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The ultimate breakfast – notes from the kitchen
| February 9, 2010 | |
| Dr. Gary Huber : Head Medical Ego |
Yesterday we uncovered the importance of breakfast in general and in particular the need for proteins. The physiology can get a bit involved and may seem confusing but the end result is simple: Eating protein for breakfast is simple, healthy, and effective at safeguarding your health while promoting weight loss. So let’s take that basic premise and put it into action.
The traditional American diet, which is one of the worst diets on the planet, calls for sausage or bacon as morning breakfast meats but this is very limiting. Anything from last nights pork chop to whey protein powder can serve as a good source of protein. Some of my favorite choices include nitrate free turkey bacon, protein powder smoothie, and eggs.
Shake it Baby
Personal favorite for ease of use and quick out the door efficiency is the protein shake. I get 25 grams of protein from my protein powder which is either from whey, pea, or rice. I add this to 20 ounces of water, or almond milk or rice milk. I don’t use cow’s milk because, among other things, I don’t enjoy eating pus. Yes, sorry, but most dairy farms produce milk that contains roughly 1.5 million pus cells per teaspoon. If you’re into pus then go for it, just make sure it’s organic pus.
Now I add some vegetables and/or fruit. I love adding some frozen banana as it changes the texture and temperature making my smoothie a heavenly thick treat.
Any fruit in our house that is starting to over ripen such as bananas with brown spots, grapes or pears that are getting too soft, apples that are more than 3 days old: all get chopped up and thrown in the freezer to be used in protein shakes. Any vegetable will work, cooked or raw, just whatever happens to be sitting in the refrigerator at the time will work. This adds fiber and excellent nutritional value and the flavor of the protein powder will over power the taste of the veggies. If you’re interested, here is an outline for my morning shake I call, Dr. G’s Morning Mover.
Grain or Not to Grain
If I’m headed to the gym for a morning workout then I will also add some grain for extra calories. If you are overweight and/or diabetic then these grains should be kept to a scant minimum or deleted all together. Grains are not good for you if you have insulin resistance/diabetes as they will raise insulin and we know that is not in our long term best interest.
Flax seed (ground up), oats, quinoa, amaranth, steel cut oats, chia seeds, and millet are all suitable options. All of these offer food amounts of fiber and the chia and flax offer omega 3 fats.
Omega 3 Fats
Speaking of fats, I always get some fish oil in the morning either as a capsule or as a liquid added to my shake.
I recommend avoiding flax seed oil. Flax seed oil is THE most unstable oil once it is removed from the seed. It oxidizes too easily and despite manufacturers attempts to protect it by using brown glass and refrigeration, it’s just to risky to try eat an oil that easily oxidizes and adds free radicals to your body.
I just can’t find any advantage for flax seed over fish oil and fish oil is much more stable. Of course you want a quality fish oil to avoid mercury. Check the label for a notation that it has been distilled to remove mercury, dioxins, and PCB’s.
If you want flax seed oil then get some fresh flax seed and grind it in a coffee grinder and add it to your salad, shake or other meals.
Chia seeds are said to have higher amounts of omega-3’s, a much longer shelf life and do not have to be pre-ground.
Eggs-ellent
For those of you that get nervous when I say eggs, you need to read the current literature on the nutritional effects of eggs or check out this past post on the topic. Eggs do not have an adverse effect on cholesterol panels and according to many reliable source such as the Harvard school of public health and studies out of the university of Michigan, there is no correlation between egg consumption and heart disease or strokes. Free range eggs today also come with an extra bit of healthy omega 3 as smart farms are feeding these chickens flax seed and other omega 3 meals. So dump the egg phobia and fire up that skillet.
Eggs are wonderful source of fats and protein. They are a wonderful source of sulfur needed by amino acids that protect and detoxify your liver. They improve the nature of your lipid profile and decrease triglycerides in the blood stream. Three eggs will yield 21 grams of protein. Perfect.
No time to cook? Then whisk them into a glass bowl and throw them into the microwave for two minutes while you get the kids ready or prep yourself for work. Ding, they’re done, hot and ready to go over a plate of fresh spinach. Add some salsa if you like to get some more veggies in the morning.
Make a dozen hard-boiled eggs every Sunday and have them handy for quick breakfast or snacks during the week. Studies have looked at men eating 3 to 4 eggs daily with nothing but good effects.
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[10 Comments] [10 Comments]
Jo Wehage
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Yum, I’ve been loving my egg scrambles in the morning. I add onion, spinach and sometimes some mushroom and broccoli. It’s a great way to get more veggies in and it really fills me up. I feel like I’m cheating, it’s so good.
Great artical, very informative !!
I’ve looked for Nitrite-free turkey bacon and cannot find it. Where do you get it and who makes it?
