Why you should be eating muesli for breakfast

Few dishes identify as much with a healthy and balanced breakfast as muesli. And there are many reasons why this delicious recipe, which we owe to the Swiss doctor Maximilian Bircher-Benner, can be considered highly recommended. One only has to go back to its curious origin to quickly understand why.

A therapeutic breakfast

On one of his regular hikes through the Swiss mountains, the Dr. Bircher He met an elderly pastor who, according to what he told him, had never needed to see a doctor. That farmer offered him the hospitality of his humble cabin and, as is customary among mountain people, he prepared some generous food for him to regain his strength.

What he offered him to eat was nothing other than what he himself used to take as a single dish for breakfast and dinner: a ancient recipe that he had inherited from his ancestors and which consisted of a kind of porridge made with freshly ground raw cereals, milk, nuts and fresh apple to accompany it.

Dr. Bircher, seeing how well this curious mixture had done him, and what an effect it seemed to have on this very healthy-looking and vitality-looking shepherd, he began to investigate it in his naturist clinic. The tests he carried out gave him spectacular results, especially in patients with gastrointestinal and cardiocirculatory problems, but also with other health problems.

The first thing he noticed when he had his patients eat a breakfast of oat flakes, grated apple and some nuts was a overall increase in vitality and one improved immune status. An effect that he himself attributed to the solar energy contained in these “living” foods.

The benefits of muesli

It is known that there is nothing better to start the day on the right foot than a stimulating breakfast in the morning. This is the first meal we eat after fasting overnight and, therefore, the one that will determine the state of mind and energy that will accompany us until the main meal at noon.

Most experts agree that a healthy breakfast should contain high biological value proteinsenough slow assimilation carbohydrates, healthy fats and fiber. All this, in addition, in a proportion in which the different nutrients maintain a balanced relationship.

A muesli can be composed in a thousand ways, but in all of them there is fresh or dried fruit; milk, yogurt or vegetable drinks; seeds or nuts; and cereals, generally in flakes.

These are the main benefits of this combination:

1. Energy without ups and downs

This range of ingredients, intelligently combined, fits very well with the requirements of what would be an ideal breakfast. The complex carbohydrates of the flakes, attached to the fiber and the fatty acids of the seeds and nuts, also make it a dish with a low glycemic index.

In this way, the body receives its necessary dose of glucose constantly, without suffering mid-morning energy slumps, so harmful for physical and mental performance.

But we must not forget that, although it is traditionally classified as a breakfast dish (and for good reason), nothing prevents serving a muesli at an informal dinner, as a complete dish; or prepare it as a snack to regain strength in the middle of the afternoon.

we can always move away from the classic sweet version of mueslibecause if muesli has a virtue, it is that it does not allow itself to be restricted by rigid formulas, and it easily adapts to all tastes and needs.

2. Healthier gut

The first virtue of a muesli, in any of its varieties, is derived from the presence of vegetable fiber, whether it comes from whole grains or fruit. Insoluble fiber passes through the intestine almost unchanged and, because it has the effect of softening and bulking up the stool, regulates intestinal transit.

The characteristic mix of whole grains and fresh fruit also has a beneficial effect on the microbiota or intestinal flora, because it provides the raw material that it needs to regenerate. But this benefit – so important for good digestion and assimilation of nutrients – can be enhanced by preparing the muesli with ferments such as yogurt or kefir, which can be vegan.

On the other hand, by including apple or other fruits such as pear or banana, rich in pectin, this recognized property of muesli is enhanced to reduce cholesterol levels. This water-soluble fiber has a detoxifying effect, as it favors the elimination of heavy metals such as mercury, lead or cadmium.

Since most of the pectin is found in the skin, the ideal would be include apple or other unpeeled fruits, and if possible, make sure they come from organic farming. Corn flakes also provide a considerable amount of this soluble fiber.

3. Reconstitutes and protects

Another of the benefits of muesli is its great restorative power. By including such diverse and complementary ingredients, it becomes a very complete and nutritious dish: Provides an optimal proportion of proteins, fats and carbohydrates, as well as most of the vitamins, minerals and trace elements necessary for the proper functioning of the body. Thus, it offers extraordinary food to people who do physical activity, but also to students, pregnant women and growing children.

Whole grains, flaked or ground, provide group B vitamins, which as they are water soluble and the body cannot store them, we must ingest daily. These vitamins are essential for obtaining energy from food and strengthen the heart and immunity.

The Vitamin E, a powerful antioxidant, we receive it from nuts such as walnuts or almonds, but also from seeds and whole grains. This antioxidant power is multiplied by provitamin A and selenium from raw oat flakes.

Any muesli is rich in iron, calcium, match, copper and magnesium. This last mineral helps to maintain the correct acid-base balance of the body, another of the pillars of health, which is also favored by the muesli recipe as a whole.

All these properties are maximized if we include supplements such as flax or sesame seeds, wheat germ or pollen, which are powerful superfoods.

4. It is rich in protein

In general, most mueslis provide high biological value proteinsAlthough they are prepared, they are vegetable drinks.

This is possible thanks to the combination of ingredients with complementary amino acidssuch as soy or almond milk with cereal flakes, which raises the net assimilable protein (NPA).

If we want a particularly protein muesli, the quinoa flakes They are excellent.

Muesli recipes for all tastes and trends

The recipe, popularized in the 1960s, has become so diversified that today it is difficult to trace the original ingredients that made up the muesli proposed by Dr. Bircher. But this should not be interpreted as a defect, quite the contrary. It is the consequence of the enthusiasm with which it has been adopted in all latitudes of the world and of the enormous versatility of this recipewho is not a friend of imposing limits on creativity.

Unlike other culinary creations, what inspired this original pairing of ingredients that we call muesli was the intention to create a dish that was both nutritious, digestive and balanced.

As is logical, this “gastronomic formula” evolves along with the discoveries in nutrition, and is enriched day by day thanks to the originality of the chefs. Hence, today we have, for example:

vegan muesliswhere milk is replaced by vegetable drinks, water or juiceMueslis adapted to celiac peopleprepared without glutenMueslis enriched with superfoods such as chia, goji berries or pollenOther formulas such as granola, porridge or the Budwig cream, which, although it is not usually defined as muesli, perfectly matches the principles that gave rise to this recipe.

It better be homemade

Nowadays it is very easy to find ready-to-mix mueslis with a yogurt or vegetable drink at almost any health food store. In addition, the offer of organic and dietary mueslis is very wide. However, although the level of quality of commercial products is very diverse, nothing can replace a genuine homemade muesli made with care and with the best fresh ingredients.

By being able to choose the foods that will be part of the muesli ourselves, we have the possibility of personalize the recipe as much as possibleand what is more important, we can control the quality of these products and make sure, for example, that it does not contain hydrogenated fats, preservatives or undesirable sweeteners.

When we dedicate part of our time to the preparation of a homemade muesli, we are giving the recipe invaluable added value, which will be reflected in a dish. even tastier and more nutritionally complete.