What are some healthy breakfast options?

• Fresh pineapple chunks mixed with low-fat cottage cheese and a slice of whole-wheat toast with apple butter
• A whole-wheat English muffin topped with soft margarine and a hard-boiled egg
• Whole-grain or bran cereal with low-fat or fat-free milk and shaved almonds, served with a piece of fresh fruit
• Oatmeal topped with a sprinkle of brown sugar and walnut halves
• An egg-white omelet loaded with peppers and low-fat cheddar cheese in a toasted whole-wheat pita pocket and served with low-fat milk
• Multigrain pancakes or waffles topped with banana slices
• Nonfat yogurt topped with low-fat granola and dried apricots

Breakfast is a great way to get a jumpstart on a healthy day. After the night's fast, your body is ready for some energy to stoke the fire. In addition, breakfast can be the set up for your hunger and satiety throughout the day. Choosing a nourishing breakfast doesn't have to be time consuming. Pairing some sort of whole grain, like oatmeal or even a whole grain waffle, with a source of good fat and protein, like peanut butter, can help provide energy that sticks with you. Add fruit, like chopped apples, and you have an even more nutrient rich and filling way to start the day. Finally, be sure to drink plenty of water in the morning, a cup or two even before coffee.

The benefits of breakfast are almost too numerous to list. Breakfast wakes up your metabolism after sleep and starts you burning calories. It reduces stress hormones and improves your mood.

A healthy breakfast is not made of processed foods and they are not all from one food-type (carbohydrates, or proteins). A healthy breakfast should have the same qualities that make up a good dinner: fresh ingredients and a blend of protein, fat and carbohydrate. In fact, in many countries a typical breakfast is composed out of the leftovers of what was used to make traditional dinners!

Here are my four principles regarding breakfast:

• Any breakfast is better than no breakfast. Eat something, even if it's little.
• Eat what you like. This is a corollary to #1. If you don't like it you won't eat it, no matter how much you think you should.
• Be guided by moderation. A bagel is not a great breakfast because it is all refined carbohydrates, but it isn't going to kill you if you eat it once a month. Try to create balance across a week, rather than be perfect every day.
• Diversify your food types. What makes a good dinner makes a good breakfast -- that is, a mixture of protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Just eggs? Not great. Eggs with

Embrace breakfast; take the time to eat it. And there's much more about eating healthy by eating what you love in my new book, Eating Free: The Carb Friendly Way to Lose Inches, Embrace Your Hunger, and Keep Weight Off for Good!

• Eggs provide the B vitamin choline that helps enhance memory, and the protein provides long lasting energy. Pair the eggs with fruit and low-fat milk for a complete brain boost.
• Oatmeal contains soluble fiber, which prevents plaque from building in your arteries. It fills you up with protein and carbohydrates. Add low-fat milk and some nuts for extra protein.
• Blueberries help to improve memory and lessen symptoms of depression.
• Good old coffee increases alertness, concentration, and energy levels due to the antioxidants, but sip in moderation -- you can have up to four 8-ounce cups. But don’t pair your coffee with a doughnut; that’s a brain-draining food!

Recent evidence supports blood sugar balance as vital for all aspects of health. In fact, blood sugar management is a key factor in weight management and also helps mitigate the risk for diabetes, heart disease, and many other diseases of chronic inflammation.

A variety of scientific evidence supports eating high quality protein at breakfast as a means to keep blood sugar levels even. Protein also provides vital components of brain amino acids which form neurotransmitters related to satiety and mood. In fact, kids that eat breakfast have better grades, moods, and focus in school. Adults who don't skip on this most important meal also have favorable outcomes, they even tend to have better weight management and curb late night cravings.

I usually recommend my patients to balance the protein, carbohydrate, and healthy fat content at every meal and snack. This curbs hunger and feeds the brain of vital nutrients (remember you are literally a fat head-the brain is mostly fat!)

Eggs are a great breakfast option. The fat fallacy of eggs raising cholesterol is long-gone! In fact, you only make 15% of cholesterol from actual food intake (the rest is made in the liver as a means to produce hormones, and other vital cellular components). Studies show that eggs raise cholesterol levels less than .5% in those who are sensitive to food cholesterol. Most people can eat at least one egg safely a day. Eggs provide importance factors in body metabolism such as protein, B12, and other vital nutrients.

Here are some examples:

• organic egg omelet with carrots and spinach
• Organic peanut butter on gluten free toast
• Whey protein smoothie with coconut milk and berries or fresh vegetables
• Gluten free oatmeal with ground flax seed, berries, and almonds
• Gluten free pancakes topped with raw ghee and low sugar fruit spread with organic chicken or turkey sausage

Choose your cereal wisely. Whether your cereal is hot or cold, you'll always want to check the fiber, fat, and sugar content per serving. For example, many kinds of instant oatmeal tend to be heavily processed, leaving it lower in fiber than unprocessed, whole oats. Choose cereals with at least 3 grams of fiber per serving. Inspect breakfast bar labels the same way you would inspect cereal labels, noting fat, fiber, and sugar content. Many cereal, granola, and breakfast bars tend to skimp on fiber and instead bulk up on sugar. Your goal should be to get a total of at least 6 grams of fiber at breakfast. If your favorite cereal is low on fiber, add a few tablespoons of unprocessed wheat bran to it.

Another quick breakfast trick: always keep raisins and nuts on hand. Raisins can be tossed into cereals whenever your fresh fruit supplies are low, or they can be added to cereal in addition to fresh fruit for extra flavor. And nuts aren't only for snacking. They make a great addition to healthy breakfasts by adding unsaturated fat -- the good kind of fat -- to your meal. A little bit of healthy fat in a meal can help you feel fuller for longer, and also can help your body better absorb nutrients from the rest of your meal.

When shopping for fruit juice, make sure it's pure. Fruit-flavored juice drinks, cocktails, and blends often contain loads of added sugar and hardly any actual fruit juice.

Take the RealAge Test!

Nothing can be easier than a bowl of whole grain cereal doused with skim milk and topped with fruit. There's minimal preparation involved and clean-up is a cinch as the bowl and spoon go straight into the dishwasher.

If you would rather eat at the office, do this: On Monday, bring in a box of whole grain cereal, 5 yogurts and 5 pieces of fruit to work. Store the fruit and yogurt in your company refrigerator. Presto:  you have breakfast for the entire week.