Better Breakfast’s: Rethink Your Morning Fuel
Many people start their day with cereal, bread, or porridge, but these carb-heavy choices can cause energy crashes and leave you hungry by mid-morning.
A high-carb breakfast causes an energy crash because it leads to a rapid spike in blood sugar levels followed by a sharp drop. Foods like cereal, bread, and porridge are high in refined carbohydrates, which are quickly broken down into glucose. This surge of glucose triggers a large release of insulin to lower blood sugar. However, the body can overcompensate, causing blood sugar levels to dip too low—a state called reactive hypoglycemia. This drop results in fatigue, hunger, and difficulty concentrating, leaving you feeling drained shortly after eating.
Lets explain a few of the most common breakfast foods.
Oats:
Porridge has been known to be heart healthy and considered a superfood. Porridge may seem like the perfect breakfast, but it’s not as healthy as it looks. Oats which are a grain, are high in phytic acid, an anti-nutrient that binds to important minerals like magnesium, zinc, calcium, and iron, preventing your body from absorbing them.
Oats can cause inflammation in individuals for a few reasons. Many oats are processed in facilities that handle gluten, leading to cross-contamination which can trigger inflammation in those sensitive to gluten. Additionally, oats contain a protein called Avenin that some people are intolerant to, causing an inflammatory response. The high carb content leads to blood sugar spikes, promoting inflammation over time if blood sugar regulation is an issue. Furthermore, instant or flavoured oats contain added sugars and artificial ingredients, which can exacerbate inflammation and are less nutritious than whole or steel-cut oats.
As we mentioned in our previous blog, carbohydrates can impact your energy levels, and oats are a form of carbohydrate. In short, your porridge isn’t fuelling you—it’s robbing you of nutrients. Not exactly the breakfast of champions!
There are many studies that have been carried out to show how glucose does spike after consuming porridge.
Cereal
Breakfast cereals are often a poor choice due to their high sugar content, refined carbs, and artificial additives. Many cereals contain artificial dyes and preservatives, which can contribute to hyperactivity, allergies, and other health issues. The high sugar content leads to a rapid spike in blood sugar, followed by a crash, which leaves you feeling hungry sooner and craving more sugary foods. This cycle promotes overeating and poor nutritional choices. Additionally, cereals typically lack protein and essential nutrients, making them an unsatisfying and nutritionally incomplete meal. Kids cereals have more sugar than adult cereals, they have wheat, soy, corn and these have been exposed to glyphosate, a herbicide in the GMO’s, creating problems in the immune system. Cereal boxes will promote that they are fortified with certain vitamins like Vitamin A, Zinc, Niacin and Iron, but these are synthetic and are not the types you would find naturally in fruit, vegetables and meat. These can accumulate in the body and cause more issues.
High-protein cereal including granolas might sound healthy, but take a closer look at the label. Many of these cereals are loaded with seed oils like sunflower or peanut oil and even list “bioengineered food” in the ingredients. What does that even mean? These cereals are just junk food pretending to be healthy. If you want real high-protein food with bioavailable nutrients, skip the cereal and eat real quality food. Don’t let clever marketing fool you—high-protein cereal is just junk food in disguise.
Yoghurt
Don’t eat low-fat yogurt! We were led to believe that low-fat products were healthier options, but this is untrue, as they are loaded with added sugars to compensate for flavour making them far less nutritious. Full-fat yogurt provides healthy fats that keep you fuller longer and support hormone and brain health. Kefir is rich in probiotics, protein, calcium, and essential vitamins, supporting gut health, digestion, immunity, and bone strength.
Waffles, Pancakes, Pastries
Homemade is the only way to eat these. Ready made mixes and store bought, contain refined flour, added sugar, artificial preservatives and unhealthy oils. All causing blood spikes and linked to health issues.
Toast
Toast can be acceptable if made with sourdough bread, as it is easier to digest and has a lower glycemic index than regular bread. Only top with full-fat butter for a healthy fat or honey which has a slower effect on blood sugar.
We definitely do not recommend any type of jam, marmalade or Nutella all for reasons stated above about blood sugar and additives making them absolutely useless in the diet.
Nut butters
The favourite butter of them all: Peanut butter, made with conventional peanuts, unfortunately is probably one of the most heavily sprayed with pesticides and insecticides and especially fungicides. A peanut is not an actual nut, it’s a legume so when they spray it, it gets in the soil down into where the peanut is, and this shell is very thin, unlike a walnut which has a hard shell and therefore, penetrates it very easily. Being a legume, peanuts are also full of lectins, which are harmful for the gut and full off peanut oil which is a seed oil. This oil can becomes rancid and oxidised.
On the label, you may see hydrogenated/partially hydrogenated- do not consume this! Hydrogenated foods must be avoided because they contain trans fats, which raise bad cholesterol, increase the risk of heart disease, cause inflammation contribute to obesity, impair insulin function, and may harm the liver and potentially increase cancer risk. They also sneak in vegetable oils which are seed oils and as we mentioned in our previous blog, we do not want these in our body.
Have you ever wondered why we want to eat peanut butter spoon after spoon?
It’s the added sugar, it makes it addictive!
Finally, the oil separation does not occur in conventional butters such as Skippy, as a specific ingredient called monoglyceride is added. There is a study that has linked this to cancer!
If you want to consume peanut butter then upgrade to organic varieties, but the legume effect still remains!
Almond butter: Many may think this is a good alternative! However, almonds have high oxalate content. Oxalates are naturally occurring compounds in certain plant foods that can contribute to kidney stones and may deposit in joints and soft tissues, potentially leading to joint pain and arthritis. The presence of phytic acid, and lectins can interfere with nutrient absorption and digestion. Therefore, consume this with caution.
Our go-to breakfast foods:
- Prosciutto - M&S /Sainsbury’s
- Nitrate free Bacon - Sainsbury’s
- Eggs- organic/pasture raised
- Kefir
- Full fat yoghurt
- Raw milk
- Raw butter
- Fruit
- Lineage Provisions Protein Shake with raw milk
- Organic honey - M&S
Our daughter a tennis player, changed her breakfast to the above choices when she was 13 years old. For many the options look limited and may sound boring, however, the body adapts very fast, and as soon as you remove those sugary, processed foods from the diet, you don’t look back. The body feels clean and full of energy!
Links To Quick Video Explanations:
Cereal YouTube Video
Sourdough YouTube short
Porridge YouTube video
