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If You Can Boil An Egg You Can Start The Day The Right Way
If you are struggling with adrenal fatigue syndrome you know what it’s like to wake up still feeling tired. You hit the alarm but just can’t seem to surface from being fully asleep to being wide awake without a big struggle.
You roll over in bed wishing for more sleep despite the fact it’s daylight and you know you should be jumping out of bed, full of energy and ready to start your day. It takes you a good half hour or so to feel as though you’re finally awake.
Struggling to feel fully awake in the morning is a familiar feeling to those suffering from adrenal fatigue. Your first action is to shuffle to the kitchen and switch on the coffee machine. Only after that first caffeine kick do you feel as if you’re beginning to actually function and get on with starting your day.
Don’t do it – Step away from that coffee machine!
This is one of the worst things you can do for your already overworked and worn out adrenals. Kick-starting your day with caffeine beats up your poor adrenals even further, pushing them to work when they are already exhausted.
So give them a break, and difficult as it is, quit your caffeine habit, you’ll heal your adrenals faster without constantly pushing them with caffeine.
If you need a hot drink in the morning switch to herbal teas. There are so many types and flavors available, mint, chamomile and a variety of interesting blends. A blend including licorice can be very beneficial for your adrenals.
Herbal tea may not be your thing so try drinking a cup of bone broth instead along with any of the breakfast suggestions below. It’s also great for your adrenals AND your gut health too.
Cutting caffeine and using the fast healthy breakfast ideas I give in this post to start your day the right way will support your adrenals.
Don’t exhaust them further with wrong breakfast choices or even worse, no breakfast, is the way to go.
You might be someone who dislikes eating breakfast, or you think you don’t have time each morning for breakfast. This is a big mistake for those with adrenal fatigue. It’s important to fuel your body with some healthy food to start your day off the right way.
Your body has been without fuel for about 8 hours and you need to ‘break’ this ‘fast’.
If you think you just don’t have time for breakfast, try setting your alarm 15 minutes earlier than usual to allow the time needed to make and eat one of these breakfast suggestions. That’s all the time it takes to make sure your day gets off to a good start and your adrenals are supported and ready to fuel you through the morning.
Think about it………………. what is 15 minutes in the scheme of things? Make time to prepare one of the healthy breakfast ideas below, and take a few minutes to relax and enjoy eating before getting on with your busy day.
Each of these breakfast ideas is simple and quick to put together and easy as boiling an egg. They require minimum planning to buy the ingredients for your fridge and store cupboard and you’ll have 5 fast healthy breakfasts in a flash, one for each work day, Monday to Friday.
The Truth About Going Without Breakfast
If you have adrenal fatigue, not only is eating breakfast important, but eating at regular intervals throughout the day is also equally important. Not skipping meals or allowing yourself to get too hungry also helps keep your blood sugar level, resulting in more sustained energy.
Eating three meals and two snacks throughout the day takes the burden off your adrenals to produce cortisol. One of those three daily meals should always be an adrenal supporting breakfast.
Keeping blood sugar level is important in those with adrenal fatigue and eating a standard breakfast of high sugar fruit and processed cereals will cause your blood sugar to rise quickly then crash.
Fruit containing a lot of sugar like bananas, oranges, grapefruit and raisins, processed sugar covered cereals, sweetened yoghurt and white toast will do your adrenals no favors.
This type of breakfast stresses your body further as it calls on the adrenals to pump out hormones to even things out. It’s important to keep blood sugar levels stable to avoid asking your depleted adrenals to keep over working.
How Giving Up Fruit In The Morning Can Help You Avoid An Energy Slump
Suffering with adrenal fatigue, I found it impossible to eat fruit first thing in the morning without it causing my energy to crash mid-morning. I could eat small amounts of lower sugar fruit later in the day once I started to get better. However, during the initial stages of recovery I learned to avoid it completely.
This was difficult for me as I loved a bowl of fruit and plain yogurt for breakfast. I’ll admit it’s not easy if your ideal breakfast is a big cup of coffee with fruit or a fruit smoothie, it will take a bit of adjustment, but it all just comes down to changing existing habits and with a bit of planning and determination, even ingrained habits can be changed for the better.
Particularly when it comes to improving your health, you have even more incentive to adapt to a different routine. Certain habits definitely need to be changed, so try some of these fast healthy breakfast ideas and you’ll begin your day the right way and support your recovery from adrenal fatigue.
The reason fruit can be a bad choice for breakfast is it contains high amounts of potassium and fructose which can affect blood sugar, and for adrenal fatigue sufferers it’s important to keep blood sugar levels even.
