Fruit? Just fruit? For breakfast?
Yes! Starting your day with a bowl of fruit, or simply one type of fruit can provide your morning on a bright note. Whether you’re looking to get your body healthier or simply ease your morning routine, fruit is your friend. Continue reading to learn how this may benefit you.
Energy
The energy provided by fruit is unmatched by any other food out there. Fruit is one of the highest electrical food there is on the planet. Vegetables fall behind fruit in this area. When you think about it, plant foods get their energy from the sun through photosynthesis (“photo-” meaning light), which transforms the light energy from the sun into chemical energy in the plant. This light energy is transferred to your body when you consume it. When these plant foods are heated until the live enzymes are killed, energy is transferred away from the food. Heat over 118℉ permanently alters the food’s molecular structure, an undesirable change for our bodies. It no longer has optimal chemistry for your body to absorb and utilize. Not every plant food is treated the same when it comes to the energy made through photosynthesis. Fruits, especially citrus fruits, contain the most chemical energy, or electricity (electrolytes) out of all plant foods. This means that a potato or oat grain will have fewer electrolytes than grapefruit or bananas.
Easy Digestion
Fruits are one of the most hydrating, or water-rich foods that we can eat, especially the juicy ones. Next time you have a cooked meal, try eating it without sipping on water and notice your thirst level after eating. The next morning, eat a “mono-meal” of fruit and notice where your thirst level is once finished. The cooked food will leave you more dehydrated than the fruit. This is because cooked food (which contains little to no water) robs the body of water to digest properly, therefore further dehydrating the body. The high water content in fruit makes digestion a gentle and easy process. It hydrates the body, creating less digestive work for it, and yielding more energy as a result. There is a difference between hydrating your body through fruit and hydrating it with drinking water in between cooked food meals. Food that contains water within it is easily absorbed by the body and is better able to travel down your gastrointestinal tract. Drier, cooked food is going to have a harder time moving through your GI tract. You want your breakfast to move easily through your digestive tract, not slowly.
Minimal Preparation
This is a huge benefit of eating fruit in the morning: no cooking needed. All you may need is a knife and chopping board. Forget cleaning a greasy pan from that fried bacon, and no need to wash off that film of starch from cooked oats. For those of you who work many hours, work long shifts, or are constantly finding yourself rushing in the morning before your workday, the fruit is your friend. Grab those bananas, and go. Of course, you can always make things easier by chopping it up the night before. But when it comes to preparation time, it still beats overnight oats. No drive-thru required…fruit is nature’s “fast food”.
Nutrition
This is a given and goes hand-in-hand with the electrolytes, or energy, in fruits. Just as they contain loads of natural sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium, you can get your dietary fiber, vitamins, zero cholesterol, and zero-to-little fat (a medium-sized banana contains 0.4g of fat). Fruits in their raw and ripe form contain the perfect ratios of macronutrients and micronutrients needed for the human body. It is an accepted fact even by the conventional nutrition community that the more colors you eat on your plate, the more nutrition you get. So have fun with your colors and eat the rainbow of fruits available in your area. Smoothies are an excellent way to fit colorful energy into your body. Fruits are also the best foods to clean out your gastrointestinal tract which will, in turn, promote better absorption and utilization of nutrients. This manifests as easier physical movement, better mood, clearer mind, heightened focus, increased blood circulation, healthier hair, skin, and nails, and much more.
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I challenge you to try it out for a day or a week and see how your body thanks you. Your busy mornings don’t have to be so busy to “fit in” breakfast. Your sluggish energy upon waking doesn’t have to linger on until lunchtime. Say goodbye to the need for stimulants like coffee, protein bars, or tea. Keep your mornings simple and start them with ultimate energy, consciousness, nutrition, and hydration. Your better self is waiting.