When we tell our friends that we’ve given up breakfast, their eyes widen and they usually say something to the tune of, how do you survive? Well, we say, it’s not much of a challenge really. By skipping breakfast, we save both time and money, and it’s also quite a bonus that there is a long list of positive health effects associated with it.

When we short-term fast, the body does everything it can to protect our cells from damage. Blood pressure is lowered and insulin sensitivity increases and thus the body itself reduces both inflammation and aging.

Our friends inevitably want to know more and we explain that we only eat during an 8 hour window of the day. For the remaining 16 hours we drink water, coffee or tea. Truth be told, it wasn’t easy at first, but now we cannot imagine living any other way. We choose to skip breakfast, but it could just as easily be dinner. The important thing is that the last thing we eat before fasting is a nutritious, high-fiber tasty meal in order to support our good gut bacteria.

Feeling still a bit skeptic, our friend ask, how do you have a functioning social life when you fast? And the answer is, we wouldn’t have a social life if we fasted everyday. Few friends are willing to have dinner with you at 5:30pm on a Friday night and our family would likely grow old of watching us just sip on green tea at Sunday brunch. So you’ll be glad to know, just as we were, that short-term fasting just a couple times a week is good and plenty enough to reap the benefits.

So when we do eat breakfast we go all in. Especially when it’s the weekend, give us the good stuff with extra everything! Homemade seed crisps, avocado, match latte and some of Food Pharmacy’s golden porridge – a recipe from our cookbook that doubles as a gut flora booster. This recipe is a cross between golden milk and overnight oats, two favorites in one = goodness in a bowl.

Food Pharmacy’s Golden Porridge
(serves 2 portions)

1 cup havregryn
2 tbsp chia seeds
¼ cup coconut flakes
2 fresh dates, pitted
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp ground tumeric
¼ tsp ground cardamom
¼ tsp ground ginger
1 pinch of sea salt
2 cups preferred milk

Put the milk, spices and dates into a blender and pulse a few times. Pour the milk into a container with the coconut, chia seeds and oats. Stir and leave in the fridge overnight.

Stir again the following morning and portion into bowls. Add a bit more milk for desired consistency and top with favorite toppings such as fresh berries, granola, nuts or sliced apples.