Note: I asked Daud Scott of Nature’s First Path to help me focus on some anti-inflammatory vegan foods. I have several allergies and sensitivities to food, including to vegan staples such as soy, wheat, and several beans. Focusing the last year on eating anti-inflammatory has been tough, but also beneficial in terms of improving energy and reducing allergic reactions. Here are some quick breakfast tips that Daud put together. As I will do, I hope you can adapt them for your own diet.-Ned

Starting Your Day with an Anti-Inflammatory Breakfast

A big part of sustaining and finding joy within the Vegan diet is eating in a manner that keeps you feeling full and sated, as well as keeping you healthy and vigorous to able to handle the many things that we all have to accomplish in a day. Starting your day off on the right footing contributes to at least 75% of that health and vigor. It is very important to start your day with the proper anti-inflammatory foods to ward off pain, fatigue, and lack of food enjoyment.

Being proactive against allowing sources of inflammation to enter your body is key if we are to stay healthy while being Vegan. Starting your day off with an anti-inflammatory source of nutrition can help with this. The point is to be as consistent as possible when doing this. Another benefit of starting your day with a good source of whole food plant-based anti-inflammatory nutrition is that it helps you stay fuller, longer throughout of the bulk of your morning up until around lunch time (Usually. It depends on your rate of metabolism). Fortunately, there are some simple ways that you can do this that don’t require extra-long preparation. Eating this way revolves around placing the right spice and herb combinations with your food. Try these simple ideas for great tasting anti-inflammatory breakfast meals to fuel your mornings:

• Organic Turmeric Tofu Scramble: Maybe you have already been making tofu scrambles for breakfast, but now add some fresh turmeric, dried rosemary and black pepper for an anti-inflammatory boost. Not only is this particular herb combination anti-inflammatory, it also contains high amounts of calcium, potassium and chromium for excellent nutrition boosting your immune system.

• Avocado Whole Wheat Toast: Looking for a new twist on your breakfast toast? Consider adding avocado spread with drizzles of agave for a healthy taste. Avocados contain great sources of Vitamin A and also suppresses inducible nitric oxide (a source of inflammation). This also contains high amount of fiber which is not only a necessary nutrient to keep inflammation low, but also cleans the digestive tract which leads to better absorption foods overall.

• Quinoa-Chia Antioxidant Porridge: This breakfast bowl is as healthy as it sounds. Make quinoa with either cashew, almond or rice milk, blueberries, cinnamon and plant-based sweetener. Feel free to top this off with a few peach slices for added taste. The cinnamon and the quinoa combine together to reduce blood sugar and reduce our inflammatory presence in our bodies. Placing this here in your morning meals is sure to give you the energy and the power to shine at your brightest.

• Kale, Banana and Goji Berry Smoothie: Placing this formula of healthy greens and superfruits helps keep inflammation low before the day gets started and hectic. A very big benefit to this is that it also eliminates heavy metal toxins from your body, helping your feel loose and flexible without the unnecessary pain.

In addition to these tips, a good way to prep is to have many of these items set aside the night before to save time in the morning.

Anti-inflammatory eating is not just good for breakfast meals; it is also good for lunches as well. Consider having pre-sliced beets, carrots, cucumbers, apples and celery splashed with a little raw apple cider vinegar near you (in a Ziploc) to add to your lunches. Taking these simple steps to ward off inflammation goes a long way when you put the effort into it. And in doing so, your body just might thank you for many years to come.

All the best to you and your families.

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Daud Scott is a Certified Holistic Nutrition Practitioner and is the owner of Natures First Path, a Holistic Nutrition practice. Daud lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife and son. To learn more about Daud’s approach to health and wellness you can visit him at: www.naturesfirstpath.com