Wednesday, August 25, 2010

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.

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