We have long been told breakfast is the most important meal of the day—as well as a lot of conflicting advice about what a healthy breakfast looks like.
So, Newsweek asked 14 nutrition experts, both dietitians and nutritionists, what they eat in the morning.
Only four of the experts said they stuck to the same thing most days, and one of the 14 said she didn’t eat breakfast at all. Nutritionist Sarah Herrington, from Brio-Medical Cancer Clinic, said: “I generally practice intermittent fasting to support gut health and wait until midday to have my first meal.”
Smoothies, juices and golden milk
Three of the nutritionists said they liked liquid breakfasts, including Lindsay Malone, nutritionist at Case Western Reserve University, who said: “I drink a smoothy with protein 99 percent of the time.
“It’s convenient, easy and a great way to start the day with at least 30g of protein, fruits and veggies.”
Malone said her favorite smoothy right now was pumpkin pie flavored, with canned pumpkin, banana, almond butter, spices, protein powder, collagen peptides and almond milk.
Other nutrition experts drank black tea, golden milk (warm, spiced, turmeric milk), kefir or green juice with breakfast.
Daryl Gioffre, nutritionist and founder of Alkamind, said he always drank a green juice in the mornings—for example with cucumbers, lemon, ginger, kale and pears—as he said it was “the perfect way to get a large serving of greens in.”
Overnight oats and oatmeal
Five of the nutritionists said they liked overnight oats, and four said they ate oatmeal for breakfast.
Christen Kaplan, nutritionist and CEO at Love a Wholistic Life, said her breakfast normally consisted of overnight oats with cinnamon, manuka honey and berries.
Alex Evink, dietitian at Moderately Messy RD, said she thought overnight oats were “the perfect vessel for a well-balanced meal.”
“Chia seeds and fresh fruit can be added to increase fiber and antioxidant intake, while milk, Greek yogurt and protein powder help make them higher in protein,” she said.
Meanwhile, Tori Vasko, dietitian and owner of Easy Chickpeasy, said: “My go-to breakfast for years has been a bowl of oatmeal with chia seeds, a few tablespoons of protein powder, berries and peanut butter.”
And Jennie Norton, dietitian nutritionist at RET Physical Therapy and Healthcare, said she ate her oatmeal with cinnamon, apple chunks or chopped dates, and a dollop of Greek yogurt on top.
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Avocado on toast
Avocado was a breakfast favorite of five of the nutritionists, including Gioffre who said it was a satiating healthy fat that contained “a good amount of fiber, potassium, vitamin K, vitamin E and folate, all of which lower inflammation and support a healthy gut microbiome.”
Peg Doyle, holistic nutritionist and owner of Wellness and You, said she enjoyed her breakfast avocado on sourdough bread with smoked salmon; and Norton said she had hers on a toasted English muffin with a fried egg.
Eggs for breakfast
Egg was a very popular breakfast option, favored by seven of the nutrition experts, including Shelley Balls, from Fueling Your Lifestyle, who said she liked scrambled eggs topped with kimchi, with a side of fruit.
Lauren Harris-Pincus, dietitian at Nutrition Starring You, said she ate two eggs scrambled with cottage cheese and spinach for breakfast, on whole-grain toast and with fruit.
Elizabeth Harris, dietitian at Elizabeth Harris Nutrition and Wellness, said she ate an omelet—with greens, vegetables and feta or goat’s cheese—on a slice of whole-grain toast.
And Denise Fields, dietitian at DF Nutrition and Wellness, got especially creative with her egg breakfasts, eating vegetable egg muffins, egg and turkey sausage breakfast burritos, and egg bowls with turkey sausage, refried beans, peppers and onions.
From yogurt to cheese
Some of the nutritionists said they liked Greek yogurt, topped with some combination of fruit, granola and nut butters; others mentioned chia seed pudding as an alternative.
Harris said she sometimes ate cottage cheese—for the “protein and gut-healthy probiotics”—topped with berries or pomegranate seeds and whole-grain cereal flakes.
The only mention of a bowl of cereal was from Balls, who said she sometimes had raisin bran for breakfast, with milk, a banana, and a side of boiled egg.
Jena Brown, dietitian at Victorem Performance Nutrition and a marathon runner, said her breakfasts depended on her training schedule, but in the lead up to a marathon, she ate bread, olive oil butter, fruit and two large eggs for breakfast.
Rather than eating scrambled egg, Carolina Schneider, dietitian at Daily Harvest, preferred tofu scramble with vegetables as “a savory and protein-packed breakfast.”
And Norton said she sometimes enjoyed a high protein mug cake, with protein pancake mix, milk, vegetable oil and frozen fruit stirred in a mug, heated in a microwave, and topped with Greek yogurt.
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