In life, there are two teams, those who cannot swallow a gram when they wake up, and those who never, ever imagine skipping the most important meal of the day. Category to which I belong. For as long as I can remember, breakfast has always been part of my eating habits and I give this meal the time it deserves. Likewise, I always enjoy it seated at the table, and never on a corner of the bar, bitten in haste when I'm leaving, or with my head elsewhere, to eat “mindfully”. Try it anyway! For the same reason, I avoid screens as soon as I wake up to approach the day gently around a well-chosen menu.
Between sweet and salty, my heart no longer hesitates
Like many, I grew up with a very French breakfast consisting of butter and jam toast. A delight. Cereal was sometimes present, but it was far from the norm. If toast is a pleasure for the taste buds, in terms of glycemic peaks, it is not ideal… Growing up, I discovered the English breakfast in the land of the Queen with a fried egg, beans, sausage, and mushrooms. Without forgetting the toast and half a roasted tomato. Although I immediately loved the idea, I left a few dishes aside to create a breakfast that suits me.
Tea or coffee ?
I have been drinking black coffee first thing in the morning for a long time, and even have several during the day. But for some time now, I have reduced my consumption because I don't really need it to wake me up, and also because coffee is not recommended for dehydrating the skin. Indeed, drinking coffee gives the illusion of drinking water – which is the case – so we tend not to drink nearby. But since it is a diuretic, it prevents the body from retaining water. So by drinking, we become dehydrated. Rather nerd, no? Also, as we get older – no one is getting younger! – we keep less and less water. For example, to do things right for my skin, for one coffee, I should drink two glasses of water. In fact, for several months I have preferred gentler infusions or rooibos, without caffeine or theine. Flavored drinks, which I consume without sugar.
The salty part
For the savory part, I toast slices of wholemeal bread, which I garnish with cream cheese, pork or turkey ham, or even smoked trout. This savory breakfast keeps me going until lunch without cravings. An observation that I have been making for many years now, and I really see the difference with a sweet breakfast which first boosts, then exhausts. The famous blood sugar spike. As Jessie Inchauspé aka Glucose Goddess* explains, “It is in the morning when we wake up, when we are fasting, that our body is most sensitive to glucose. Our stomach being empty, everything it receives is digested extremely quickly. Eating sugar and starchy foods at breakfast often leads to the biggest peak of the day – it's even the worst time to eat only sugars and starchy foods. »
I often replace the cream cheese + meat/fish with another source of protein: peanut or hazelnut butter, always without sugar. To be sure to make the right choice on the shelf and not end up with a salty and/or sweet oilseed puree, there is only one method: check the ingredients. Is there only one in your ingredient list? Bingo, you found the winner!
The sweet part
When I have eaten my savory portion, I am often no longer very hungry, but I still finish with some fresh fruit. Fruit juice when I wake up has never been one of my reflexes or habits. Even though I find it delicious, I know that a glass of fruit juice contains as much sugar as a can of soda, all without dietary fiber, which is very useful in the functioning of our body. So I happily skip it from my diet, especially when I wake up. I prefer a whole fruit with a huge preference for kiwi. Indeed, with 81.9 mg/100 g, the kiwi almost covers the recommended dosage of vitamin C per day (100 mg) and even exceeds the superstar orange with its 47.5 mg/100 g.
Between proteins, starchy foods and vitamins, my plate has – almost – everything good and allows me to easily last until the next meal. Next step, replace part of the bread with vegetables to stock up on fiber, or an omelette well garnished with feta and vegetables which will remind me of my english breakfast loved it.
*“The Glucose Goddess method”, Jessie Inchauspé (ed. Robert Laffont)
