Losing weight with a warm breakfast – at first glance, that sounds contradictory. But it isn't, because a warm breakfast not only tastes good, but also offers numerous health benefits. This idea or belief originally comes from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and can also be found again and again in the teachings of Ayurveda, the Indian art of healing.
In this blog post, we will explain exactly why porridge is recommended for weight loss, and give you tips on how you can prepare a delicious, hot breakfast in just a few steps!
Find out everything you need to know about preparing porridge
1. A hot breakfast boosts your metabolism
Who hasn't experienced it? Winter, or the cold season, is here and it's much harder to get going. On the one hand, this has to do with the fact that it is still dark in the morning. On the other hand, however, breakfast also plays a major and important role. Many people eat something cold for breakfast and don't even realize the benefits that a cooked breakfast would have for them and their metabolism.
What exactly is it about? In simple terms, metabolism is the transport of substances into the body and their conversion in the body. There are different types, such as energy metabolism. As the name suggests, this process converts substances in the body into energy, allowing you to start the day full of energy. A fast metabolism can therefore be considered beneficial and also helps you lose weight.
In addition to drinking enough fluids and exercising, a warm breakfast such as porridge also helps to boost your metabolism.
2. A healthy gut and good digestion are encouraged
Good gut flora is beneficial for many things – but did you know that it also helps you lose weight?
A study from Belgium came to the same conclusion: more specifically, the influence of a certain intestinal bacterium called Akkermansia muciniphila was examined in overweight individuals. The researchers discovered that the subjects who took the bacterium over a period of three months lost weight and improved their metabolism (while maintaining their eating and exercise habits). 1 This is just one example that illustrates the importance of a healthy gut for successful weight loss!
Put simply, this effect can also be described as a cycle:
- a healthy gut leads to healthy digestion.
- With good digestion, we feel better and are more motivated to stick to our weight loss goals.
- Healthy eating and exercise in turn strengthen the gut flora.
A simple step to improve gut health is to look for foods with a high fiber content. Non-soluble fiber is ideal nutrition for intestinal bacteria, allowing them to multiply and make digestion more effective.
In your daily routine, this can be easily achieved with a warm porridge. The numerous fibers contained in oats, including beta glucans, ensure that you and your gut feel good.
Read more about oats and losing weight.
3. Prevent food cravings with these 2 tips
Cravings are something you want to avoid as much as possible if you want to lose weight! After all, they can quickly undo all your hard work.
There are basically two reasons why you might experience cravings:
You have drastically reduced your calorie intake.
Many people make the mistake of drastically reducing the amount of calories in a diet, and not doing it gradually either, but all at once. The body is not used to the sudden restriction and, in the worst case, it can lead to real food cravings.
Our practical calorie calculator is recommended here. With it, you can calculate your calorie requirement free of charge and in just a few steps, giving you a guideline as to how many calories you should consume when losing weight.
Find out your calorie requirement now
The composition of the calories you consume is not right.
100 calories are not the same as 100 calories if one is an apple and the other is chocolate. With the help of calorie trackers, you can find out.
What's more, some foods have the same calorie count but are more or less filling. Fiber and protein, in particular, have a significant impact on how full you feel. Oats are therefore an ideal ingredient in a hot breakfast.
How does it work exactly? Once the long-chain carbohydrates (= fiber) they contain have been absorbed, they are broken down in the body and released into the bloodstream. Depending on the length of the chains, this process happens faster or slower. Since oats are mainly made up of long-chain carbohydrates, they take longer to break down. This means that your blood sugar level rises more slowly and sustainably, keeping you full for longer. 2
What TCM says about it
Traditional Chinese medicine also knows a lot about food cravings and how they arise. It is assumed that the spleen qi, or the spleen's life energy, is thrown out of balance. A warm breakfast can prevent this. As can be seen in the organ clock graphic, the spleen is most active between 9 and 11 a.m. According to TCM, a warm breakfast gets digestion going.
4. Warm meals guarantee improved nutrient absorption
The absorption of important micro and macro nutrients is also increased by warm meals.
Most foods can be better absorbed by the body when they are cooked or boiled. This can be explained by the fact that the cellulose present in plant cell walls cannot be broken down by humans. However, heating breaks open the cell walls and the polysaccharides can be absorbed. It is therefore recommended to switch to a warm first meal at breakfast.
In the long term, this will naturally have a positive effect on your body and your weight loss goals!
5. Breakfast becomes a morning ritual
When it comes to losing weight, not only nutrition and exercise play an important role, but also the right mindset! With a positive attitude, things come much more easily to us. Perhaps you have already noticed this when studying for an exam, when doing tasks at work or when losing weight. One way to make it easier for yourself is to create rituals!
For example, you can take time every morning to prepare and enjoy a warm, wholesome breakfast. You'll see, after a few days it will have become a real routine that you won't want to do without. But don't worry: you don't have to get up earlier to do it, because our porridges take just a few steps to prepare .
Another advantage: a warm meal like porridge in the morning provides you with all the nutrients, such as proteins or minerals, you need for a successful morning. It also keeps you full for longer, so you don't need snacks in between meals and you can easily save calories. This way, you can concentrate on the important things, such as work, university or school, and not on what you will eat next.
Breakfast ideas: tips and recipes for a hot, healthy breakfast
As promised at the beginning, we will now reveal a few more delicious ideas for what your hot breakfast could look like.
- Oatmeal with various toppings
- Scrambled eggs with fresh vegetables
- Waffles with fruit
- Savory breakfast muffins
- Baked beans with toast
Even though all of these ideas are for a warm meal, not all of them are suitable for losing weight. Ultimately, it also depends on what the nutrient composition looks like and how quickly the dish can be prepared. If it takes a long time to prepare, motivation can quickly be lost and you may be tempted to reach for unhealthy alternatives.
Porridge meets these criteria for the perfect breakfast for losing weight! Oats contain a variety of important nutrients such as magnesium, zinc and iron. In addition, the long-chain dietary fibers it contains ensure a pleasant feeling of satiety.
It's all about variety: another great thing about porridge is that it can be combined with such a wide variety of toppings that it never gets boring! Depending on the season, you can top your breakfast porridge with fresh fruit, chia seeds, nuts such as walnuts or nut butters. And if you fancy a really sweet breakfast, melted chocolate with a high cocoa content is the perfect addition to your porridge.
Sport Porridges: the ideal breakfast for losing weight
Of course, you can eat any of our porridges for your hot breakfast. However, our two Sport Porridges, Cocoa Banana and Raspberry Cocoa, are specially formulated to meet your needs.
Thanks to the natural sweetness of bananas, dates and raspberries, both products do not need any added sugar and still taste pleasantly sweet.
The oat flakes and bran they contain ensure a high fiber content, which is why you stay full for a long time! In addition, you cover a large part of your protein needs directly at breakfast with the vegetable proteins.
Made with plant-based milk, milk or water, the porridges are ready to enjoy in just 3 minutes!
Find out more about sports breakfasts.
- Depommier C, Everard A, Druart C, et al. Supplementation with Akkermansia muciniphila in overweight and obese human volunteers: a proof-of-concept exploratory study. Nat Med . Published online July 2019:1096-1103. doi: 10.1038/s41591-019-0495-2
- Schek A. Ernährungslehre Kompakt. 6th ed. Umbau Zeitschriftenverlag; 2017.
