Eat Breakfast in Two Parts
If you’re anything like me you have heard the famous quote a thousand times when growing up. “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” I always thought it was an old saying from when breakfast was early in the morning, and most people worked outside all day. To my surprise this saying actually comes from a 1940’s ad campaign from General Foods to help increase their cereal sales, and does not apply so much to people with IBS or IBD anyway. This statement does hold some validity as far as the regulation of metabolism goes, but it doesn’t quite measure up for people with IBS and IBD.
Many people who have IBS and IBD report not being hungry in the morning. This happens as a result of symptoms usually being worse in the morning. Hitting your digestive system with a full breakfast can make it worse. This is where breaking up your breakfast into two smaller parts can be beneficial.
Now I will say that when dealing with a flare you may lose your appetite completely. This is rather common for people when showing active disease. On these mornings it may be a struggle to even eat the first part of your breakfast, but it’s important to try and nourish yourself as best you can in this state.
My body was trying to tell me it wasn’t quite ready for a full breakfast, but heading the quote and trying to fit my meals to my work schedule, I ignored it for years after being diagnosed. How I wish I could go back, and tell myself what I know now! I eventually started to notice a pattern when I waited until I was a little hungrier. Whether it was because I was busy, or it was a day off, the days I ate smaller portions later in the morning, the better I felt.
I now have my breakfast in two parts, two to three hours apart from each other. Most mornings I have my SCD approved watered down coffee and a banana about thirty minutes to an hour after waking. This ensures that my coffee doesn’t go to an empty stomach (which I never recommend for someone with IBS or IBD), and that my morning vitamins have some substance to break down into. Then, two to three hours later (just listen to your body here, it’s not an exact science) I eat the other half of my breakfast. This can consist of a two egg omelet and some fruit or an almond flour muffin and homemade chicken sausage patties. I have personally found that giving my body a single chain carbohydrate (Banana) followed a few hours later with a protein and a sugar (eggs and fruit) gives the best results to fuel me for my day. This combo can take any form you would like as long as the foods are on the approved SCD diet. Get creative, try it out to find your body’s timing, and reinvent the way you view your mornings! Eating breakfast in two smaller parts two to three hours a part has revolutionized my mornings, and I hope it does the same for you!