Boost Your Child’s Resilience: Healthy Winter Breakfast Tips for End-of-Term Energy
PROTEIN - my Top, Top Tip for breakfast is ditch the sugary breakfast cereals (if your kids really must eat sugary breakfast cereal then please save it for their night-time dessert - as refined sugar is excellent for stimulating sleep, therefore not ideal for children who are trying to learn).
Instead, ideally, opt for protein with breakfast.
Protein is especially important for children's developing brains to function optimally. Protein provides slow-release energy, which sustains toddlers, kids & teens as they learn through the day. (Apart from familiar protein foods like meat, fish & chicken, other good protein foods that we like to add to our kids' breakfasts include: eggs, cheese, nuts, seeds & nut/seed pastes & even nut milks - but only if age appropriate & no family history of nut allergies).
Examples of warm protein breakfasts:
* eggs - French Toast, omelette, scrambled, boiled egg with toast soldiers, etc.
* warm chia seed pudding with coconut milk
* baked beans on wholemeal toast
* Paleo apple crumble with nut & seed crumble
* toasted sandwiches - ham & cheese, tuna & avocado, melted cheese
* re-heated dinner left-overs - meat & vege, spaghetti bolognaise, stir fry etc
(Please email Catherine at catherine@lbhc.com.au for our breakfast recipes).
A HEARTY, HOT BREAKFAST - it's Winter now & to build our kids resistance to end-of-term-itis we give our kids a heart-warming hot breakfast each day. Even though Andrew & I are not morning people (well unless the surf is up), Andrew gets up earlier in Winter to cook a warm breakfast for the kids.
Our kids' favourites include French Toast for Sam (10 yrs old), Andrew's Special Semi-dried Tomato Omelette for Alexandra (1 yr old) & baked beans on wholemeal toast, warm chia seed porridge with coconut milk or even a toasted cheese sandwich for James (5 yrs old).
Did you know that the ancient art of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) also emphasises the importance of warming foods for wellness in Winter? So try treating your kids with both a little TLC & a little TCM commonsense with a simple warming, re-energising breakfast.
DRINK WATER & REHYDRATE - now that we are sleeping at night with Winter woolies & Winter-weight quilts & blankets it's really important to ensure your children drink water before they go to school. Sipping water to re-hydrate is ideal as guzzling water does not re-hydrate the body as effectively as slow intake.
(Note: Synthetic blankets & PJs will leave your child very dehydrated by morning. Also consider using natural fibre bedding & PJs as natural fibres, like cotton, wool, duck down etc, will better allow your child's body to breathe at night, not sweat. This will help your child sleep better and awake more refreshed)..
From the desk of Catherine Riddle (B.A., Post. Grad. Dip. Ed.). Mum to 3 kids, teacher & Practice Manager of Life Balance Health Centre.
WANT MORE HELP?
Dr Andrew Riddle (DC) has been providing gentle Chiro treatments to families. If you have any questions or for more information please contact Catherine or Andrew. Email: info@lbhc.com.au or phone (08) 9403 3999.
