Breakfast is the meal of champions they say, so I’m always curious about people who claim that a cup of coffee in the morning is enough. I’m not so sure gold medals are won on caffeine alone… erythropoietin maybe, but not just caffeine (sorry not sorry Lance Armstrong)!
I understand not wanting to eat in the mornings – I used to be that way in high school, but those were my teenage body issues talking rather than genuinely not being hungry. Contrary to my high school convictions, not eating in the morning doesn’t actually help you lose weight. In fact, it does exactly the opposite. A wholesome breakfast kick starts your digestion and therefore your metabolism, and it feeds your body all the vitamins and minerals it needs to function at optimum level. Note wholesome – Cocopops and Fruit Loops don’t count! If you skip breakfast – or any other meal – you signal to your brain that the body is ‘starving’. This can trigger the stress hormone cortisol, which is a major obstruction to good digestive health and weightloss, as well as a whole host of other problems.
I’m a big fan of smoothies for brekkie, and for those of you who don’t like to eat in the mornings, this is usually a good compromise. Here’s my breakfast routine.
Digestive Boost Morning Drink
Add the following to a cup of warm water and drink it before you eat anything:
Juice of half a lemon (vitamin C)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar (alkalises your body and acts as a digestive cleanser)
Pinch of cinnamon (stabilises blood sugar)
Pinch of ground ginger - or fresh if you have (anti-inflammatory and full of antioxidants)
Pinch of cayenne pepper (anti-inflammatory & antioxidants)
1 tsp raw honey (optional)
Spinach Superfood Smoothie
Place the following in a blender:
½ cup oat milk (can use almond milk or any other milk of your choice)
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of ground ginger
Pinch of turmeric
1 tsp kelp powder
2 tsp acai powder / baobab powder
2 tbsp chia seeds (soaked in water overnight)
2 tbsp protein powder (I use pea protein as as a dairy free option, but whey protein is widely available at shops like Dis-Chem)
1 banana
1 apple/pear or ½ a mango
Handful of spinach
Small chunk of beetroot
Few blocks of ice
Top with goji berries and nuts (optional)
This makes 2x 500ml smoothies, perfect for two.