How to Ensure Your Breakfast is the Most Important Meal of the Day!

Yes, you read that right! Merely just having breakfast does not ensure a healthy day. You have to have the RIGHT KIND of breakfast. The right foods, right amounts, and right flavors. When I have a satisfying breakfast that is high in protein, I have more energy throughout the day, less cravings, and am an overall happier person! However, if I have a quick bowl of oats without any fat or protein, a piece of fruit, or just some gluten free toast, I am hungry a few short hours later and am usually fighting off cravings and low energy all day long! I did some research on this breakfast phenomenon and found a great article on the subject! The article is entitled: "A randomized crossover, pilot studying examining the effects of a normal protein vs. high protein breakfast on food cravings and reward signals in overweight/obese "breakfast skipping" late-adolescen girls."

Phew! Long title! Here is the citation if anyone is interested in looking it up!

Hoertel, Heather A., Matthew J. Will, and Heather J. Leidy. "A randomized crossover, pilot study examining the effects of a normal protein vs. high protein breakfast on food cravings and reward signals in overweight/obese." Nutrition Journal 13.1 (2014): 80.

This study was not complicated to understand, but had profound implications on the types of breakfasts we should be consuming, as well as the breakfast foods I should be promoting to my clients and people I educate about nutrition! The study was done on 19-20 year old girls who normally skip breakfast. They were put into three groups: no breakfast, normal protein (NP) breakfast, and high protein (HP) breakfast. The NP breakfast consisted of 13 grams of protein, while the HP breakfast had 35 grams of protein. The subjects were told to continue these breakfasts for 6 consecutive days, then were tested on day 7. They were questioned on their food cravings 4 hours after breakfast. Researchers also collected blood samples from the subjects to test HVA blood concentrations, which is a strong indicator of dopamine's activity in our body.

Wait, what's dopamine? Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in our brain that regulates our pleasure and reward system. Our appetite and food cravings are strongly reward-driven, and it has been found that people with low dopamine levels often suffer from sugar cravings and tendencies to overeat. Dopamine's activity has been seen to be blunted in those who are overweight or obese. Therefore, high dopamine levels indicate less cravings and a greater ability to have a normal appetite and eating pattern.

SO back to the study! After testing these girls in the different groups, the researchers found that those who consumed the NP and HP breakfasts experienced a decline in sweet cravings compared to those who skipped breakfast. However, what was more interesting is that only HP breakfast significantly increased levels of HVA in the blood, indicating an increase in dopamine! This means that these subjects, who were 19-20 year old overweight and obese women, actually were able to increase their dopamine levels and thus, have a greater ability to control their food cravings and appetite.

This is what makes breakfast the most important meal of the day! Not just having it, but also the quality of your breakfast. The fact that these subjects were able to increase their dopamine levels just by having a high protein breakfast has many implications as to what type of breakfast we should be consuming. Most people consume breakfast foods that are obviously not healthy, such as donuts, high sugar coffee drinks, pastries, and drive-through processed meals. However, there are some meals that seem healthy, but don't elicit the same fullness cues and protection against cravings as a high protein breakfast would. These seemingly healthy breakfasts include cereal, bagels, crackers, granola, fruit bowls, or even whole grain toast and bread products. These foods may not be bad or unhealthy, but they still turn into sugar in your body (even if they are labeled "low sugar," carbohydrates turn into sugar in our body, independent of how much sugar is added to these products). So that bowl of cereal will not produce the same fullness as a couple of scrambled eggs and vegetables would. A typical cup of breakfast cereal contains 25-30 g carbs and 2-4 g protein. 30g carbs is the equivalent of about 7 tsp of sugar entering your system, and the 2g of protein is nothing compared to the 35g that was tested in this study!

