Rule #4 – Include protein with breakfast
Byron Richards, author of the Leptin Diet, has a list of five rules to manage leptin levels.
Thanks to the big food conglomerates, Americans think that the “ideal breakfast” is cereal (processed grain covered in fructose), milk (fortified – that means that they take OUT all nutrients then add in cheap supplements), and fruit (token fiber – drives up blood sugar even more).
This 7AM carb load is guaranteed to lead to energy crash and hunger cravings within a few hours. Remember, your body prefers to burn simple sugars like cereal, milk, and fruit. After the cheap thrill is gone, your glucose addicted metabolism needs another hit. The continual bursts of glucose train your body to expect an ever diminishing reward. Is anybody surprised that we have a nation of type II diabetics (even kids, unbelievable).
“Healthy grains” are so highly processed that they are scarcely an improvement. Don’t even bother with instant oatmeal – seems to require massive amount of sugar to make it palatable.
On a ketogenic diet, about half of the protein that you consume is converted to glucose. This process is called gluconeogenesis. That’s why people on Atkins-type diets aren’t dropping dead in the streets from low blood sugar. Sufficient dietary protein (minimum 1 gram per kg body weight) can maintain low, healthy levels of blood glucose.
While we are on the subject of gluconeogenesis, let’s talk about metabolic advantage. Atkins popularized the ideal that low carb diets cause the body to burn calories at a higher rate. The theory is this: gluconeogenesis requires more energy to convert protein to glucose (multi-step process) therefore it takes more calories to metabolize protein than carbohydrate.
Research seems to indicate that there is no such thing as metabolic advantage when comparing low carb to higher carb diets containing the same amount of protein. Bottom line – a calorie is a calorie. Lyle McDonald gives an indepth explanation here.
Even without the fantasy of metabolic advantage, protein at breakfast is a good idea. Protein is broken down at a slower rate, does not cause spikes in insulin, and delivers amino acids for cell growth and repair.
Bacon and eggs. Yum…
