I saw a great T-Shirt slogan the other day. It said: Dinner, It's What's For Breakfast.

I like this sentiment, because I believe what most Americans eat in the morning is a recipe for poor health. What do we eat? It seems like the most popular choices consist of foods like frozen waffles, cold cereal, granola bars or toast. The other breakfast of choice that I often hear is "nothing." Eating no breakfast isn't a good idea on so many levels and most people know it.

When we use nutrition and food as medicine, there are a few key foundations we are working with to bring about the best health possible. One of these is regulating the blood sugar. In order to feel healthy, energetic and clear headed we need to have stable blood sugar throughout the day. By eating a good breakfast with protein and also some healthy fats, we ensure that we are starting the day off on the right foot. When we start off with high carbohydrate breakfasts we run the risk of having our blood sugar spike too high early in the day, which results in it dipping too low later. This sets us up for energy dips and the results are usually sugar cravings. In the long term this can lead to weight gain and metabolic problems.

So what are some better choices? Well, some protein, healthy fats and a portion of some type of complex carbohydrate (either unlimited non-starchy veggies or a small portion of a whole grains, starchy veggies or beans) would be a good place to start.

Here are a few meal ideas:

• 2 eggs cooked any style with spinach, olives and tomatoes with 1/4-1/2 cup cooked oatmeal with 1/2 tbl butter

• 2 pieces of bacon with 1 hard-boiled egg and 1/2 cup sweet potato hash browns

• Smoothie with full-fat yogurt or full-fat coconut milk (other milks of choice are fine too, I just don't recommend skim milk), 1/2 cup berries, chia or flax seeds and protein powder or nut butter
• Full-fat yogurt with berries and nuts, you can add a scoop of protein powder for added blood sugar stabilization
  
• Pancakes, muffins or waffles made with high protein almond flour, topped with blueberries. If you've never cooked with almond flour before, try Googling a recipe like "almond flour pancakes" or "almond flour muffins"
  
• 1/2 an avocado and sauteed veggies of choice
  
• Leftover roasted veggies with breakfast sausage
  
• Smoked salmon on high protein, high fiber crackers, with some avocado and veggies on top
  
• Finally, don't be afraid to have dinner for breakfast! Breakfast is a great time to sneak in a few servings of veggies. Eat a salad for breakfast in the summer, have some nourishing veggie soup in the winter or have leftovers from the night before. Leftovers are often one of the quickest choices because it only requires reheating.
  

The bottom line is, make sure to eat breakfast. When you do, make sure you are eating some quality protein and fat with your breakfast instead of basing your whole breakfast on carbohydrates like cereal, waffles and fruit.

What are your favorite healthy breakfast foods?

We've heard it again and again and again. Sleep is so important for our health. You need to get 7-9 hours a night. We need sleep to repair the body, reduce inflammation, balance our hormones, lose weight and support brain health. These are all true things. Sleep is critical, and if you aren't sleeping well, no amount of acupuncture, herbs or a healthy diet will make you feel happy and healthy (although these things can also HELP you sleep well).

Here's a quick list of things that can help you get your Zzzzz's.

1.) Balance your blood sugar. This means lowering your intake of carbohydrates and including some good protein and fat at each meal. If your blood sugar is not stable, your sugar can drop low in the middle of the night and you will wake up, even though you may or may not experience hunger. Your body experiences a sugar crash as a huge emergency because your brain isn't getting the sugar it needs to function. So again, make sure to eat three good meals in the day and include good fats and proteins. There are some nutrients that can help blood sugar stabilization which include b vitamins, magnesium, chromium and herbs such as gymnema sylvestre. Ask your practitioner for a supplement recommendation if diet alone isn't working for you.

2.) Wind down properly at night. It is a recent phenomenon in human evolution that we have bright lights well into the night. All of those lights decrease the amount of the hormone melatonin that is produced by the pineal gland. Melatonin is what helps us fall and stay asleep. Make sure to dim the lights in your house about 2 hours before bedtime. Also stay off any backlit electronic devices like iphones, reading tablets and computers before bed. It's also a good idea to keep your room really dark. Cover any sources of light in the room such as alarm clocks, and use blackout curtains over the windows to block out streetlights.

3.) Have a Ritual. Having a nighttime ritual that promotes relaxation is a good idea. Some people like to journal about things they are grateful for. Some people like to pray, meditate or read inspiring or spiritual literature. Maybe some gentle yoga is for you. Perhaps a bath with epsom salts and lavendar. Experiment with a nighttime ritual that promotes peace, ease and relaxation.

4.) Press Acupuncture Point An Mian. There is an acupuncture point on the sides of the neck (see image below) that is specifically for peaceful sleep and it has been shown in acupuncture studies to help people sleep. Have someone rub this for you, or use a foam roller or tennis ball to rub it by laying down on your back and putting the roller or ball under your neck. It's like a neck massage! Acupuncturists use this point in combination with others to help promote restful sleep.

5.) Keep Your Cool. Melatonin production is also helped from having a cool body temperature. Try not to let the temperature get above 70 in your room and sleep in light bedclothes (or naked if you like!). Taking a hot bath or shower before bed can help cool your internal temperature, as your body will compensate for the hot water by cooling you down.

6.) Use herbs and nutrients to lower stress and anxiety. If your mind races at night and you worry about things, get some help from a professional herbalist or nutritionist to help lower your cortisol and promote overall relaxation.