Classic Bircher Muesli recipe

In the last fortnight, I have had a lot of people come to me with similar health issues, and all are trying really hard to juggle the new unpredictable work and home panorama that has presented itself due to the pandemia. I thrive on routine, it appears many of you do also. So when something changes our routine we find it really hard to find our direction again. This week our recipe is from the famous Swiss Physician/Nutritionist. It is a recipe that has withstood the test of time. It was originally developed over 100 years ago, and based on a recipe that was part of the traditional alpine shepherd culture.

Today, I have made a couple of very tiny changes to the original recipe, with a touch of cinnamon and the optional addition of extra fibre and fat in the form of chia seeds and inulin powder. Otherwise, it is very true to the original recipe. The process of soaking the oats overnight removes a water-soluble part of the oat, the phytate coating improving their nutrient bioavailability (Vashishth, Ram, and Beniwal, 2017). This means that we get more minerals such as iron, zinc, magnesium, from overnight soaked oats than we do from granola or porridge. The best part about this recipe is that if you have some old jars or glass containers, you can make up a batch to grab on a busy morning, or have as a snack to avoid the afternoon slump. As with most of my breakfast recipes, you find a serve of fruit and some extra fibre for healthy gastrointestinal microbiota and balanced blood sugar levels throughout the morning. I hope you like it!

Sources

Vashishth, A., Ram, S. and Beniwal, V., 2017. Cereal phytases and their importance in improvement of micronutrients bioavailability. 3 Biotech, 7(1), p.42. Available at: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s13205-017-0698-5.pdf ( Accessed: 23rd march 2021).