Acupuncture Healthcare

Breakfast is one of my favorite meals of the day.  It’s usually one experiment after the next.  I get to wake up and ask myself, what does my appetite want this morning?  And if I pick well, I feel great, have more energy, regular bowel movements, and snack less later in the day.

Unfortunately, I’ve noticed with patients that breakfast is often overlooked, undervalued, or simply ignored.  For some, it is due to deficiency and inactivity.  They simply do not have an appetite in the morning because their  digestive energies have been weakened from too many skipped meals, over-thinking, over-working, and/or not enough exercise in their daily routine to stimulate their appetite.

Others mistakenly believe they can lose weight by forgoing breakfast.  But if they looked closely they are replacing a healthy breakfast with sugary, milky lattes and chai teas, and later in the morning eating muffins, donuts, and any snacks they can get their hands on to make up for those missed calories in the morning.

Starting the day off right might be difficult in the beginning, but once your body becomes accustom to eating breakfast regularly, you’ll begin to see and feel a difference in the flow of your daily energy.  For me, the easiest breakfast to prepare and experiment with is jook, aka. congee or rice porridge.  A rice cooker with a porridge setting allows you to set the timer the night before so you can wake up to pipping hot, ready-to-eat jook.

Jook is very versatile, so telling you what to put in it is difficult.  It’s a matter of taste and experimentation.  The Book of Jook:  Chinese Medicinal Porridges by Bob Flaws is a handbook for thinking about what to add to your porridge in the morning.

For example I made up this recipe the other day:

1.5 cups rice

8 cups water

3/4 cup raw peanuts (shelled)

3/4 shitaki mushrooms sliced and diced

1/4 sliced green onions (scallions)

Put all ingredients in rice cooker at night and set timer for the next morning.

In the morning I add a little soy sauce to my bowl of jook and stir.  Yum!

Oftentimes it’s easier to begin with plain jook:  1-1.5 cups rice to 6-8 cups water.  In the morning ask yourself what you want to add…miso, green onions, pine nuts, chicken stock, an egg, soy sauce, yogart, sesame seeds, sesame oil, raisins, dates, cherries, cinnamon, maple syrup…it can be sweet or savory.  Just ask yourself what would feel good, and what does my appetite want right now.

Bon Appetit! and Best of Health!

Note of caution:  rice is a diuretic.  If you are diabetic or have problems with polyuria, you should not eat rice porridge.

Tags: appetite, breakfast, dietary advice, experiments, health care