Nutritious morning shorts to kickstart your morning routine
Nourish the body with the wake-up call your health needs
Text: Livvie B
Your alarm clock goes off and without thinking you reach for a cup of coffee and stagger towards the bathroom. We get it. But we also know that how you begin your morning routine is integral to how your body and mind feel throughout the day to come. Seeing as there is countless advice on morning shots, meditation techniques and the best way to start your day, we asked three Singapore-based experts, nutritionists Amanda Lim and Sonia Osborne and founder of EGA Juice Clinic, Sumit Nanda, for some intel.
Why is the first thing we ingest each day so important?
Amanda: It sets the nutritional tone for the day ahead. For example, if you wake up and immediately drink 500ml of water with lemon, you've already met nearly 1/4 of your daily hydration goal as well as introduced Vitamin C, a powerful immunity booster, into your system. All this and you're only moments out of bed!
Sonia: It’s so important to re-hydrate first thing in the morning. The body’s detoxification processes have been active while you’ve been sleeping, so it’s important to flush out your system. Many people turn to coffee to kickstart their day, but this actually dehydrates the body further, therefore hindering detoxification.
Sumit: When we wake up our body is ready to absorb nutrients. With this in mind, breakfast is absolutely the most important meal, as it gives our body and cells the energy they need to function.
What should we start our day with? Do factors such as weight or gender play a part?
Amanda: I’d also recommend water with lemon as it helps to wake up our system. Drinking the majority of your daily water intake before 1pm also encourages bowel regularity and ensures that your sleep isn't interrupted. I also suggest eating or drinking a live fermented probiotic (such as kombucha or sauerkraut) on an empty stomach each morning. This will promote gut health and kickstart proper digestion for the day.
Sonia: Drinking a large glass of warm or room temperature water with half a lemon will support detoxification of the liver and restore the body’s pH balance.
How soon after waking up should we eat or drink?
Sonia: We should all drink water when we wake up, but when we eat is down to personal preference and needs. I guide my clients to aim for a gentle 12-hour fast. However, those with adrenal issues should eat a protein-rich breakfast within one hour of waking to support blood glucose levels. It’s very much down to the individual.
Sumit: I would recommend having breakfast one to two hours after waking up, following a light workout.
Amanda: When intermittent fasting, it’s important to avoid calorie-containing foods or beverages in the morning, so stick to one cup of black coffee or tea (if you need the caffeine kick) and water; you should get the majority of your water intake in prior to breaking fast. For those not fasting, try aiming to reach at least half of your daily hydration goal before 12pm. Also, remember that eating water-containing foods (such as melon, cucumber, and tomatoes) alongside a lean protein will kickstart hydration as well as keep you satiated and full.
Aside from what we consume, what else supports our health first thing?
Sumit: It’s the best time to exercise, and I’d recommend that everyone attempts to incorporate working out at the start of the day. The level of intensity should be guided by your dosha type.
Sonia: If we begin by checking social media and emails, overwhelming ourselves with our ‘to do’ list, this is likely to cause exhaustion and anxiety. Setting aside five minutes for deep breathing, meditation, stretching, or journaling helps prepare us mentally for a successful day.
Amanda: Establish a quiet ‘self-care’ ritual. Whether this means enjoying the newspaper, applying a five-minute facial treatment mask, or going for a walk around the block. It’s important to remind yourself that self-care is non-negotiable, and doing one simple self-care task in the morning can reinforce this. Besides, morning sunlight is scientifically proven to improve your mental health and increase productivity.
Amanda L. Lim (M.A., M.Ed.) is a certified personal trainer, nutritionist, and wellness coach and director of Singapore-based fitness consulting firm Peak Health. With 14 years of experience in the health and wellness industries, Amanda is a wellness expert in Southeast Asia and beyond, with expertise in weight loss, functional fitness, and nutrition planning.
Sonia Osborne is a Singapore-based Nutrition Consultant. She works alongside the Singapore medical community and specialises in women’s health. Sonia’s approach is holistic and practical; she believes that everyone’s needs are different, we should embrace real food vs counting calories, and that “lifestyle medicine” is now more important than ever.
Sumit Nanda is the Co-Founder of EGA Juice Clinic, which was born out of Sumit’s own experience of health transformation. Having previously been reliant on modern medicine, Sumit visited an Ayurvedic doctor in 2011, who suggested a 30-day detox which changed his life forever. By following the advice of this doctor, Sumit now treats food as medicine, and hopes to make more people aware of how effective Ayurveda can be.
