Make breakfast count

Breakfast is often considered the most important meal of the day as it breaks your overnight fast supplying the body and brain with necessary nutrients after potentially 12 hours since your last meal. Having a healthy breakfast every morning will positively affect your mood, physical and mental performance, weight, and long-term health.

Benefits of a healthy breakfast

Breakfast helps to:

• Improve your energy levels and metabolism.
• Reduce fatigue across the day
• Improve memory and concentration
• Provide beneficial nutrients
• Stabilise blood sugar levels, which regulates appetite and energy. People who eat breakfast are less likely to be hungry and overeat during the rest of the day.

Skipping breakfast

By skipping breakfast, you risk having:

• Less control over your appetite – breakfast helps to stabilise blood sugar levels, which regulates appetite and energy.
• Reduced brain power – eating breakfast helps to maintain focus and concentration levels in the morning helping you perform better at school.
• Nutritional deficiencies – breakfast provides essential nutrients such as fibre, iron, calcium, zinc and vitamin B2. These nutrients missed at breakfast are generally not compensated from other meals throughout the day.

Healthy breakfast ideas

• Fresh fruit and yoghurt
• Porridge
• Untoasted muesli
• English muffins or crumpets
• Fruit and vegetable smoothies
• Wholegrain toast with spread or avocado
• Boiled eggs on wholegrain toast
• Wholegrain cereals with milk or yoghurt
• Baked beans on toast or in a toasted sandwich

Breakfast fruit smoothie

1 serve

Ingredients

• 1 small banana
• 1 cup reduced fat milk
• 1 breakfast wheat biscuits or 1 tablespoon oats
• ½ cup reduced fat vanilla yoghurt

Method

1. Add all ingredients into a blender, blend until smooth.

French toast

2 serves

Ingredients

• 4 slices of bread (fruit loaf, wholemeal, wholegrain) 
• ½ cup reduced fat milk
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon margarine

Method

1. Beat egg together with milk, and dip bread into the mixture.
2. Add the margarine into a hot pan. Cook bread for 2 minutes on each side.
3. Serve hot with toppings – reduced fat cheese, tomatoes, mushrooms, banana and other fruits, reduced fat yoghurt, reduced fat cream cheese, ricotta.