Example of a TRULY healthy breakfast... Let's face it: if a caveman sat down to breakfast with you, he probably wouldn't recognize a thing on your table.
He actually wouldn't see frosted flakes, bagels, Cheerios, or English muffins as food at all.
Unfortunately, neither does your body!
Biologically, humans just don't evolve all that quickly. In fact, while it may be the 21st century, your body still craves the same foods that your ancestors ate for thousands of years. Some nutritionists call these important foods "primal nutrition."
Primal nutrition is considered by many to be the basis for good health, as it contains the proper mix of fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that our ancestors got from the whole, natural foods that they ate regularly.
But just how bad is the typical "healthy" American breakfast anyway, and how can you make healthier choices without being bored out of your mind?
He actually wouldn't see frosted flakes, bagels, Cheerios, or English muffins as food at all.
Unfortunately, neither does your body!
Biologically, humans just don't evolve all that quickly. In fact, while it may be the 21st century, your body still craves the same foods that your ancestors ate for thousands of years. Some nutritionists call these important foods "primal nutrition."
Primal nutrition is considered by many to be the basis for good health, as it contains the proper mix of fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that our ancestors got from the whole, natural foods that they ate regularly.
But just how bad is the typical "healthy" American breakfast anyway, and how can you make healthier choices without being bored out of your mind?
First of all, while many doctors may tell you that whole-grain breads or high-fiber breakfast cereals are a "healthy" choice to start your day, in fact, our ancestors ate very few grains, and zero processed sugars or other simple carbs.
In fact, our bodies were never meant to ingest high amounts of these unnatural substances, and we are seeing the results in our skyrocketing incidence of obesity and other modern diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. Essential Health Truth: When you feed your body large amounts of things it was never meant to eat, you pay the price!
Not only are these substances unnatural for you to consume, but the high-heat processing that many grains are subjected to in modern industrial food production can even create harmful chemicals in the food.
For example, according to Dr. Sears, M.D., these types of processes can produce a chemical called acrylamide, a white, odorless compound found in many baked goods such as breads, breakfast cereals, cookies, biscuits, and other processed grain breakfast and snack foods (1).
In fact, acrylamide has been classified by the EPA as a probable cancer-causing chemical with no safe dose. (And yet it's still allowed in our food - go figure!)
According to some research studies, acrylamide has been shown to cause gene mutations leading to a variety of cancers in rats, including breast and uterine cancers (2).
So how can you avoid these dangerous chemicals in your food? Just ask the caveman!
Well, maybe not exactly. :-) But at least fill your diet with plenty of those tasty, whole, real foods that humans have been enjoying for thousands of years. Foods like grass-fed meat, wild-caught fish, pastured eggs, fresh, organic fruits, vegetables, berries, and nuts.
And breakfast is no exception! How about a 3-egg omelet with salmon? A bowl of fresh berries with cream? Scrambled eggs with fresh spinach or arugula and fresh tomatoes? (Just make sure your eggs are from pasture-raised hens.)
Bottom Line: For a TRULY healthy breakfast, skip the cornflakes and bran muffins (and all the other processed foods), and return to primal nutrition!
To your health,
Rose.
P.S. Want more healthy breakfast ideas? Check out the Paleo Breakfast Bible - packed with a huge variety of tasty, healthy breakfast recipes that are quick and easy to make, nutritious, filling, and way more delicious than that boring old bowl of bran flakes!
Click here for 105 healthy Paleo breakfast recipes...
Sources:
(1.) Su-Hyun Mun et al. "Curcumin Reverse Methicillin Resistance in Staphylococcus aureus." Molecules 2014, 19(11), 18283-18295.
(2.) Wagner H, Kreutzkamp B, Jurcic K. "The alkaloids of Uncaria tomentosa and their phagocytosis-stimulating action." Planta Med 1985;51:419–23.
In fact, our bodies were never meant to ingest high amounts of these unnatural substances, and we are seeing the results in our skyrocketing incidence of obesity and other modern diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. Essential Health Truth: When you feed your body large amounts of things it was never meant to eat, you pay the price!
Not only are these substances unnatural for you to consume, but the high-heat processing that many grains are subjected to in modern industrial food production can even create harmful chemicals in the food.
For example, according to Dr. Sears, M.D., these types of processes can produce a chemical called acrylamide, a white, odorless compound found in many baked goods such as breads, breakfast cereals, cookies, biscuits, and other processed grain breakfast and snack foods (1).
In fact, acrylamide has been classified by the EPA as a probable cancer-causing chemical with no safe dose. (And yet it's still allowed in our food - go figure!)
According to some research studies, acrylamide has been shown to cause gene mutations leading to a variety of cancers in rats, including breast and uterine cancers (2).
So how can you avoid these dangerous chemicals in your food? Just ask the caveman!
Well, maybe not exactly. :-) But at least fill your diet with plenty of those tasty, whole, real foods that humans have been enjoying for thousands of years. Foods like grass-fed meat, wild-caught fish, pastured eggs, fresh, organic fruits, vegetables, berries, and nuts.
And breakfast is no exception! How about a 3-egg omelet with salmon? A bowl of fresh berries with cream? Scrambled eggs with fresh spinach or arugula and fresh tomatoes? (Just make sure your eggs are from pasture-raised hens.)
Bottom Line: For a TRULY healthy breakfast, skip the cornflakes and bran muffins (and all the other processed foods), and return to primal nutrition!
To your health,
Rose.
P.S. Want more healthy breakfast ideas? Check out the Paleo Breakfast Bible - packed with a huge variety of tasty, healthy breakfast recipes that are quick and easy to make, nutritious, filling, and way more delicious than that boring old bowl of bran flakes!
Click here for 105 healthy Paleo breakfast recipes...
Sources:
(1.) Su-Hyun Mun et al. "Curcumin Reverse Methicillin Resistance in Staphylococcus aureus." Molecules 2014, 19(11), 18283-18295.
(2.) Wagner H, Kreutzkamp B, Jurcic K. "The alkaloids of Uncaria tomentosa and their phagocytosis-stimulating action." Planta Med 1985;51:419–23.
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