You might be one of the lucky ones and are able to have fruit for breakfast without it causing a mid-morning slump, if so you could enjoy a small amount of lower sugar fruit like berries in a mostly vegetable and protein healthy smoothie. Do a bit of trial and error with fruit to see what works for you.
Try a smoothie with a raw organic egg mixed into it. Sounds a bit weird I know, but you don’t taste the egg and it provides a good protein kick. Just make sure it’s an organic free-range egg.
Ditch ‘standard’ breakfast foods like white flour pancakes, white bread toast, bagels and sugary processed cereals in favor of a protein rich breakfast to keep blood sugar and cortisol levels stable.
It’s natural to crave the refined carbohydrates found in standard breakfast fare because they give your system the instant sugar injection it needs to boost flagging blood sugar levels.
They definitely give you an energy boost and make you feel better temporarily, but this quick surge of energy is followed by a crash. So the quick fix you get is just that, leaving you in an even more depleted energy state later.
Understanding why a craving is happening and the biological reason why is key to being able to resist these cravings and supply your body with the healthier options it really needs for even and more long-lasting energy production.
3 Crucial Components Of A Fast Healthy Adrenal Supporting Breakfast
Protein
Complex carbohydrates
Healthy fat
Including one or two ingredients from each of the groups; protein, complex carbohydrates and healthy fat ensures you get a well-balanced start to the day.
By choosing healthier breakfast options, you’ll gradually start to regain your morning energy and be able to work through until morning break time without the familiar feelings of sluggishness and fatigue taking hold.
A study showed eating protein rich breakfasts reduce appetite and increase feelings of fullness throughout the morning.
5 Fast Healthy Breakfast Ideas
1. Hummus And Avocado On Grain (Or Herbed Flax Seed) toast.
What could be quicker and easier? It takes about 5 minutes to put together from ingredients in the fridge.
Make your own hummus, or buy a good quality hummus without any extra additives. If you are going gluten free you can use the herbed flax focaccia bread in this recipe. It keeps well in the fridge for several days and works great as toast, as it’s just the right thickness to fit in the toaster.
You have two protein sources from the flax seeds and hummus and healthy fat from the avocado and flax seeds. Add a sprinkle of chopped nuts and some arugula and tomato on the side to round out the dish. Including a cup of bone broth will give you a very satisfying breakfast.
2. Baby Spinach Pecorino And Parsley Omelet
It’s so easy to reach for ready boiled eggs in the fridge when you’re in a rush in the morning, however making a simple omelet is really easy and super quick and another great way to prepare eggs.
Grab baby spinach from the fridge and chop some parsley to go in the middle of the omelet. Mix the eggs with some grated pecorino to give the omelet an extra bite of flavor. You can even add a few cooked peas or some asparagus to make it more filling.
3. Plain Full Fat Yoghurt With Unsweetened Granola + Honey Drizzle
This one is really easy and very fast to pull together.
Make sure the yoghurt is unsweetened and organic for a great protein source. Use unsweetened granola or raw unsalted toasted nuts and organic honey for the topping. It’s also best to avoid raisins in granola.
Go easy on the honey, it really should be more of a drizzle than several spoonsful. The amount used in this photo might be a bit too much for you depending on your adrenal fatigue level.
4. Hard Boiled Egg And Avocado On Toast
Eggs – a perfect breakfast!
OK, we’re back to eggs again, but they really are a great and filling protein source.
I find I actually crave eggs in the morning if I haven’t had them for a few days.
Choose eggs that are organic and from free-range hens fed on bugs and grasses and non GM feed, you can really taste the difference and they fill you up all morning.
This breakfast idea comes together so quickly. Just toast some bread, again a gluten free type is best. Mash some ripe avocado for a great healthy fat and top with boiled egg. Sprinkle with some toasted sesame seeds and sea salt. Really fast and easy.
5. Simple Protein Pancakes
My friend Janine gave me the recipe for these protein packed pancakes and they are super quick and easy to make. I like them served really simply with some frozen berries which provides more juice than fresh berries and it soaks deliciously into the pancakes.
They cook quickly, taking only a few minutes on each side. As well as protein from the ricotta, you get a good fiber source from the gluten free oat bran. A serve of these pancakes will keep you full all morning. Try the recipe.
Putting It All together
So there you have it, 5 fast healthy breakfast ideas for adrenal fatigue. Each idea tried and tested and they all definitely fit the bill for great quick breakfasts to provide you with long-lasting energy that will help you power through each morning.
Please feel free to leave a comment below.
