Breakfast Romanian-Style, with Some Other Breakfast Ideas

Now, when I followed the Montignac diet, I didn’t drink the grapefruit and orange juice at breakfast. I drank water and ate, say, two eggs with telemea cheese and lettuce salad. Or a slice of whole-grain bread with low-fat cheese and some steamed zucchini. Or a boiled chicken leg with a large tomato. Or boiled salted chickpeas (garbanzo beans) with a tomato. All these are valid breakfast choices, to my mind, but you have to have the juice as well. As I said elsewhere, I believe in combining protein, fats, and carbs.

That egg there is problematic, however. An egg is a complete meal on its own, having all the above nutrients, as well as vitamins (A, D, E, some B vitamins, and others) and minerals (calcium and magnesium, iron, phosphorus, zinc and selenium), but eggs also contain some 200 mg of cholesterol per yolk, which is two thirds of the maximum recommended daily intake. As you eat eggs in baked goods too, nutritionists recommend anything from an egg a day to only one or two eggs a week. Of course, the higher your cholesterol, the less eggs you should eat per week.

But, I think, there are ways to enjoy your eggs and their health benefits (including a reduced risk of age-related macular degeneration) as you lower your cholesterol with the help of oatmeal, eggplant (see an eggplant recipe here), grapefruit, avocado, and other foods. There’s a caveat regarding grapefruit: I could not have imagined grapefruit could hurt anyone, but reading more about its health benefits I found (see this article on grapefruit on WebMD, for instance) that it interacts with several medications, including some that lower your cholesterol, so ask your doctor before eating grapefruit. 

Yes, this article was a bit all over the place, but I hope you found some useful nutritional breakfast information in it and some ideas for breakfast. The important thing is to eat a nutrient-filled breakfast. I think I’ll go for oatmeal with strawberries tomorrow. That’s a lot of fiber for you! The strawberries also provide you with lots of vitamin C (one cup contains more vitamin C than the recommended daily intake) and other antioxidants, which protect your immune system, as well as your heart and eyes.

Here’s to healthy breakfast combos!

(I’ll post an image of that oatmeal with strawberries soon for inspiration!)

P.S. Well, as it turns out I didn't go to shop for strawberries in time, so today I went for eggplant salad (spread) instead of that oatmeal.

More easy and healthy recipes, including breakfast ideas, to come!

Here's that promised oatmeal. I used UHT cream, whipped with brown sugar (hence the off-white color). Those who live in Greece don't have to worry about cream: their thick, flavorful Greek-style yogurt with some honey stirred in is better than any whipped cream.

Edit: I found Greek yogurt at the store the other day! Yum!

I'll be posting here simple, healthy and fun breakfast ideas as I go.