Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation™ Blog - Jumpstart Your Day With Veggies
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Most people understand why they should eat vegetables every day — they’re loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. But you may not realize that when you eat your veggies can make a difference. Packing veggies into your breakfast can impact how you feel and how much you eat that day.
Why Eat Vegetables for Breakfast?People talk all the time about how breakfast is the most important meal. About 72% of adults who eat breakfast on a regular basis say it positively impacts their mood throughout the day. But imagine if that breakfast also contained the nutritional powerhouse in vegetables. Your first meal would be packed with benefits for your mind and body.
Incorporating vegetables into your breakfast can help you:
- Get enough vegetables each day: The HealthyNurse Survey found that less than 7% of nurses and nursing students surveyed eat the recommended amount of vegetables daily. Many people don’t eat their first vegetable until dinner — often too late to get all the servings you should have (2 or 3 cups a day). Eating your produce early in the day can help you reach that goal.
- Cut unwanted calories: Vegetables contain fiber, and fiber makes you feel full. When you start your day with a fiber-heavy meal, you’ll be satiated throughout the day and less likely to grab processed snacks and sugary sweets.
4 Tips for Adding Veggies to Your Morning Meal
Many people are set in their ways when it comes to breakfast, eating the same thing day after day. But changing your morning menu can be easy if you know how to add vegetables and how to do it in a way that gives you the most bang for your buck:
- Start with the breakfast you know and like
- Eat bagels for breakfast? Top your cream cheese with fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, or spinach.
- Love pancakes, waffles, and muffins? Add some grated zucchini or carrots to the batter (squeeze the moisture out first).
- Eggs your thing? Add peppers, mushrooms, or onions to your scramble, or top your egg sandwich with spinach and a tomato slice.
- Sip on smoothies? Throw in a handful of spinach (you won’t even taste it).
- Pair your veggies with protein
- Calories burned
- Energy
- Feelings of fullness
- Glucose (blood sugar) regulation
- Muscle mass
- Use the veggies you have on hand
Leftover vegetables are perfect for tossing into scrambled eggs or a breakfast burrito. Love veggie pizza? Grab a leftover slice on your way out the door in the morning.
- Consider making breakfast your main meal
Making breakfast your biggest meal encourages you to plan and prepare that meal — a perfect opportunity to highlight vegetables. Home-cooked meals are generally more nutritious and associated with a healthier overall diet.
Ideas for Veggie-Based Breakfasts
Throwing vegetables into your morning smoothie is a no-brainer way to sneak veggies into your breakfast. But variety is the spice of life. And let’s be honest, some days you just crave bacon, eggs, or carbs.
No matter what you wake up wanting, the more veggie-based breakfast options you have in your arsenal, the more likely you are to eat them consistently. Get started with one of these recipes:
- Bacon and Egg Breakfast Salad With Avocado Dressing
- 15-Minute Spinach Burrata Omelet With Avocado Salad
- Cream Baked Eggs With Asparagus
- Veggie-Loaded Chocolate Pancakes
- Southwest Quinoa Breakfast Bowl
- Savory Carrot & Zucchini Pancakes
- Instant Pot Morning Glory Oatmeal
Most veggie-based breakfast ideas are fast and easy — especially if you prep your produce beforehand. Having peeled, cut, and possibly cooked vegetables ready to go makes adding them to your dish easy.
If your mornings are usually rushed, prepare green smoothie ingredients, make egg muffins, or bake zucchini muffins on the weekend to enjoy all week.
Do you eat vegetables with your breakfast? Share your favorite recipe in this renewed discussion.
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Blog Nutrition
05/24/2023 1:11pm CDT
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I like a green smoothie for breakfast once or twice a week
I saw a post where a girl said she buys those veggie trays to keep in her fridge for snacking. I saw them on sale one day and got one. I definitely can say that having easy and ready to go snacking veggies made getting my daily veggie in take easy! I mostly grab snacks/small plates early in the day when I can and need something in the late afternoons. Veggie and dip we're surprisingly satisfying!
Hi @Holly E Carpenter, RN, BSN Really enjoyed this post. I had just gone through a Jumpstart Your Health program in April which was run by 3 plant based MDs. It was an introduction to “whole food, plant based, no oil” and we followed those guidelines for 3 weeks. It seemed a tough challenge but with some thought and planning it was achievable and enjoyable with two live classes and two virtual cooking together classes. I tried things I don't usually eat and it got me into the kitchen again.