This is one of my favourite breakfasts to have on a morning that I know I’m going to have a pretty busy/hectic day. The ingredients contain a mix of slow release fibre & good sources of vitamin C which differ from the typical breakfast fruit juice which is high in sugar & low in fibre so isn’t a great option for a busy day ahead. You can find the ingredients in health food stores or online.
Tip: I use baobab here as the vit C provider as on busy mornings I couldn’t be bothered to prep other fruit e.g peeling and chopping a kiwi etc but if you don’t have baobab then feel free to use another high Vit C fruit such as strawberries or kiwi.
*40/50g oats
*approx 125ml almond milk (or milk of your choice)
*3-10g of gelatinised maca powder (1/2 teaspoon or up to 1 tablespoon, ease yourself onto it if you’ve never used it before)
*10g/1 Tbsp baobab powder
*sprinkling of cacao nibs
*Add a sweetener such as fruit (banana, berries) if you can’t tolerate the taste of the nibs too well
Make the porridge as normal then add the nibs after you’ve placed the porridge in the bowl, its best to avoid heating the nibs as much as possible as this preserves the beneficial compounds in them. Start off with small amounts of the maca if you’ve not tried it before to ease yourself into it as it can have a powerful effect on balancing hormones, which are usually out of sync when we’re stressed.
Benefits
Oats in general are a great option for breakfast as their high fibre & decent protein content prevent sugar rushes and help maintain energy over the morning but the addition of baobab/fruit is great as the baobab is high in vitamin C which is known to be rapidly depleted during times of stress. Therefore getting enough of this vitamin is crucial to keep you going in a healthy manner, plus there is a mild sweetness to the baobab which counteracts the bitter cacao, it tastes sweet as the powder is derived from the baobab fruit. Baobab also ranks high on the ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) scale so is great for cellular protection.
Maca is also great for stress as it’s full of antioxidants, vitamin C like baobab, vitamin B6 for energy and may help regulate glucose levels as well as increasing enzymes needed for free radical scavenging. I encourage using gelatinised maca as it has been cooked and easier to digest. Further info here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17333395
As mentioned before on this blog raw cacao is brilliant for health as it’s great for blood pressure and the heart and when mixed with other ingredients it tastes amazing so try this recipe for a great breakfast to start your day out right!