If this all seems technical to you, let me boil it down to what I believe is a healthy way to approach breakfast. I don't think this study is saying to not have cereal or oats or even bagels. We need carbohydrates, protein, and fat. I think what this research shows is that organizing meals and making sure you have protein, fat, and carbohydrates at each meal is crucial to appetite regulation. There are several ways to go about this while still enjoying your favorite foods:

- 1/2 bagel, hard boiled eggs or egg whites, spinach, and sliced avocado for an open-faced bagel breakfast sandwich! By cutting out half of the bagel, you have room for protein and fat that will help keep you full and send those lovely signals to your brain to not crave sugar later in the day!

-2 scrambled eggs with veggies cooked in olive or coconut oil, 1/2 cup roasted sweet potato. This meal has the right balance of protein, carbs, and fats from all whole food sources, so you can't go wrong!

-1/2 cup cooked oats with nuts sprinkled on top, side of breakfast sausage or eggs

-Big baked egg frittata with bowl of fruit topped with a few nuts

-Protein pancakes or waffles made with whey protein, topped with nut butter

- Leftover protein of any kind with vegetables and avocado (who says breakfast food has to be only "breakfast food?")

The possibilities are endless when you view breakfast, and essentially each meal, as a balance of protein, carbohydrate, and fat. The amount of protein you would need at each meal will vary based on gender, size, activity level, weight, and goals. Experiment and find what works for you! If you have one or two eggs and find yourself hungry an hour or two after, you probably need to add another egg or some sausage to the meal! Try to include vegetables in your meals and snacks whenever possible. These fill us up while still allowing us to eat large volumes of food (and who doesn't like that?)

In conclusion, I think this article shows that having breakfast is an important part of a healthy life. But we need to realize that it isn't just merely having "a" breakfast that makes us healthy. It's having the right breakfast with the right amount of protein that will help keep us full, avoid sugar cravings, and will increase our dopamine production in our brain!

I hope this article was as interesting to you as it was to me! Have a great Thursday everyone!

References:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/dopamine

http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-special-k-red-berries-cereal-i8383

Protein Confusion Made Simple

I've noticed that protein has been such a popular topic in the nutrition world today. Protein is so important to our health and often either gets overlooked, or becomes TOO much a part of our daily dish. I thought I would write this post to share my thoughts on protein as a dietitian, as well as shed some light on the research for, and against, a high protein consumption. Recently, I came across an article entitled "High-Protein, reduced-carbohydrate weight-loss diets promote metabolite profiles likely to be detrimental to colonic health." Here is the link if anyone is interested:

Russell, Wendy R., et al. "High-protein, reduced-carbohydrate weight-loss diets promote metabolite profiles likely to be detrimental to colonic health." The American journal of clinical nutrition 93.5 (2011): 1062-1072.

These types of articles rub me the wrong way because they automatically take one side without considering other possibilities. I won't go into too much of the scientific detail, but the researchers compared a "weight-maintenance" diet of 85g protein with a "high protein, moderate carbohydrate" diet with 139g protein, and a "high protein low carbohydrate" diet with 137g protein and only 22g carbohydrate daily. They found that the diet with the highest protein and lowest carbohydrate level showed a decrease of colonic protein metabolites (also known as the short chain fatty acid butyrate)...leading to the conclusion that a high intake of protein may cause colon cancer. However, they found that if the diet still contains adequate amounts of fiber, the benefits of the fiber could counteract the possible negative side-effects of the high protein diet. With only 22g carbs a day, I highly doubt that diet contained enough fiber! Lastly, the researchers concluded that even though this relationship exists, there could be other factors leading to an increased risk of colon cancer, such as the fact that all of these experiments were done on obese people, as well as the fact that these findings depend on age, gender, and other lifestyle factors.