Janice,
Whole Foods carries a great Nitrate-free turkey bacon that tastes better than the conventionals (in my biased opinion). Made by Welshire Farms and available in the prepared meat cases back by the meat and seafood Dept.
Janice,
I agree with Jessica, and my wife tells me that she finds it at Whole Foods but can’t recall the brand. It goes down in a hurry in this house. Good stuff.
I also get it at Whole Foods also and if you are looking for nitrate free pork bacon you can find it at Costco made by Coleman. I’m not recommending it but just saying it’s there. Kroger also has a nitrate free bacon selection -but only one.
Great article Dr. Huber! I’m a big fan of a smoothie concoction in the morning consisting of : Unsweetened rice milk, Chocolate Hemp Seed Protein, Fish oil, Aloe vera juice, greens powder, maybe a little berries, and a sprinkle of Stevia. Sounds like a lot, but it’s really not and it satisfies until lunch..yum!
Hi Jo! Ok, let’s talk lunch. My daughter (7 yrs) and I both have asthma and I am going with a yeast-free diet or at least greatly reduced-yeast diet to see if that helps. I am trying to come up with primarily cold food items for lunch that I can pack and that more importantly, she will actually eat!
Any help on packing yeast-free (or reduced) kid school lunches?
She can’t use a microwave so that’s out. She refuses tuna or egg salad. I have a wonderful recipe for a yeast free bread and have all fruit jelly and sugar free peanut butter. I can live with that but I’m going nuts trying to come up with side items…no pretzals, time to cut back on fruits so out goes applesauce, defiitely no fruit strips or gummies, stonyfield makes a to go yogurt but she isn’t so much into it as she was her “Danimals”, I think we are still going to eat carrots so not totally strict that way. Anyway boils down to, a sort-of picky kid and frustrated mom. She loves cereal but we’re not doing that. Smoothies are working so far for breakfast. This is a humdinger diet for a family. Any help on kid packed lunch ideas? The good thing is she is committed to doign it and willing to try new things.
P.S. As you know, I live in the boonies and there is no Trader Joe’s nearby! I can make a trip to buy in bulk but need some staple items to fall back on in between.
lol
Hey Sherry – has there been any determination on allergies to dairy by chance? I’m going to confer with Phyllis, our Head Mommy Ego for some fantastic ideas. Stay tuned.
HI Sherry,
I read an amazing book (The Unhealthy Truth, Robyn O’Brien) last summer that had great information about why our food supply is playing a great role into increased incidents of allergies (and asthma) with insight and ideas for transitioning the problematic foods out. You can order it from Amazon and it should be there within days (or a little longer where you live).
In the meantime, the biggest challenge is getting your mind around it and keeping it positive for your daughter. I agree with Jo, dairy should be out too but I guess that is probably part of the yeast free program since most have lots of sugar.
I’d stick to vegetables, find some sweet ones to try like: sugar snap peas, edamame, green beans (yes, cold), red pepper strips or rings, yellow pepper strips or rings, carrots (the big ones taste better/sweeter), cucumbers brocoli, cauliflower. When you are having fruit (and it’s still alot better than an alternate processed choice) choose organic berries, apples etc. The yeast free diet is hard so when you are going to make a choice, at least make it a whole food.
If you can have yeast/wheat free grains then quinoa will be fine at room temp in the lunch box (I use it all the time). Kids seem to prefer it plain but you can mix in protein (meat or beans), peas or other veggies if they like that. Qunioa has protein so that helps, but if you want to include protein you might just put some sliced chicken or other leftover meat and if you want wrap it in a lettuce leaf.
Try and keep it simple. Make a list of three or even just two or one item from each group: vegetables, protein, grain (if allowed), fruit (if allowed) and don’t forget beans. Chick peas pack well or hummus is great for a dip.
My 5 year old has been allergy/asthma free for over a year now and while it was SUPER hard when we were on a restricted diet it was so worth it when we didn’t have any more asthma attacks or constant runny nose/ear infections.
If you want more info or support, please email (or call) me. My contact info can be found on my website at http://www.cincyhealthcoach.com
YOU CAN DO THIS!
Phyllis
Nice suggestions Phyllis. There is a lot of information showing asthma’s link to milk. In studies of children, the highest milk consumers had the highest occurrence of ear infections, throat infections and asthma. Milk is unfortunately a very difficult protein to digest and often leads to bowel reactions that disrupt the immune system. Once your immune system has been triggered to be over reactive the net result is inflammatory changes in the airway as increased mucous secretion causes wheezing along with reactive airway muscles that contract. Inflammation stemming form milk allergies can cause all types of body reactions that may or may not cause any clear bowel symptoms. You can have a clear milk IgG immune reaction and yet show no diarrhea or cramping. I know it tastes good and is part of our American culture but milk is bad news to most of us.