December 23, 2009

My Favorite New Breakfast - It's Raw and Quick!

What should I eat for breakfast? is a common question I get when working with patients to improve their health.  While heretofore I have been one to recommend the more traditional hearty and nutrient-dense breakfast foods of farm-fresh eggs, whole-grain oatmeal, and protein smoothies, I am eager to share with you my latest and greatest breakfast inspiration with a bonus - it's raw!

I mentioned in my previous post that my interest in adding more raw foods to my family's diet has been emboldened by the raw food blog The Best of Raw Foods.  In it is a section on raw food breakfast recipes, where I got the idea for the recipe to follow.

What I love about this breakfast is that it uses soaked seeds.  Seeds are untapped potential in their dry form.  Unfortunately beans, nuts and seeds contain enzyme inhibitors in their dry form making it difficult for our bodies to break down these foods and absorb all the nutrition that they contain.  Once soaked for a few hours, the enzyme inhibitors are broken down, the sprouting process begins and our body can absorb and assimilate the nutrition. Thus with soaked and sprouted foods we gain more nutrition than compared to that same food in unsprouted form.  (For more info and resources related to sprouting check out happyjuicer.com)

Flax seeds are one of the healthiest foods you can eat.  They are loaded with omega 3 fatty acids, are high in fiber and contain folate, B6 and magnesium among other nutrients.  In studies flax seeds have been shown to reduce hot flashes in women, help to prevent diabetes and prostate cancer and lower cholesterol levels.

Raw Oatmeal
We have prepared this recipe in my home a few times now and to my surprise it has gotten the thumbs up from all 5 members of my family!  The hardest part of this recipe is remembering to soak the seeds before you go to bed.

1 Tablespoon flaxseeds (any variety of flax seeds will do)
2 Tablespoons water
1 Tbsp. shredded raw (unsweetened) coconut
1/2 apple, chopped
handful of raisins
handful of chopped raw (or better yet, soaked overnight) almonds
cinnamon

Soak the flaxseeds in water overnight in a covered bowl.  In morning it will have a gelatinous consistency.  Add coconut, apple, raisins and almonds and a dash of cinnamon.  Enjoy!  (In our family we add a little almond or rice milk which isn't technically raw, but adds a little moisture.)  Experiment with other fruits and dried fruits, and seeds such as chia and hemp.


Enjoy and let me know what you think!