The high-protein breakfast Jackie Kennedy had almost every morning

The former first lady loved starting her day with a simple breakfast in bed, and it sounds delicious to us.

Key Points

• Starting your day with a high-protein breakfast can support digestion, bone health and muscle recovery.
• Jackie Kennedy’s go-to breakfast of eggs, bacon, milk and orange juice was simple yet protein-packed.
• The Kennedys often had eggs, a versatile, nutrient-rich base for a healthy, high-protein breakfast.

Ask anyone who focuses on eating a high-protein diet and they’ll tell you—it's easier to meet your protein goals when you start strong at breakfast. Protein is a macronutrient that’s good for the body’s cells, helping improve everything from digestion to bone health, so it’s no wonder protein is having a major moment right now in products like protein bars and shakes.

But starting the day with a big helping of protein is far from a new concept. Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy—later Onassis—was known to love starting her days in the White House with a high-protein breakfast. René Verdon, who served as White House chef during the Kennedy administration, wrote about cooking breakfast for the Kennedy family in The White House Chef Cookbook.

According to Verdon, Jackie Kennedy had simple tastes when it came to her preferred breakfast proteins. “At the White House, for example, the Kennedys were not especially fond of the more elaborate egg dishes,” Verdon wrote in the book. “Mrs. Kennedy’s customary breakfast was orange juice, scrambled eggs, two strips of bacon, a little honey and a glass of skimmed milk. Occasionally she had tea or coffee instead.”

While this delicious breakfast sounds simple, it’s actually loaded with protein (and a few more benefits). A 3-egg serving of scrambled eggs has around 19 grams of protein, not to mention nutrients like choline and vitamin D, which support both a feeling of fullness as well as your bone and brain health. Bacon, whether pork or turkey, adds about another five grams of protein per two-slice serving, so it may be worth adding to your plate in the morning when you could use a little protein boost. Though, bacon can be higher in saturated fat and is a processed meat, so it may be best to keep this to special occasions.

And there are other benefits to Kennedy’s go-to breakfast. Orange juice is high in vitamin C and can support immune health, while milk is hydrating and can help with muscle recovery after workouts. 

But did President Kennedy eat a similar breakfast to his wife? In the book Dinner with the President: Food, Politics, and a History of Breaking Bread at the White House, author Alex Prud’homme writes, “For breakfast, JFK stuck to a routine of orange juice, boiled or poached eggs, bacon, toast with marmalade and coffee with milk.”

It seems JFK’s breakfast of choice was fairly high in protein as well, and wasn’t too far off from what his wife liked their chef to prepare for her. Eggs, whether boiled, poached or scrambled, are a great starting point for building a healthy, high-protein breakfast, so it sounds like the Kennedys were on the right track.

Verdon also shared that Jackie Kennedy often had an adorable bit of help eating her morning meal. “Little John often had breakfast with her, and usually ate all her honey and bacon,” the chef wrote, “but she did not seem to mind.”

We love a family-style breakfast, and we even have a few delicious breakfast casserole recipes to help you dish up enough for a crowd—no bacon-snatching required. Here are just a few of our favorites:

Read the original article on EatingWell