Publish date: 19 February 2021

A question we often get asked for is ideas for healthy low GI breakfast ideas, particularly those that can be eaten ‘on the go.’ I’ve put together some recipe ideas below with a low GI, including a protein source and tasty! They can be prepared in advance to take in the morning or just made fresh on the day and enjoyed at home. Speak to the Dietitians if you’d like more breakfast ideas and help managing breakfast, you can contact us on uclh.cddietitians@nhs.net.

  • Peanut butter or egg sandwich (use granary, seedy or sourdough bread for a lower GI)
  • Use jumbo/thick cut oats for a lower GI
  • Use 0% thick greek yoghurt or skyr yoghurt to increase protein (check label, choose yoghurt with 9-11g protein/100g)

Recipes

Recipe idea here

I adapted and added some oats as well, they were nice freshly cooked or cold the next day. Could also pop in the microwave and reheat for 30 seconds before running out of the door!

My recipe:

  • 2 eggs
  • 1 banana (approximately 100g)
  • 2 tbsp jumbo/thick cut oats (40g)
  • A little rapeseed oil for frying

Method:

  1. Mash banana and mix in eggs and oats, whisk with a fork to make a batter
  2. Divide into 4 and fry 2 pancakes at a time in a pan, frying for 1-2minutes on each side until golden

Nutrition:

1 pancake = 12g carb and 5g protein (portion size 2-4 pancakes)

I made this recently and had the leftovers cold the next day for breakfast, they were really tasty, include eggs and yoghurt for protein, lots of veg and a low GI carb, sweet potato. A bit more time-consuming to make but worth the effort! I left out the chilli and swapped the mixed spice for paprika, which was really tasty, I think mixed herbs would work well too. Nice to have a savoury option too.

Nutrition: Each muffin contains 10g carbohydrate and 6.5g protein (portion size 2-4 muffins)

Ingredients:

  • 100g frozen berries (straight from the freezer), such as strawberries, blueberries and raspberries)
  • ½ banana (approximately 50g)
  • 100g high protein yoghurt (e.g. Skyr, 0% total yoghurt)
  • 125ml semi-skimmed milk
  • 20g jumbo/thick cut oats

Method:

  1. Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth and pour into a glass

You could make the night before and keep in the fridge in a lidded cup to have on the go

Nutrition: 35g carb and 17g protein per smoothie (portion size ½-1 smoothie)

I adapted this recipe slightly, decreasing the honey to reduce the sugar (I think you could probably leave out entirely as the dates are sweet enough), increasing the peanut butter and adding skimmed milk powder to up the protein content. They are really chewy, sweet and tasty and easy to just grab and go

My recipe - Ingredients:

  • 200g dates
  • 100g peanut butter
  • 2tbsp honey (approximately 30g)
  • 100g almonds
  • 135g jumbo/thick cut oats
  • 50g dried skimmed milk powder

Method:

  1. Blend dates in a food processor until chopped and smooth (I needed to add a little boiling water, to loosen them up a bit while blending)
  2. Mix the dates with the oats, skimmed milk powder and almonds
  3. Melt the peanut butter and honey in saucepan, then stir into the rest of the ingredients (the mixture was quite dry and needed a lot of mixing to ensure it was all combined evenly)
  4. Push firmly into a baking tin or loaf tin and refrigerate/freeze until hardened, then cut with a sharp knife into 10 equal pieces (they will never be crunchy, more soft and chewy,
  5. Store in tub in fridge until needed

 Nutrition: 28g carb and 8g protein per bar

(Portion size 1-2 bars)


This blog was provided by:

Laura Bull - senior specialist dietitianLaura is one of the team’s Dietitians and has been working at UCLH since 2013. She has been employed by the NHS for 10 years, Laura had training in Paediatric Dietetics, working in the hospital and community clinics before specialising in Diabetes. Laura meets children, young people and their families to offer dietary advice and education at the time of their new diagnosis and regularly throughout their journey at UCLH, alongside the other team members.

 
"The most rewarding part of my role is getting to know families and children as they grow up. Food is such an important part of everybody's lives and understanding food is such a large part of managing Diabetes. I enjoy dispelling some of the myths surrounding food and helping children and young people to manage their diabetes and stay healthy, while eating food they enjoy!"