“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day”, mummy always said to me every morning as I downed my bowl of millet porridge before I left for school. Two decades later, the lifeless adage has been passed down to my three-year-old toddler.
It’s Mwaka here to shed some light, and maybe change some perspectives on alkaline breakfast foods. In the last few weeks we have talked about iron, heavy metal detox, and pancreas health, but not the beginning of your day, so let’s dive into it.
Why Is Breakfast Important?
Do I believe that breakfast is the most important meal of the day? No. Do I think that breakfast is important? 100%.
Breakfast sets the tone for the rest of the day. Eating the right foods and drinks for breakfast will set your physical and mental ‘tone’ (or baseline) for the day. Breakfast can keep your mind focused and alert while improving your mood to help you conquer the day. Or, if you choose badly, it can make you sluggish all day long!
How you start your day is critical to how the rest will go. If the day starts with something that is inflammatory (i.e. every sugar-filled single cereal you see in the shops) then you will experience brain fog and reduced immune function for the rest of the day. That’s a day wasted.
Experiencing life through the inflammatory veil of brain fog and fatigue has become normal. Most adults rely on acidic caffeinated beverages to force themselves into action. But, when you learn to correctly fuel your body and mind then the stimulation comes naturally. Your body has its own hormones to motivate you and get you moving, but they are masked by our addiction to sugar and caffeine.
How Do You Breakfast Right?
From the word itself, breakfast is breaking from your night-long fast (read through my 24-hour fast article to learn more about fasting). In simple language, it is the first meal of the day. The time is irrelevant, your first meal could be noon, or 10 am or even later, depending on your personal eating pattern.
We have been led to believe that breakfast has to be a meal or food we consume, and I beg to differ. There is more to breakfast than just a bowl of fruits! Here are some ways you can break-your-fast right:
Exercise
Try incorporating a few minutes of light exercise, like yoga, walking or stretching, into your morning routine to kickstart your day. This is a good break-fast for your mind, body, and soul. A morning walk through the park can work wonders for your energy by giving you fresh air and sunshine, meanwhile, the movement helps move toxins out of the body. When you move your body it increases energy production (in the mitochondria) and after the first few minutes (which is a mental battle!) you will find that moving actually creates energy.
Herbs
Morning can be a great time to dose up on your favorite herbs. Your body relies on nutritional signals to drive metabolism and your mood. Herbal teas are great for cleansing and detoxifying your body while boosting immunity. Burdock, nettle, and dandelion are great for cleansing and hydrating while ensuring you have an anti-oxidant kickstart to your day.
Hydration
A glass of water is one of the best ways to break your fast. Hydration in the morning helps you detoxify and cleanse your body (helping to flush out toxins that have been mobilized overnight during your immune systems' nightly brain-clean). Hydration keeps your skin clear and brain clever, we are made of water and need to keep topped up. We exhale a liter of water each night from our breath as we sleep. This needs to be replaced when we wake up. Adding a splash of key lime juice adds flavor, invigorates the kidneys, helps digest fats, and tops up potassium (which most people lack).
Fasting
Yes, you read that right. Not breaking your fast is a way of ‘breakfasting’ right. The irony! Fasting has incredible benefits (learn some of them here in my 24-hour fast article). Don’t be shy to try fasting because you believe it is wrong to skip breakfast. Moving your breakfast to later in the day improves gut health, repairs damaged cells, and promotes growth hormone production. The longer the delay the better! Avoid eating until you are actually hungry, when your body needs fuel. Running on empty is incredibly good for your metabolic fitness as it teaches the body how to efficiently switch between fuel sources (stored fat or immediate carbohydrates).
Okay, so now that you know what you can do in the morning to add that extra pep to your step, let’s start cooking!
Breakfast Alkaline Foods To Kickstart Your Day
Dr. Sebi’s Energizer Smoothie
You didn’t hear your alarm, or you probably snoozed it too many times. You’re already behind schedule and scrambling to get out of the door. What did you forget? Breakfast! This recipe is a lifesaver when you lack the time, or enthusiasm, to whip up an Instagram photo-worthy meal. Smoothies are just as nutritious as any solid food, let go of preconceived ideas about something needing to be difficult to be good.
Preparation Time:
5 minutes
Serves:
1 serving
Ingredients:
- 1 cup cubed papaya or melon
- ½ cup quinoa or amaranth
- 1 cup homemade approved nut milk
- 1 date or ½ tbsp date sugar
Instructions:
- Put everything in a blender and blend!
Variations:
Smoothies are ideal for creating daily variety, you can change them up in lots of different nutritious ways.
The Creamy Smoothie:
- Add more homemade alkaline milk, berries, or burro bananas.
- This will make your smoothie thicker and creamier.
The Fruity Smoothie:
- Add more fruit!
- What is your favorite flavor or color? Add it!
- What is in season? Add some of that too!
- Adding more fruit will make the smoothie sweeter and digest quicker so you will need to plan when your next food opportunity will be, it also travels well.
The Filling Smoothie:
- To make this smoothie more filling, and slow the process of digestion, add your favorite approved seeds or nuts.
- Tahini blends in easily, while walnuts or brazil nuts will add to the texture of the smoothie, you can make it extra thick, and then it is best served in a bowl.
