Recipe for a Perfect "Warm Breakfast"

Fall is upon us, the temperatures are dropping and you want something warm for a heart healthy breakfast...

Combine oatmeal, banana & bran to make a high potassium, low sodium, low fat and tasty warm breakfast entree.


The base recipe:

• 1 serving Quaker Instant Oatmeal: 105mg potassium, 75mg sodium, 2g fat.
• 1 banana (sliced into the oatmeal): 540mg potassium, 2mg sodium, 0.5g fat.
• 1/4 cup Kelloggs All Bran (mixed into the oatmeal): 175mg potassium, 40mg sodium, 0.5g fat.
• Total: 820mg potassium, 117mg sodium, 3g fat [a 7:1 healthy meal!]

If the base recipe is too bland for your tastebuds, then you can upgrade to one of Quaker's many flavors of instant oatmeal (e.g. apples & cinnamon, maple & brown sugar, etc). Unfortunately, flavored oatmeals have a 1:1.5 to 1:2 potassium:sodium ratio - changing the recipe's nutrition as follows:

• 1 serving Flavored Quaker Instant Oatmeal: 105mg potassium, 160-200mg sodium, 2g fat.
• 1 banana (sliced into the oatmeal): 540mg potassium, 2mg sodium, 0.5g fat.
• 1/4 cup Kelloggs All Bran (mixed into the oatmeal): 175mg potassium, 40mg sodium, 0.5g fat.
• Total: 820mg potassium, 202-242mg sodium, 3g fat [a 4:1 healthy meal]

A 4:1 potassium:sodium ratio is still incredible for your heart; but suppose you are in love with 7:1 nutrition profile of the base recipe yet want more of the flavor of the 4:1 recipe? The answer: use honey instead of flavored oatmeal:

• 1 serving Quaker Instant Oatmeal: 105mg potassium, 75mg sodium, 2g fat.
• 1 banana (sliced into the oatmeal): 540mg potassium, 2mg sodium, 0.5g fat.
• 1/4 cup Kelloggs All Bran (mixed into the oatmeal): 175mg potassium, 40mg sodium, 0.5g fat.
• 1 tablespoon honey (mixed into the oatmeal): 11mg potassium, 0mg sodium, 0g fat. 
• Total: 831mg potassium, 117mg sodium, 3g fat [a 7:1 healthy meal!]

7:1 to 4:1 - pick one of these 3 recipes that tastes best to you. In any choice, you have a high potassium, low sodium & low fat warm option for your heart healthy menu through the chilly fall & winter months.

A perfect breakfast: yogurt, fruit & granola

A recipe for a perfect high potassium, low sodium, low fat & economical breakfast.
Main ingredients: bananas, melons, yogurt and granola/fiber cereal.

Here is a great hearth healthy breakfast option:

• 1 banana
• 1/2 cup melon (I do 1/4 cup servings of 2 of cantaloupe, watermelon or honeydew melon)
• 1 6 oz serving of fat free yogurt
• a 1/4 to 1/3 cup serving of granola or fiber based cereal

We buy 2 medium sized melons (whichever 2 of cantaloupe, watermelon or honeydew is on sale). After slicing the melons into tupperware, this yields about 2 weeks of breakfast for 2 people (eating this 4-5 mornings a week, each).

The average nutrition & cost breakdown:

• banana: 550 mg potassium, 0.5 g fat, 2 mg sodium, 10 cents.
• melon: 185 mg potassium, 0.15 g fat, 10 mg sodium, 40 cents.
• yogurt: 280 mg potassium, 0 g fat, 100 mg sodium, 40 cents.
• granola: 230 mg potassium, 0.6 g fat, 50 mg sodium, 15 cents.
• TOTAL: 1245 mg potassium, 1.25 g fat, 162 mg sodium, $1.05 per breakfast.

WOW: your heart will kiss you for this. A whopping 8:1 potassium to sodium ratio, low fat and no hole in your wallet! Starting my day with an 8:1 meal is how I got my blood pressure under control.

For completeness, this analysis is using: (1) Kellogg's "All Bran" as the granola/fiber cereal, adjust the nutrients/cost to your favorite granola or fiber cereal; (2) the average of cantaloupe, watermelon & honeydew for the melon count; (3) typical prices for these foods at supermarkets in the Colorado mountains.