Jennifer Aniston Swears By This Oatmeal Breakfast Hack
Of all the breakfast options out there, from fluffy Belgian waffles to creamy avocado toast, oatmeal is hardly the trendiest choice. You might associate it with the cardboard canister of Quaker Oats your grandma always had in the cupboard, or maybe the bowl of porridge your dad ate every morning. But oatmeal has made a comeback thanks to social media (hello, overnight oats!), and it's often touted as one of the healthiest breakfast dishes.
According to Healthline, oats are among the best whole grains you can eat. Plus, oatmeal contains a hearty helping of carbs, protein, and fiber, along with antioxidants and vitamins that can reduce blood pressure, regulate appetite, and more.
There are plenty of ways to spruce up your average bowl of oatmeal, whether you mix in brown sugar and raisins for a sweet treat or go the savory route with herbs and cheese. And if you're looking for a way to boost the nutritional content of your oats, Jennifer Aniston has a secret trick. She shared her oatmeal hack during a 2016 interview with Elle, and it's surprisingly easy.
The actor adds egg whites to her oatmeal
A standard 1-cup serving of oatmeal contains about 5 grams of protein, per Everyday Health. But if you want to pack a more satiating punch into your daily breakfast, Jennifer Aniston recommends adding another ingredient: egg whites.
"Right before [the oatmeal] is finished cooking, you just whip in an egg white, and it kind of gives it this fluffy texture that's delicious," the actor revealed to Elle in 2016. She explained that her then-husband Justin Theroux taught her the trick as a way to add more protein to her diet.
Aniston is far from the only one to add egg whites to oatmeal — plenty of other food lovers swear by it. Eating Bird Food recommends whisking in egg whites right at the end if you're preparing your oatmeal on the stove. The blogger says it makes the oats more voluminous and filling. If you're worried about the egg whites altering the taste of your oatmeal, The Clean Eating Couple assures readers that you can't taste them at all. Even better? Egg whites can add 10 to 20 grams of protein to your meal, making an already-good-for-you breakfast option even healthier.
Aniston has three favorite breakfasts
While Jennifer Aniston certainly loves her morning bowl of oatmeal with egg whites, she sometimes mixes it up and eats something else for her morning meal. According to a 2016 interview with Bon Appetit, the actor has three staple breakfasts, one of which is the aforementioned protein-packed oatmeal.
"Sometimes it's a smoothie — bananas, cherries, a protein powder of some sort, almonds, cacao powder, and all sorts of other weird antioxidant stuff I can't remember — with almond milk," the "Friends" star said to the magazine. Aniston also told Well + Good in 2018 that she blends collagen peptides into her smoothies for an added health boost. "My nails are stronger and there's a healthier ... how do you explain it? A glow. It's sort of that working-from-the-inside-out thing," she explained.
Aniston's other go-to breakfast is classic eggs and toast. "Other times I have eggs over-easy — I crack them into a bowl and I'll add a white or two into that and pour it all into the pan to get more protein sans too much yolkage," she told Bon Appetit. "I'll have that with avocado toast sprinkled with olive oil and salt and pepper."
She snacks when she's hungry
When Jennifer Aniston is hungry between meals, she likely doesn't reach for a bag of potato chips or a sleeve of Oreos. Instead, Good Housekeeping reported in 2019 that the actor likes "healthy carbs and protein," which apparently includes a handful of nuts (for that boost of healthy fats, too!) or a fresh apple with nut butter.
Aniston said to Yahoo! in 2016, "I always have cut raw vegetables in a Tupperware container. Hard-boiled eggs are always great to have in the fridge." She added that her motto when it comes to food is to "eat as much organic fruits and veggies as you can, keep sugar [intake] low, drink tons and tons of water." Simple, but effective.
The actor also admitted to Bon Appetit in 2016 that while midnight snacks aren't really her thing, she likes to indulge in an evening treat from time to time. She typically goes for frozen yogurt — vanilla, chocolate, and coffee are her preferred flavors — topped with a sprinkle of granola.