsweetened shredded wheat, or plain regular Cheerios are also an alternative option. If you prefer hot cereals, rolled oats are much better than instant oatmeal, as they often have added sugars and salt.

1. Let’s start by adding a half cup of 100% wholegrain oats to a bowl and ensure that there are no hidden ingredients (you can check the food label to find this out).
2. Add a cup of unsweetened almond milk to the oats.
3. Flavor your oats with your favorite additions, such as ground cinnamon and a few drops of vanilla extract.
4. Mix these ingredients together with the oats. You can either cover the mixture and place it in the refrigerator overnight to have it cold the next day or cook it straight in a pan for a hot breakfast.
5. Top with some fruit of your choice. There is also the option to add a natural nut butter here for added healthy fats and protein.
6. This recipe is an excellent opportunity to bulk-make some breakfast meals for the next few days and store them in the fridge.
7. A boiled egg is a great addition as a side food for those who prefer to have additional protein for their first meal of the day.

Other ingredients you can mix and match across your meals include wholegrain/wholewheat bread, avocado, sauteed vegetables, natural peanut butter, wholewheat English muffins, scrambled eggs, and chia seeds.

Now onto the seasoning. Keeping your salt and added sugar intake as low as possible is crucial to keep your physical health in check. Therefore, making switches to other flavorings, such as garlic and onion powder in place of salt, and berries and other fruits in place of jams.

Remember, these are big taste adjustments, especially for those who love traditional fry-up style breakfasts, and it might take a while for your palette to get used to these low-sugar and low-salt foods. That said, it is also important to try and cut back on fruit juices, soda, and sweetened coffees and teas. Instead, try to start your day with water or herbal teas.

Eating a healthy breakfast regularly is essential, especially for older adults over 65. By including lean protein, whole grains, and fruits and vegetables in your breakfast, you can reduce the risk of high cholesterol and insulin resistance and improve your heart health. It also helps to improve your memory and reduce impulse snacking throughout the day. Avoid processed breakfast meats and sugary cereals, choose natural nut butter, and flavor your breakfast with garlic and onion powder instead of salt. Try the recipe we shared or mix and match your ingredients to create a healthy and delicious breakfast that works for you. Starting your day with a healthy and balanced meal can set you up for success, and we hope this post has provided you with helpful tips and ideas to do just that.