A Dietitian’s Guide to Building a Balanced Breakfast
The following article was written by Heinen’s Chief Dietitian, Melanie Jatsek RD, LD.
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You’ve heard it a million times: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
I won’t argue that breakfast is important, but it’s also the meal many of us get wrong. Here’s the problem—we’ve been conditioned to think that common breakfast fare like bagels, refined breakfast cereal, greasy breakfast sandwiches, and sugary café lattes, are “good enough” to get us through the morning. But if your goal is to feel on top of the world every day, good enough just won’t cut it.
Then there’s the recent obsession with protein; the popular opinion being that more protein is better. My question is, better than what? And furthermore, what are we sacrificing in exchange for this extra protein that, quite honestly, our bodies don’t need?
To understand how to build a healthy breakfast, we must move beyond calories and protein. Calories don’t necessarily translate into physical energy (especially when they come from pancake syrup) and loading up on animal protein means we’re probably not eating enough whole plant foods. And that’s a problem worth addressing if we want to enjoy a long, healthy, and productive life.
5 Keys to a Healthy Breakfast
The wholesomeness of any given breakfast can be measured by how you feel after you eat it. You’re on the right track if it checks these five boxes.
- Provides you with sustained physical energy until lunch.
- Boosts mental sharpness.
- Contributes to digestive regularity.
- Keeps you feeling satisfied and full until lunch time.
- Contributes to your daily requirement of essential vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber.
Fiber is the dietary component that will help you achieve the above benefits. And where do you find fiber? From whole or minimally processed plant foods found all throughout Heinen’s.
The nutritional goodness of fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, whole intact grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes (beans, peas, lentils) goes way beyond fiber. For example, did you know there are at least five disease-fighting, brain-boosting phytochemicals (bioactive compounds) in a single strawberry? For this reason, I recommend spending your money on fresh produce and whole grains over fiber supplements, which deliver fiber and nothing else.
Fiber-Filled Fx™-Approved Breakfast Foods at Heinen’s
Start your day off right with one of these flavorful breakfast ideas found at your local Heinen’s.
- Mush Overnight Oats cup mixed with 1 tablespoon of Heinen’s Organic Ground Flaxseed + fresh diced strawberries
- Cocojune Pure Coconut Yogurt with fresh blueberries + 2 teaspoons of Heinen’s Organic Black Chia Seeds + ¼ cup of chopped walnuts
- 2 slices of Silver Hills Bakery Bread toasted and spread with 1 small mashed avocado or 1 container Wholly Guacamole Minis. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of Go Raw Sprouted Sunflower Seeds on top and enjoy with a small cup of Heinen’s fresh cut melon.
- Mylk Labs Spiced Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal cup + ½ diced apple + ¼ cup Witzi’s Granola
- Amy’s Kitchen Tofu Scramble
- 3 Evergreen Zucchini Carrot Cake Mini Waffles (Frozen Department) spread with Heinen’s Fresh Ground Walnut Butter and Chia Smash Raspberry Superfood Jam
- 1 Wellwerks Sprouted Seed Bar or Over Easy Breakfast Bar + 1–2 cups raw veggies (carrots, cherry tomatoes, celery, peppers, radishes, etc.) + 1 Noka Superfood Smoothie
- Mexican Breakfast Salad: Buckeye Fresh Romaine Lettuce + ½ cup Heinen’s Canned Organic Black Beans (rinsed) + 1 container Heinen’s Organic Cooked Quinoa + 2 tablespoons Heinen’s Salsa + 1 small avocado or 1 container Wholly Guacamole Minis
- 1 baked sweet potato stuffed with 1 sliced red banana + 1 tablespoon Heinen’s Creamy Natural Almond Butter + 2 teaspoons Navitas Naturals Hemp Seeds
- 1 Remedy Organics Plant-Based Shake + 1 slice Ezekiel bread spread with 1 tablespoon of Heinen’s Fresh Ground Peanut or Walnut Butter
Fx™-Approved Breakfast Recipes
These simple, outside-of-the-box recipes are the perfect cure for your breakfast boredom.
Hot Breakfasts
- Mushroom Tofu Scramble
- Cinnamon Quinoa Breakfast Bowl
- Shakshuka: A North African/Middle Eastern dish of poached eggs and vegetables in a spicy tomato sauce
- Baked Avocados with Eggs
- PB & J Stuffed Pancakes
- Superfood Flax Meal Cereal
- Colorful Egg Breakfast Bowl
On-the-Go Breakfasts
- Maca Energy Bars
- Peanut Butter & Jelly Oatmeal Balls
- Flourless Apple Muffins
- Banana Walnut Muffins
- Brain Boosting Smoothie
- Superfood Overnight Oats
- Fresh Start Smoothie Bowls
- Sprouted Avocado Toast with Superfood Toppings
Optional Animal Protein Additions
If you feel the need to include animal protein, add one of these Fx™-approved options to your breakfast!
- 1 Heinen’s Organic Pasture-Raised Egg or Nellie’s Free Range Hard Boiled Egg
- 1 Applegate Chicken or Turkey Sausage
- 1 slice Applegate Hickory Smoked Uncured Turkey Bacon
- 1 serving Force of Nature Bison + Beef Breakfast Sausage
- 1 Organic Valley Stringles String Cheese stick
- ¼ cup Organic Valley Low Fat Organic Cottage Cheese
- 1 scoop of Ancient Nutrition Multi Collagen Protein (add to oats or smoothies)
- Snowville Creamery Low-Fat Plain Yogurt
Key Takeaway
The human body was made to crave healthy food, but you can’t fully realize this truth until you eat these foods every day. There’s no better place to start than with breakfast—the most important meal of the day.
