What to eat for breakfast?

I recieved an email recently that read:

Can you tell me what kind of hot cereal you eat for breakfast? I have been
eating cream of wheat under the mistaken impression it was whole grain. Oops. Is
there anything ready-made available at the store that is yummy? I did have
cooked wheat grain one morning for breakfast which was filling, but not all that
tasty. A little too hard to chew and rubbery for me. What do you eat?

First thing, way to go for eating breakfast! Many people skip this very important meal and miss out on the benefits.

Recently, I have begun starting my day out with a breakfast shake. I usually do this around 8 am. A few hours later I’ll eat leftover oatmeal, or whatever cooked cereal I’ve made for that morning. On rare days, I’ll switch it up and have the cooked cereal first, then my shake later. But I love starting my day with the smoothie first, because it sets an excellent foundation for the day.

As far as cooked grains go, old-fashioned oatmeal, oat groats, or a good multi-grain cooked cereal mix is a great way to go. If you’re open minded (or rather, open taste-budded), quinoa, brown rice, millet, teff, amaranth, and cracked wheat are all excellent cooked and topped with plant milk, a bit of sweetner if you choose, and berries/bananas. Rip Esselstyn has what he calls a “Big Bowl” (see his excellent book for more info and recipes, The Engine 2 Diet), which includes raw oats, grape nuts, fruit and other cereal with some soy milk. Kashi has some good cereals, but watch out for dairy and other unwanted ingredients. The Wellness Forum has two excellent cereals that can be eaten like museli (raw) or cooked.

Whatever you eat, eat something that you like! If you need to sprinkle a little sugar or sucanant on your cooked cereal so you will enjoy it, do it. This is much better than opting for some high-sugar cereal disguised as health food (Special K, Cracklin Oat Bran, are some examples of this). Life is to be enjoyed, and there are many many good cereals out there, you just need to go the right store and be on the look out for cereals that are void of oil and other unwanted ingredients.

Also, do not eat undercooked grains, otherwise it will be chewy and not appealing to your tasted buds at all. Most westerners aren’t used to having to chew whole grains, which is another factor. Whole grains require more active chewing than say, a corn dog, so get used to taking more time really chewing and enjoying your food!

If you’re not sure if it’s whole grain, check out the fiber content which will tell it all. Less than 1 gram of fiber per serving is probably not whole grain.