To me, these findings don't necessarily mean that we should all cut out protein and eat carbs all day long. I think protein is essential to health, well-being, energy, clear skin, good hair, and muscle strength. I believe that it all comes down to the quality of the foods we eat, including our protein quality. The quality of the foods we eat helps us maintain a healthy weight, which IN TURN decreases our chances of colon cancer, as well as many other chronic lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. Stabilizing your weight to a healthy place while eating quality, real foods, and decreasing processed carbohydrates and sugars, leads to optimal health. Protein is definitely a part of that equation in my opinion. I would also like to note that a diet of 22 g of carbohydrates is just too low for a healthy body function. I don't believe we need as many carbohydrates as we are told to eat, but I also think that 22g of carbohydrates is a bit extreme. Going too low prevents you from even eating a good amount of vegetables, which provide vitamins, minerals, and fiber, as well as contribute to overall health. However, an adequate and moderate consumption of carbohydrates (100-200g depending on goals and activity level) can be reached by vegetables, fruits, and starchy vegetables (think sweet potatoes, squash, pumpkin, etc) without having to turn to breads, cereals, and other processed carbohydrate choices. Real food always wins! :)

Anyways, back to protein! At about the same time I came across the colon cancer article, I came across this article as well from Today's Dietitian Magazine:

http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/060114p22.shtml

This article is about athletes and protein intake. The article suggests that the amount of protein we have been recommending throughout the years (0.8 g protein/kg body weight for the average person) may actually not be enough for some people, including athletes. The author, a PhD RD, suggests that protein needs should be increased to 1.2-1.7g protein/kg body weight based on the activity level and age of the person in question. I fully agree with this! This article even goes on to address concerns of the high-protein diet, and that no data fully establishes a connection between a high protein intake and impaired kidney function in HEALTHY individuals that consume protein. Again, we must remember who we are comparing. In the first article, the experiment was done on obese people with multiple other health problems other than a colon cancer risk. In Today's Dietitian magazine, the author is reviewing studies that have been done on healthy, athletic people. Context is crucial.

Where does that leave us? As cliche, and perhaps disappointing as it sounds, I think it all boils down to balance. We can't completely cut out protein, but we always can't make it 80% of our diet. In fact, our bodies and brains won't let us. Protein has built in mechanisms to keep us full. Think about it; have you ever binged on chicken, or felt an uncontrollable need for 4, 5, or even 6 chicken breasts? I didn't think so. But, how easy it is to have 4, 5 or 6 dinner rolls before even touching your actual meal? Yes, been there, done that! That's why I love having protein with every meal. It's like a built in regulator for how much food I will consume and ensures that I will really stop eating when I am full. Protein is satisfying and filling, and should be a part of a healthy diet! However, please don't eat 4 chicken breasts in one sitting unless you are 300 lbs of pure muscle. You probably wouldn't want to anyway.

Lastly, what kind of protein do I recommend? Well, first of all, animal protein is the most bioavailable protein there is. So I recommend sources such as chicken, eggs, turkey, fish, grass-fed beef*, lamb, pork, etc. But I am also a realist and know that, at times, animal sources of meat may seem overwhelming, especially when consumed multiple days in a row. This is why other sources such as beans and lentils can be used as well. However, I recommend that animal proteins be given priority because they are more nutrient rich and satiating! And, as always, let's not forget what the majority of our plate should consist of...VEGETABLES! As long as your plate is full of those leafy greens, bright oranges, or deep reds, your protein options can vary.

I hope this review was helpful to those out there who are protein confused and will help you gage if you need to increase the quality and quantity of the protein you consume! I always recommend people trying things for themselves. Nutrition research is important, but it is also flawed as it has to do with so many factors other than solely what food is consumed during a certain period of time. And on that note, I am off to prepare my lunch for tomorrow! Green bean stew with leftover Armenian sausage patties...YUM! (Both recipes can be found on the blog with some searching!) Have a great night folks!

*I encourage grass-fed beef because it has more nutrition and is much better for us. Grass-fed meat is rich in vitamins and micronutrients, omega-3 fatty acids, and even antioxidants. So, my opinion is that grass fed is best. But I certainly can't control the source each and every time I have red meat, especially when eating out. The point is to do your best, don't stress yourself out, and enjoy your food and good health!

Daley, Cynthia A., et al. "A review of fatty acid profiles and antioxidant content in grass-fed and grain-fed beef." Nutrition journal 9.1 (2010): 10.