For a tasty, quick breakfast I like to combine fruit and proteins and maybe a few herbs in a bowl, it’s a refreshing way to start the day. After devouring this delicious combination the other day I decided to look up the health properties of the 3 ingredients and amazed to learn that this is not just a pretty combo, this bowl is actually loaded with health and dietary benefits.
Powerful Pineapple
Let’s start with that fresh Pineapple, the only known source for Bromelain. This enzyme breaks down protein and helps to reduce inflamation and treat indigestion. Bromelain is also a natural blood thinner and can help to lower your blood pressure.
A cup of Pineapple is about 80 calories and is full of dietary fibre so that you will feel fuller longer. It is also loaded with vitamin C, one cup of pineapple will give you the daily dose you need to help to boost your immune system and reduce illnesses. This naturally sweet treat also offers a healthy cocktail of Thiamine, Riboflavin, Vitamin B-6, Folate, Pantothenic acid, Magnesium, Manganese, Potassium, Antioxidants and Poloyphenols.
To pick the perfect pineapple use your nose, sniff the base of the pineapple, if it smells sweet and ripe it is! When storing a whole pineapple, waiting for it to ripen, lean it against the side of a bowl or a wall and turn it upside down with the leafy crown pointing down, this allows the sweet juice to flow through the fruit.
Kind Cottage Cheese
When it come’s to cottage cheese, I choose Nancy’s, and it’s not just because of the company’s fascinating history {the owners are the brother and sister~and~law of late author Ken Kesey and used to hold Grateful Dead concerts at their Springfield, Oregon Creamery}. And it’s not just because they were the first company to add “gut healthy” Lactobacillus Acidophilus to their yogurt and then the cottage cheese…. 1/2 cup of Nancy’s organic cottage cheese is just 80 calories, and it packs a punch of probiotics: L. acidophilus, bifidum and 4 strains of lactic cultures, which help to keep the intestinal tract healthy and flowing. I also choose Nancy’s because I love the drier, denser curd and the distinctive tangy taste — it is the perfect complement for sweet fruit.
Click on Acidophilus to read about more health benefits.
Mint, marvelous mint
I’ve always loved the combo of pineapple and mint, it is surprising how very complementary they are. Here is one of my all time favorite fruit salads:
We all know that mint is a great way to freshen the breath, but did you know that this greenery, when made into a tisane {tea} will help to soothe an upset stomach? It is also known to aid digestion {there seems to be an ongoing theme here}, improve memory, is a natural stimulant that can lead to weight loss and so much more.
13 benefits of Mint
For more ideas on easy, tasty, healthy bowls click on a peach of a breakfast bowl or rise and shine….W
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