Fruits For Healthy Breakfast: Whether breakfast really is the most important meal of the day is still up for debate, but many nutritionists agree that a well-balanced breakfast is pretty important and can lay the groundwork for a solid day ahead.
Loaded with fiber and important nutrients, fruit is a great addition to a balanced breakfast. Keep reading for the best fruits to eat in the morning, recommended by registered dietitians.
Fruits For Healthy Breakfast, Citrus fruits—including oranges, grapefruits, lemons, and limes—are great sources of vitamin C, fiber, potassium, and phytonutrients, have anti-inflammatory and detoxification properties, and may improve heart health.
Fruits For Healthy Breakfast, “Grapefruit in particular contains a high level of the flavonoid, naringenin, which is thought to promote a microbiome environment more favorable to leanness,” Wyosnick says. But grapefruit isn’t for everyone—the phytonutrients in grapefruit are known to affect medication dosages, so if you’re taking a pharmaceutical medications, be sure to check with your doctor first.
1. Citrus Fruits
Citrus fruits—including oranges, grapefruits, lemons, and limes—are great sources of vitamin C, fiber, potassium, and phytonutrients, have anti-inflammatory and detoxification properties, and may improve heart health.
“Grapefruit in particular contains a high level of the flavonoid, naringenin, which is thought to promote a microbiome environment more favorable to leanness,” Wyosnick says. But grapefruit isn’t for everyone—the phytonutrients in grapefruit are known to affect medication dosages, so if you’re taking a pharmaceutical medications, be sure to check with your doctor first.
2. Apples
Fruits For Healthy Breakfast, You know what they say—an apple a day keeps the doctor away. This may very well be true when you look into all the nutritional benefits of an apple. Packed with fiber, vitamin C, and antioxidants, apples are a great source of a flavonoid called quercetin, which has anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties and can boost the immune system. An added bonus, “Quercetin can be especially helpful in people with seasonal allergies.
Another perk of apples is that they’re so easy to take on the go, making them an ideal choice for those of us who are often in a rush in the mornings. “Fiber helps to keep us fuller for longer which is definitely something we want our breakfast to contain to prevent from mindless snacking in the morning,” Michalczyk says.
Fruits For Healthy Breakfast, Apples pair well with many breakfast foods, from oatmeal to nut butter to yogurt. Wyosnick recommends topping a bowl of oatmeal with stewed apples, or eating an apple alongside a slice of toast topped with peanut butter. For an ideal serving size, choose an apple the size of your fist—and leave on the skin for optimal nutritional benefits, she says.
3. Raspberries
Fruits For Healthy Breakfast, Tiny, yet bursting with flavor, raspberries are an easy add-on to so many different types of breakfast, from smoothies, to oatmeal to yogurt or even nut-butter topped toast.
“Raspberries are small powerhouses of diverse phytonutrients, and because we eat the fruit whole (skin and seeds), the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory nutrients are easily obtained,” Wyosnick says. “Like most fruits, raspberries are also a great source of vitamin C and fiber.”
Fruits For Healthy Breakfast, A one-cup serving of raspberries contains about eight grams of fiber and 64 calories.
4. Pomegranate Seeds
Fruits For Healthy Breakfast, For a fruit that many people overlook, pomegranate seeds are loaded with nutritional benefits. “These ruby, jewel-like seeds are rich sources of antioxidant polyphenols called anthocyanins that can help protect replicating cells against free radical damage, and have been studied as means of preventing prostate, colon, lung and breast cancer,” Wyosnick says. “Pomegranate seeds are unique as an edible seed and contain much more concentrated levels of antioxidants than equivalent servings of fruit.”
Fruits For Healthy Breakfast, Beyond antioxidants, pomegranate is a solid source of vitamin C, vitamin K, potassium, fiber, and folate. For a tasty and nutritious breakfast, add a half-cup of pomegranate seeds to a bowl of yogurt or oatmeal.
5. Blueberries
Fruits For Healthy Breakfast, With nearly four grams of fiber in a one-cup serving, blueberries are a great fruit to eat in the morning. Blueberries come with more benefits than fiber—they also contain vitamin C, manganese, and “phytonutrients called polyphenols which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and can contribute to heart health and a reduction of other chronic diseases,” Young says. For a filling breakfast, load up your oatmeal with a cup of blueberries.
6. Kiwi
Fruits For Healthy Breakfast, Kiwi may not be as popular as apples and berries, but it’s great fruit to eat at breakfast, or really at any time of day. Turned off by the idea of peeling and slicing kiwi? Simply cut it in half and scoop out the fruit with a spoon.
Fruits For Healthy Breakfast, Now, for the health benefits: kiwi is high in vitamin C, which can help boost immunity. It’s also high in fiber which can increase satiety, and it may help with digestion as well, Young says.
7. Cantaloupe
Fruits For Healthy Breakfast, “Cantaloupe is super rich in vitamins A, C, potassium, and fiber,” Young says. “It’s also super high in water so it’s perfect in the morning if you don’t feel like drinking water.” The suggested serving size for cantaloupe is one to two cups, but this fruit is so low in calories that you don’t need to worry about how much you eat, Young says.
8. Banana
Fruits For Healthy Breakfast, Wrapped up in their own natural packaging, bananas are one of the easiest fruits to slip in your bag and take on the go in the mornings.
“They also contain resistant starch, which is not digested by our bodies but rather is beneficial bacteria in your gut,” Michalczyk says. “We continue to learn more and more about the importance of gut health and how it plays a role in many different functions in the body.”
Fruits For Healthy Breakfast, Bananas also contain fiber, B vitamins, and minerals like potassium, manganese, and magnesium.
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