A vegan dietitian who follows a plant-based diet shares her 4 go-to breakfasts

• Eating plant-based food can lower your risk of cardiovascular disease and help you lose weight.
• Plant-based dietitian Alyssa Fontaine shared her four go-to vegan breakfasts with Insider.

If you're thinking of going vegan, or already follow a plant-based diet but want to jazz up your daily breakfast of plain oatmeal and fruit, vegan dietitian Alyssa Fontaine has you covered.

Fontaine, who runs a plant-based nutrition company from Canada, previously shared the four most common mistakes people make when going vegan with Insider.

While some people adopt the diet for ethical or environmental reasons, it can also provide some serious health benefits, including a decreased risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, as well as aiding weight loss.

To reap these benefits, you need to get to grips with plant-based proteins, learn about the nutrients your body needs, and meal prep a bit, Fontaine told Insider.

A vegan diet focuses on plant-based forms of protein such as beans, chickpeas, and tofu, as well as starchy carbohydrates, fruits, and vegetables, and eliminates all animal products including meat, fish, milk, and cheese.

Fontaine believes that to sustain a healthy plant-based diet, you shouldn't be too restrictive with yourself, your meals need to be quick to make and, most importantly, taste good.

Fontaine shared her four go-to breakfasts, which all contain a protein source or a calcium source, or both.

Chocolate peanut butter bars

Her favorite breakfast is a four-ingredient recipe she calls chocolate peanut butter bars, which last her the whole week.

Use bananas, oats, peanut butter, and chocolate chips to make a batter mixture, pour it into a loaf tin, and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. When it is baked, cut the loaf into slices.

"It's easy because you have these things in the fridge, you can just grab them and call it a day," she said.

Avocado toast with added protein

Fontaine is always thinking about how she can add a source of protein — which has many jobs in the body including building muscle — into her dishes, such as hemp seeds, beans, nuts, or any soy products.

For this reason, her take on avocado toast, a vegan staple, always includes a few nutritious extras.

For example, she likes to add hemp seeds on top or mash them into the avocado. They are also a good source of omega-3.

Another way she upgrades this dish is by adding edamame beans and tahini.

You can easily do this by defrosting some frozen edamame beans, covering them with water and putting them in the microwave for three minutes, Fontaine said. Then mash them with the avocado in a bowl using a fork, and add some lemon juice, salt, and pepper.

The tahini is rich in protein and calcium, she said, and you should use multigrain bread for the toast.

Natural protein powders

If you are pressed for time or resources, Fontaine suggests buying a natural protein powder, such as pumpkin seed or hemp seed protein powder.

You can easily add these to a smoothie, with a non-dairy milk, oats or seeds, and fruit.

Oatmeal with peanut butter and soy milk

Another quick and easy go-to breakfast for Fontaine is oatmeal with peanut butter and soy milk.

Soy milk is her favorite type of non-dairy milk because it has the most protein, she said.

If you are struggling with the taste of soy milk, Fontaine said that it can take the body three weeks to get used to a new flavor, so you should give yourself time before totally ruling it out.