Many people (including myself) are unenthusiastic about breakfast. There are many reasons for this; time is one excuse, limited and/or unappealing choices is another. For these reasons, folks often turn to “fast food” e.g. buttered bread, waffles or milk and cereal—foods high in carbohydrates—to sustain them until lunch. Culturally, these examples of the two minute American breakfast are somewhat…uninspiring.

This is not true for all cultures. Have you ever considered having salad for breakfast? I admit this sounded odd until I visited Israel, where a plate of chopped cucumbers, tomatoes and onions are combined with lemon juice olive oil, mint and parsley. This is a great way to increase your vegetable load for the day. I admit salad is not very “warming” for these winter months though.  For these winter months I turn to congee, a dish eaten throughout China for breakfast. Congee is a thin porridge or gruel consisting of a handful of rice simmered in 5-6 times that quantity of water for at least six hours. It is said that the longer the congee cooks, the more “powerful” it becomes. Amaranth, millet and spelt are occasionally used as well. This simple dish is easily digested and assimilated, tonifies the chi and is extremely nourishing. Other therapeutic foods may be added such as ginger, celery and fennel depending on your individual needs. Use Paul Pitchford’s Healing with Whole Foods as a guide.  Click here to continue reading…