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The ultimate breakfast – notes from the kitchen
| February 9, 2010 | |
| Dr. Gary Huber : Head Medical Ego |
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Nitrate free turkey bacon is easy to find these days and cooks up very easy the night before if time is an issue. Eat it cold or pop in the microwave for 30 seconds.
How about a handful of nuts and an apple, it’s quick and easy as you head out the door.
There are many cultures around the globe that have last night’s dinner as breakfast. Try it one time and you will likely find that this is not as weird as you might think. If the traditional American diet is making us the sickest people on the planet then perhaps it is time to be untraditional. Go ahead; no one is watching, take a chance at improving your health.
The Numbers
OK, for those pocket-protector-wearing number crunchers that need hard guidelines to follow here are some numbers for you. Stop drooling, you‘re embarrassing yourself.
Shoot for 20 to 30 grams of protein at breakfast. If you’re 5 foot 2 inches then I would suggest the 20 gram option. Big dudes go for the 30 gram deal. Your body can’t assimilate more than that at any given meal so eating 40 grams is not better. Extra protein will get stored as fat if you over do it.
The proper amount of carbs to be added is highly dependant on your health and lifestyle.
If you are overweight and/or diabetic then use carbs of a low glycemic nature in the morning and no more than 10 to 15 grams. Low glycemic carbs would be any vegetable except pumpkin, beets, potato, corn or peas. Fruits such as apples, pears or berries are all good sources as well.
If you are lean and headed for a grueling workout then obviously you are going to need more and I would recommend roughly 30 to 40 grams, depending on the intensity and duration of your workout.
Let experience be your guide. If your weight is trending up on your present regimen then decrease the carbs and possible the protein depending on your size.
As always, drink plenty of water to help hydrate your body and over all look to get 0.5 to 0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight, per day, depending on your activity level and physical demand.
Note: these are “general recommendations” and there will always be exceptions.
I hope this helps guide you toward a better start to each and every day of your life. If you have a great breakfast then share it with the group so that others can benefit from your experience. We are all in this together and every week I learn many great things from our well informed readers.
This post is proudly submitted for the Weight Loss and Healthy Diet category of our 12 Weeks of Wellness
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[10 Comments] [10 Comments]
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.