For a satisfying and healthy breakfast, food influencers often have the same idea: a preparation with chia seeds or oatmeal to leave to swell overnight, and to eat when you get up. Simple Instagrammable bowl or real benefit for health and appetite? We asked Alexandra Murcier, dietician-nutritionist.
Two express breakfasts to prepare the day before
But what are we talking about?
- In chia seed pudding, the recipe is as simple as chia seeds immersed in milk, animal or vegetable, then garnished with fruits, seeds or other toppings. The seeds absorb part of the liquid for several hours and give the preparation a thick and soft texture;
- In the overnight oatssame principle, but with oatmeal that is left to soak in milk all night. Result: a bowl already ready when you wake up, to which you can add fruit, nuts, seeds or even a dairy product.
Compared to the endless coffee and toast options, these two options therefore have an obvious advantage: they allow you to prepare in advance a breakfast rich in fiber, easily customizable and generally more filling.
Overnight oats: an interesting breakfast for fiber
Oatmeal is a good source of fiber, including beta-glucans. These soluble fibers participate in particular in the regulation of blood cholesterol and contribute to the feeling of satiety.
Oats also provide complex carbohydrates, which provide energy over a longer period. This is particularly interesting for people who have an active morning or who practice physical activity.
Another advantage: overnight oats can easily be enriched with nutritionally interesting foods. Fresh fruits, oilseeds, seeds or skyr allow you to vary your intake. But contrary to popular belief on social media, a bowl of overnight oats is not necessarily a very protein-rich breakfast.
Chia pudding: its main asset? Omega-3
Chia seeds also have several nutritional qualities. They are notably rich in fiber but not only that.
“The main benefit of chia pudding is the omega-3 intake, because chia seeds are a good source, and in general we lack omega-3 in our diet”explains Alexandra Murcier. “They are anti-inflammatory and protective of our cardiovascular system, therefore essential”continues the dietitian-nutritionist.
Thanks to their fiber content, chia seeds can also contribute to satiety and the proper functioning of transit. Here again, their interest depends on the overall composition of the breakfast.
Overnight oats or chia pudding: which contains more protein?
But then what about their protein content? On this point, overnight oats has a slight advantage. A serving of oatmeal provides more protein than a few spoons of chia seeds.
But that’s not enough to make it a particularly protein-packed breakfast.
“For me, the protein intake from these two breakfasts is also negligible, not at all significant enough, especially for an athlete or someone who would like to preserve their muscle mass”believes Alexandra Murcier.
She is thinking in particular of the periods of perimenopause and menopause, during which diet and physical activity can help preserve muscle mass.
To significantly increase protein intake, it is therefore possible to add skyr, cottage cheese or petit-suisses, for example.
Also pay attention to the toppings that transform breakfast
This is probably the main pitfall of these very popular recipes on social networks. Because a base made of oatmeal or chia seeds can quickly be transformed into a very sweet dessert depending on what you add on top: spread, sweetened peanut butter, coulis, syrup, chocolate or even granola.
“An important point to also mention is the toppings that we put on these two breakfast bases: peanut butter, Nutella, fruit coulis, etc. All of this can be very high in calories even if these recipes are super popular on the networks”, underlines Alexandra Murcier.
“So, from something basically healthy, you can quickly move on to a much sweeter breakfast.”
The solution? Favor fresh fruits, nuts, seeds and a natural dairy product, while limiting very sugary additions.
“Generally speaking, the ideal is to avoid eating sweet foods in the morning, because this tends to increase our blood sugar too quickly and give us a dip at 11 a.m. due to the reactive hypoglycemia that results.” recalls the expert.
For proteins, think salty!
For Alexandra Murcier, the salty and protein breakfast remains a particularly interesting option, especially when it is necessary to preserve satiety and protein intake.
“I highly recommend making a protein and savory breakfast, like eggs with wholemeal bread for example.”
However, there is no question of banning overnight oats or chia puddings.
“These two options are not a disaster either. For example, if we use skyr or petit-suisses which are high in protein and a topping like fresh fruit, it still remains a very acceptable breakfast.”
The idea is therefore above all to rebalance the recipe. A base of chia or oats, a product rich in protein and fresh fruit make it possible to obtain a complete breakfast, without the need to multiply the sweet ingredients. “In this case, it is good to vary the fruits to cover your vitamin and mineral needs”concludes the dietitian-nutritionist.