Friday 7 January 2011

Breakfast Boost

It seems that breakfast cereals are not healthy enough in and of themselves (and why do we let them get away with that??), and so there exists a wide range of products to boost the nutrition in what I should have thought would be a nutritious food. In my quest for better eating I've boldly gone into this Breakfast Boosting world.



It's fair to say that I haven't eaten all that much linseed in my life. I went through a phase a few years ago of eating soy and linseed bread. I didn't mind it. In fact I got to prefer it (especially with nutella) to other breads. But linseeds aren't a food that features all that much in the typical Australian diet. 

The linseed or flax plant has beautiful blue flowers, and must look glorious to see a field in bloom. The seed is said to have many health benefits. The front of my pack lists
-omega 3
-low carb
-low GI
-nil trans fat
-alkaline food
-gluten free
-brain development
-helps burn body fat
-rich source of daily fibre
-cholesterol free
-promotes positive mood
-promote healthy cardiovascular system

With more benefits on the back. I don't know whether all these claims are true, but even so, it can't be a bad thing for us to eat now, can it? I do like the concept of eating many, varied foods in a day- there have been many names for this- such as rainbow diet- which I think is a great concept, and easy to judge your success by even the quickest of glances at a plate- how many colours? I even read an article a few years ago that suggested we need to eat 31 different plants a day- I tried that for a few days- it's really hard!

So I decided to give Breakfast Boost a crack. My pack suggests that I should have two tablespoons daily on cereal, toast (?), in salads, as a dessert topping, or mixed in fruit juice, yoghurt or protein drinks. I know that they're trying to get me to use lots of their product and that's fine, but I just don't find the on toast option appealing at all, and I really don't like gritty things in drinks, so I'm unlikely to do that. Happy to put stuff on my cereal though. 

 I found the two tablespoons a bit much, and so have been putting a tablespoon on my cereal each morning, and then topping it with fruits, including my beloved baked rhubarb, and whatever else I may have about the house. In the last few weeks I've been adding cinnamon and ginger too. There isn't a lot of taste truth be told, to me it seems to add more of a textural component to my bowl of cereal (but not in a bad way).

I've nearly eaten the whole packet now. I should perhaps try it in some other format, although I'm happy enough with it on my cereal. Have I noticed any particular change that could be attributable to my increased consumption of linseed? Well, no. Still, I feel that it's likely to be good for me, and I'll try more of the Lively Linseed products in the future- they do a Blueberry Breakfast Boost, and I've started to see their biscuits around too.

2 comments:

  1. Oh, the colors of those blueberries and rhubarb look so wonderful! I've never heard it called that, but I definitely think in terms of the "Rainbow Diet." Lots of colors always equals healthy in my book!

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  2. Thanks Camille. I've been eating lots of rhubarb and blueberries this year. We've had an astonishing blueberry season in Australia this year- they've been fantastic for months this year. I think rainbow diet is a really useful concept. I often use it shopping for instance, when I'm planning a salad or vegies in my head, and then deliberately pick different vegies of different colours, based on what I already have.

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