3. Grains are not particularly nutrient dense.

If you look at the nutrient profile, aka the vitamins and minerals present, of any grain, and compare it alongside nearly any other whole food, plant based starch source, it will fail nearly every time. If you want to learn more about the nutrient density of grains, you can read this article (part 3 of 3).

There you have it! Three reasons why the words “healthy” and “grains” don't really belong together. There are other reasons why I suggest to ditch the grains in favor of starchy veggies and grass fed animal proteins, but this was a good place to start. Now, onto my Buddha Bowl.

Let's talk about the merits of this Plantain Buddha Bowl recipe.

Pasture Raised Eggs

Like so many other fatty foods, the old me would have adamantly refused to eat an egg yolk. Of course, I would have stood firmly behind “science” to back it up: “Egg yolks contain cholesterol, and cholesterol causes heart disease.”

Here's some nutritional myth busting for you: There is no study that shows that dietary cholesterol has any impact on heart disease. In fact, cholesterol is found at the site of a heart attack, as it's role is to repair vascular inflammation. In fact, several of the longest running studies ever done on human health have shown that people with the highest serum cholesterol, have the lowest incidence of mortality. Yes. (1)

You read that right. Aside from being a stellar source of dietary cholesterol, egg yolks also provide the body with:

• vitamins A, E, D, & K (the egg white alone doesn’t contain any of these vitamins!)
• calcium and vitamin B12 are also found almost exclusively in the yolk
• great source of choline (required for methylation, which is a massive part of phase 1 and phase 2 liver detoxification)

Plantains

I included plantains in this buddha bowl recipe for 3 reasons.

1. They're delish and nutr-ish… Okay, I tried that but I'm not sure it worked. Here it is again: they're delicious and nutritious.
2. Much like the grains you'd typically find in a buddha bowl, plantains are a healthy source of resistant starches, but unlike those grains, they're lacking in the toxic lectins and pro-inflammatory Omega 6 fatty acids.
3. They're brain boosting and immune building. If you're interested in reading more of the merits of plantains, here's an article listing 7 compelling reasons to include plantains in your diet.

Crispy Bacon

While I wouldn’t necessarily call bacon a superfood, I absolutely love it as an addition to my breakfasts. Who wouldn't want to consume bacon on the daily? The fat, protein, and salt combo is nonpareil, and despite what you may have heard, it isn’t bad for you! “Bad bacon is something of an oxymoron.”

Although I do have a favorite cooking method, it really doesn't matter how it's cooked – it's delicious regardless! So long as the bacon is sourced from a trusted farmer (high quality is so important when eating pork), I'm down with eating it. Check out the buddha bowl recipe below to see my favorite cooking method.

Avocado

Here is another food that I pretended I didn’t like the taste of while I was in my fat-fearing years. I wanted any excuse to avoid the high calorie, high fat food, despite hearing that it was “the good kind of fat.” These days, you could toss an avocado my way and I’d eat the whole thing, regardless of my hunger levels. I can’t get enough.

• high in soluble fiber (the detoxing, prebiotic kind!)
• loaded with potassium (major player in reducing water retention!)
• filled with omega-9 fatty acids (healthy monounsaturated fat!)

Now tell me, why wouldn’t I want my breakfast buddha bowl loaded with this deliciously filling, fatty superstar?

Spring Greens

Finally, we get to the greens. It's important for detoxification and disease prevention to get as many antioxidants from vegetables as possible, so whether you choose to include spring greens or another leafy green, I highly encourage including 1-2 servings in your buddha bowl.