4 easy breakfasts a dietitian who's followed the Mediterranean diet for decades makes when she's busy

• You can make easy, simple recipes and still eat well, a dietitian says.
• Clare Thornton-Wood follows the Mediterranean Diet and doesn't like to spend lots of time cooking.

A dietitian who follows the Mediterranean Diet shared four breakfasts that she makes when she's running low on time.

Clare Thornton-Wood, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association, told Insider that while it's important to eat as well as we can, it's possible to do this without spending loads of time in the kitchen.

"I've got a pretty busy job and a long commute, so I like to try and prep things beforehand or have lots of things up my sleeve," she said.

While she doesn't spend a lot of time cooking, Thornton-Wood said she spends a little bit of time meal prepping and has a well-stocked pantry, which means she can whip up meals quickly.

Thornton-Wood has followed the Mediterranean Diet for decades, eating minimal meat and processed foods, lots of vegetables and whole grains, and using olive oil for cooking. She said she doesn't find it hard to keep to because it contains the type of food she enjoys eating.

The Mediterranean diet is widely considered one of the healthiest ways to eat, with research suggesting it is good for heart health and helps you live longer.

Oats with chia seeds and fruit

Thornton-Wood loves to have oats, which she can quickly prepare the night before, for breakfast. Oats keep you feeling full as they contain protein, and are good for lowering cholesterol, she said. This is because they contain beta-glucans, she said. The fiber that has been linked to lower cholesterol, better heart health, and stable blood sugar levels.

She will often fill up a jam jar with oats, either dairy or plant-based milk, chia seeds, and whatever fruit she has.

"It might be frozen berries, it might be fresh berries, it might be some rhubarb. If I haven't got anything like that, I'll actually use a tin of peaches, and I'll just take them out of the juice," she said. Sometimes she also adds nut butter like peanut or almond butter.

You can take the jar with you and either heat it up in a microwave if you have access to one at work, for example or eat it cold. "It is quite versatile," she said.

Chocolate orange oats

Thorton-Wood said she eats oats for breakfast around five times a week, often making the oats in bulk at the beginning of the week, but makes each portion slightly different. One of her favorites is chocolate orange oats.

To make it, add milk to oats, cut each segment of an orange up into three, and sprinkle in some cocoa powder.

Wholewheat toast with eggs

For a simple, quick, savory breakfast, Thornton-Wood will have whole wheat toast with eggs — either poached or scrambled.

She usually has that with some rocket or some fresh tomatoes, and sometimes avocado if she has it.

"I always try to think about including protein, carbohydrates, and fruit and veg. And I'm always thinking about are there extra ways I can get fruit and veggies or fiber in?" she said.

Breakfast smoothie

If you have some fresh produce in your fridge that is about to turn, you can use it to make a breakfast smoothie and stop it from going to waste.

"Exactly the same things that I put in the oats I put in there," Thornton-Wood said.

She blends up oats, milk, spinach, and any fruit she has in her fridge into a smoothie that she can have on the go.