Why We Recommend a High-Protein Breakfast (Plus a Go-To Recipe)
At TSTMethod we’re a big fan of eating a high protein breakfast, and we recommend this to all of our clients, no matter their health and wellness goals. Amino acids (protein) are the key building blocks to health and lean muscle mass. As we age, we need to eat more protein as our ability to grown and maintain lean muscle starts to decline. Our ability to absorb high levels of amino acids begins also starts to slow down, and this impacts our hormones and therefore, our recovery. There are certain populations that need more protein than others, and you can read more about that here.
This recipe can be modified in many ways; this is just one example. You can use any meat such as chicken, pork, lamb, beef, or a mix. You can substitute the type of herbs, and you can use different flours. We recommend avoiding gluten and using tapioca flours, buckwheat flour, or even potatoes starch to hold the ingredients together.
Why High Performers Can Have a High Histamine Type Personality
High performers who struggle with stress and anxiety, or even depression, are frequently perfectionists. They want things to be a certain way, and they have high expectations. Living up to these expectations can increase their stress and anxiety. They have what is referred to as a ‘high histamine type personality’.
There are some apparent traits or personality types observed in high histamine type personality:
Why Gut Health, Performance and Quality of Life Are Inseparable?
Medical science is currently spending more time and money on gut research than any other field of medicine. The EU has already funded 216 projects over €498million to promote metagenomics and to advance our knowledge of microbes [4]. Why? Because the medical fields are starting to understand the role the gut health play in all aspect of our health. "It is increasingly recognised that the microbiome can change our mind and health status, or switch on a wide range of diseases including cancer, cardio-metabolic diseases, allergies, and obesity” [4]. We are seeing more and more businesses, coaches and “gut specialists” promoting goods and services to “help fix your gut.”
The Potato Diet
For those that have been following my (@stretch_rayner) Instagram story this week, you would have seen me posting about the potatoes diet. What is the potato diet? What are the benefits? How does it work? Why did I do it?
Don't Diet, Reset It.
“Move more and eat less….” Apparently that’s all you need to do, right? This is the message we've been taught to believe in the health and fitness industry for years. Cutting calories, increasing exercise, replacing meals with shakes and smoothies, intermittent fasting and a whole host of other calorie deficit protocols are common practice. None of this is new, and most of it has been around for decades. More often than not, calories deficit diets fail to deliver the results that many are seeking.
What is a Sustainable Diet?
If you struggle with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a low-FODMAP diet might be better for you. If you have an autoimmune disease, you may consider an autoimmune protocol and avoid foods like grains, dairy and eggs. If you have high histamine levels, you should eat a diet low in histamine. People who are suffering from thyroid issues should NOT be following a very low-carb-diet as insulin is required to convert T4 into the more active form of thyroid hormone T3. A very-low-carb diet will slow down the production of insulin and decrease the T4 to T3 conversion and make matters worse.
Why eat a high protein breakfast?
At TSTM we advise our clients to shoot for a minimum of 40-65g of protein at breakfast, which is quite a bit. Most animal sources of protein are between 23-35g of protein per 100g, meaning you will need to eat 170-285g for breakfast (depending on body weight and goals). It is quite a bit more than you would get from eating two eggs (6-7g protein each), for example. You would need to add some fish or meat to the breakfast plate in order to reach these targets.
Breakfast: Sweet Potato and Zucchini Fritters With Herb Aioli
If you follow the blog or our social media feed, you will know that we are not big fans of gluten or highly processed gluten-free products. More and more research is linking the many of the proteins in grains like wheat, to severe illness and disease and we encourage our clients to avoid it as much as possible.
Often, our clients find breakfast become a tricky meal when you remove bread and cereal out of the diet. These quick and easy low nutrient high carbohydrate processed foods have become a staple in many peoples breakfast, and it becomes a head habit to break. What other options are there?
The Carb That Makes You Leaner and Healthier
Eating carbohydrates before bed has become a hot topic in nutrition, and some people think its a bad idea. This often comes from the belief that eating carbs before you go to sleep leads to weight gain. There is some evidence to support this argument, but all carbohydrates are not equal, and certain types of carbohydrates can help you lose weight and get a good night sleep.
The KetoDiet can reduce athletes' anaerobic performance
The "Ketogenic diet" (KetoDiet) is a hot topic at the moment due to quick weight loss results and improvements in endurance based sports performance. However, recent studies have found that a KetoDiet is not a great option for strengths, speed and power athlete looking to improve their performance. [1,2]
Many endurance athletes have found success with KetoDiet because fat provides more energy than carbs in an aerobic driven environment. [3] This is not true for the anaerobic energy system because the Krebs cycle, the primary energy generator in the anaerobic energy system, produces significantly less energy when catabolising fat or protein when compared to carbohydrates (CHO).