Breakfast Veggie Bowl
This recipe is a modification of Dr. Sebi’s Bell pepper and Cucumber salad I made for my sister for her weight loss journey. I incorporated her favorite foods into the recipe so that she actually followed the meal plan I wrote her.
Serving:
1 serving
Ingredients:
- 5 cherry tomatoes
- ½ yellow bell pepper and ½ red pepper, sliced
- ½ cucumber
- ½ onion
- 2 tbsp key lime juice
- Sea salt to taste
Instructions:
- Combine all your ingredients into a bowl, drizzle key lime, and add salt to taste. Enjoy!
- This meal is high in fiber and nutrition, it is a fantastic addition to your plant-based recipe collection. Plus, just like the smoothies, there are lots of variations possible depending on personal preferences and what you have in stock!
Variations:
You could add more raw vegetables, or cooked ones - if you are super well organized you can cook some extra the night before. Add some nuts for texture or seaweed for salty flavor. Dress with something tasty so that your break-fast veggie bowl is something you can look forward to. Add some Garbanzo or Quinoa to make it even more filling and nutritious. Maybe you need to spice it up with an extra kick (peppers stimulate metabolism, the hot fire lights you up on the inside!)
Zucchips and Guacamole Dip
You bought too many zucchinis to make zucchini boats for last night’s dinner (which was absolutely delicious, BTW), and you have no idea what to do with the ones left. This recipe will make you understand why zucchinis and avocados made Mwaka’s top 10 alkaline foods.
Zucchips
Ingredients:
- 2 zucchinis
- ½ cup avocado oil
- 50g rye flour (or any flour from approved grains)
- 1 tbsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tbsp sea salt
Instructions:
- Slice the zucchinis into thin circular disks.
- Coat with rye flour on both sides.
- Place on your baking tray, drizzle with oil, and sprinkle salt and cayenne pepper.
- Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees F until a light golden brown.
- You can also use squash instead of zucchini for this recipe. The instructions are the same and the varieties are endless. Lots of vegetables can be gently baked to make dipping-structures! The act of dipping is enjoyable, the crispness mixed with softness is a pleasure for the palette. What can you crisp up? Crispy Kale BTW is delicious (crisp it slowly, it doesn’t need long!)
Guacamole Dip
Ingredients:
- 2 ripe avocados cut into chunks
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ cup coconut milk
- 1 key lime
Instructions:
Add all the ingredients into a high-speed blender and blend until desired consistency - or get your fork out, roll up your sleeves and get yourself ready for a kitchen workout (cooking is the same exercise intensity as a fast walk!).
Variations:
Serve your Zucchips (or whatever else you have made dippable!) with this guacamole dip, tahini, or a delicious herb pesto!
Fruity Nutty Teff Porridge
I try to keep family traditions alive, explaining why I make this porridge for my toddler. When I was a child, I enjoyed my morning bowl of porridge, and I didn’t want to rob the little lad of this experience. Moreover, storytime with granny hits differently over a steaming cup of this porridge!
Here’s an alternative method to eating, that is not fasting but has great benefits to your body and can be a great way to break your fast:
Servings:
2 servings
Prep time:
2 minutes
Cook time:
15 minutes
Ingredients:
- ½ cup teff flour
- ¾ cup walnut milk
- ½ cup spring water
- 1 burro banana sliced (remember to leave some for your topping)
- 1 tsp date sugar
- A handful of walnuts, chopped
Instructions:
- In a saucepan, add water, flour, milk, banana slices, and date sugar. Stir the ingredients on medium heat to combine.
- Boil the mixture. Once it starts boiling, reduce the heat to low, add your walnuts, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Occasionally, stir to prevent the flour from sticking to the saucepan.
- If the mixture is too thick, add more walnut milk and keep simmering.
- Once ready, serve in a bowl and use the remaining bananas as toppings.
- You can use strawberries, raspberries, or blueberries in place of bananas or as toppings.
- A powerful breakfast food, this porridge is also great for constipation since it is rich in fiber, and in addition will help you and your family build strong bones and teeth due to its high calcium content.
Cleanses
Cleansing doesn’t need hyping because its benefits speak for themselves. You can never go wrong with a heavy metal detox or a juice cleanse. Moreover, Dr. Sebi has cleansing buddies to help you, a newbie, start this journey.
Break-Fast Your Way!
There you go! Start your day with any of these delicious recipes, or stick to your favorite fruit bowl, no judgement. Your takeaway from today’s read is there are a lot of tasty alkaline foods to choose from, always stay hydrated, consider herbs for bonus nutrition, eat only when you’re hungry (e.g. breakfast later), get into a routine, and listen to your body!
Drop a comment on whether this article was helpful and rate each recipe you make. We enjoy seeing photos of meals you’ve made courtesy of Dr.Sebi’s Cell Foods. Tag us on Instagram and Facebook, and let’s see how deliciously creative we can be in the kitchen!
Until next time,
Stay healthy!
Mwaka
1 comment
Hi!
Am interested in receiving more of your healthy recipes. I am a great cook and now I want to switch to healthy food that electrifies the immune system and the body.
Thanks