The #1 Best Breakfast Food to Replace Coffee, Dietitian Says

If you rely solely on coffee to get you going every morning, then you'll know that it provides you with a formidable boost of energy. You also likely know that it's not the healthiest option when it comes to what you're consuming at the start of the day, especially when it comes to weight loss and aging.

Fortunately, there's another option that is healthy and can give you a similar kind of kick. Keep reading to learn a dietitian's suggestion, and then check out The #1 Best Juice to Drink Every Day, Says Science.

Frankly, the best breakfast food to replace coffee happens to be a fruit that you might already love: apples!

Although there's no caffeine in apples, according to Cornell University, it's the approximately 13 grams of natural sugar found in the fruit that "provoke[s] a similar response to caffeine because vitamins from the apple are released slowly throughout the body, making you feel more awake."

While the alertness is certainly appreciated, you'll likely also be intrigued by the fact that along with helping you avoid caffeine, when you opt for apples instead, "there are no jolts, mood swings, anxiety, jitters, or the dreaded crash."

Dana Ellis Hunnes, PhD, MPH, RD, senior dietician at UCLA medical center, tells Eat This, Not That! that the benefits of eating apples for breakfast are tenfold.

"While caffeine is a stimulant chemical, the idea that providing your body with something that will fuel it (aka natural sugars from an apple) makes sense, as it will cue up the body to recognize it's waking up time, and the little bit of healthful sugar will provide it some energy to get the metabolism-revving (without many calories)," Hunnes says.

Indeed, Hunnes points out other benefits of eating apples regularly, saying, "They are full of fiber, which makes them satiating, they are low in calories for the amount of volume they give you, they are delicious, and they are also full of water… In the morning, we are often dehydrated from not drinking water all night and so the combination of sugar and water may help us wake up."

To find out more about this fabulously healthy fruit, be sure to read The #1 Best Apple To Eat, According to a Dietitian. Then, try this recipe for Oatmeal Pancakes With Cinnamon Apples.