Is there anything better than starting the day with a good breakfast? Waking up and being able to enjoy a healthy, tasty and colorful vegan breakfast is certainly a small luxury that we can give ourselves to face the day with renewed energy. Whether you have decided to start a vegetarian or vegan diet, or if you want to reduce the consumption of animal products, it is important to have a nutritionally conscious and complete diet. Now we will focus on how to make your veggie breakfast as healthy and complete as possible by being 100% plant-based.
Is breakfast the most important meal of the day?
“Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper”; This popular saying that the vast majority of us know, has been doing the rounds in diet culture. Along with the belief that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day”, many individuals, in full confusion, have been able to understand that breakfast should be the most copious and, therefore, caloric intake of the day. However, we will see that the excuse of lack of time and possibly the lack of ideas to elaborate a vegan, vegetarian or any other kind of breakfast that is easy and appetizing has had a negative impact on the habit of a large number of people.
All this has been relegating the moment of this first meal of the day to a simple procedure for which we do not pay enough attention and we are satisfied with the most accessible option and that, usually, is the least indicated.
The answer to the previous question is it depends. It depends on each person and their lifestyle and habits. The way your day is organized is largely what will decide when you need to eat more food, either by time or physiological need. For example, someone who works a night shift may not feel like eating too much “breakfast” before going to bed. On the other hand, someone who usually has a late dinner and a considerable amount of food will probably not wake up with too much appetite and will be able to hold off with a coffee with milk until 12 noon, when he or she will most likely feel like a snack.
So, breakfast is not the most important meal of the day, nor should it not be. What is really important is the quality of what is ingested and this has to be assessed in the whole diet of the whole day, not only in a single intake.
In this sense, people who follow a vegan or vegetarian diet do not differ in any way from the rest of individuals, since the caloric contribution of some vegetable foods can be equal or superior to other foods that incorporate ingredients of animal origin. For example, toast with peanut butter and jam, one of the easiest vegan options to prepare, can easily exceed the calories provided by toast with butter and jam.
Where. how and what do we have for breakfast?
According to a study carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food from the Observatory of Food Consumption and Distribution, 72% of Spaniards have only one breakfast at home, 23.2% divide their breakfast at home and mid-morning outside, 3.7% only have breakfast outside and, finally, the remaining 1.4% never have breakfast.
The time devoted to breakfast at home is 13.4 minutes on weekdays and 18 minutes on weekends. The data outside the home any day of the week seems more relaxed, reaching 19 minutes on average. Other remarkable data collected by the previous study is that 63% of those surveyed have breakfast at home without any company during the week and that up to 17.1% do it standing up.
Sixty-nine percent of Spaniards eat the same breakfast every day and it is women who vary their choices the most. Among the main foods consumed at home are coffee with milk, bread, olive oil and fruit. On the other hand, in those consumed outside the home, in addition to coffee and bread, pastries tend to be one of the most common foods.
Drawing conclusions from this study is relatively simple. The early morning rush, the lack of reconciliation with the rest of the family with whom we share the home and the lack of ideas for not hating breakfast are apparently the key factors that indicate the lack of attention we pay to the first meal of the day.
What shouldn’t your breakfast be like?
Unfortunately, a series of habits have been established by the food industry, which has insisted on making us believe that a bowl of cereals or a packet of cookies accompanied by fruit smoothies are the best option for a complete breakfast.
Industrial pastries, cookies, sausages, fruit juices, smoothies and sugary yogurts and other “refreshing” drinks should disappear from our breakfasts. All these foods not only do not provide us with nutrients, but they are also loaded with added sugars, refined flours, poor quality oils and high amounts of salt. In addition to leaving unhealthy foods aside, we must stop being among the 69% who eat a monotonous breakfast and encourage us to vary and try other ways to start the day with new, easy and balanced vegan recipes.
Have a great breakfast!
At breakfast, as in the rest of the meals, we must be conscious of eating in a way that we cover all the nutritional needs of our body.
A nutritional strategy used is based on incorporating slow assimilation carbohydrates. Examples would be whole grain bread, oat flakes or other whole grain cereals, and foods that keep us satiated for longer or until the next intake; these would be foods rich in protein such as hummus or tofu and foods with healthy fats such as nuts.
For this meal to be complete, all the macronutrients that our body needs must be present, although it is true that you can also supplement breakfast with other daily intakes if you do not cover any of them in the morning.
- Carbohydrates: they are usually the basis of our breakfasts. Choose whole-grain options whenever possible and accompany them with other quality ingredients.
- Quality proteins: choose proteins of vegetable origin such as legumes, present for example in hummus (chickpeas) or vegetable soy beverage. Nuts, in addition to healthy fats, also contain proteins (almond, peanut, walnut). A toast or sandwich with tofu is also a very interesting option to add protein in a vegan or vegetarian diet.
- Vegetables: vegetables and fruits provide the vitamins and minerals that our body needs. Accompany your breakfast with a serving of fruit or take it at mid-morning. Adding green leaves (arugula, lettuce, spinach) to your toast or sandwiches is also a very advisable option.
Tips for choosing healthy ingredients
The ingredients you choose should be as healthy as possible. Choose whole wheat flour rather than refined flour, since the latter has gone through a process in which only the starch is preserved and the germ and bran, which are the parts of the cereal that contain the most nutrients and fiber, are discarded. Discard yogurts, smoothies or other vegetable alternatives loaded with sugars and additives. A quality natural yogurt should only be made with milk and ferments. Likewise, if you opt for a vegetable alternative to yogurt, the main ingredient should be the product (soy, oats, coconut, etc.) and ferments. Don’t be the one to add sugar to your breakfast either; sweeten it by using fresh fruit, dates, raisins or dried apricots, which in addition to sweetness and more nutrients, provide very rich flavors.
It is also important to know how to improvise, because not every morning will be the same. One day, perhaps because of the rush that we all suffer on occasion, you have to have breakfast in the elevator, on the way to work or your school or in a service area during a car trip. Always have a plan B ready. A banana, a couple of tangerines or a handful of nuts or dried fruit are good quick options without having to resort to other packaged options that are not so good.
A different vegan option for every day of the week
In the following table I suggest some of my favorite vegan breakfast recipes, one for each day of the week, so there is no excuse to fall into the monotony of toast or the dangerous trap of commercial brand cereals or crackers. I can assure you that these options will help you start the day energized and even in a better mood.
You may find it awkward at first to have to prepare these recipes when you don’t have that much time. A very simple trick to save time in the mornings is to leave the ingredients ready the day before, and this way you will not get lost and take the first thing that comes to mind, which usually ends up in some unnecessary treat that we do not even get to enjoy.
Although all these ideas are easy and balanced recipes, both savory and sweet options, you can adapt the ingredients according to your individual needs. That is, if for example you need low-calorie recipes or you prefer to take a protein option, you can substitute some of the ingredients in each recipe.
