Why Protein is the Most Important Ingredient in your Breakfast

Protein is just EVERYWHERE – from the ads for the powders, to the BUY ME labels on your high protein yoghurt, to the nutritionist tips all over insta. Protein is big business. And there’s a good reason why this hype train isn’t slowing down. Diving into protein and why – for once – this nutrition coach finds himself agreeing with the overwhelming consensus of nutrition brands, doctors and even in this case his most hardened gym bro clients.

Protein has always been the most vaunted of quarries, from our ancestors chasing the big game, to our friends with the barbells, the value of protein has always been the thing we chase in quest for dietary nirvana. When we sit down to eat our first meal after waking – it’s the quantity and quality of protein on our plate that decides whether we find ourselves greedy for a second round at the breakfast bar or if we feel sated and fuelled for the rest of the morning.

And i’m not picking breakfast at random, it’s that first meal of the day that decides how our metabolism (and our nervous system) behaves for the rest of the following 24 hour feeding and fasting cycle. That cycle is so fascinating as we start to learn more about it too, it’s this incredibly sensitised network of communication between our organs, which each have their own 24 hour clock and programmed behaviours inside that cycle, and our master clock – the Suprachiasmatic nucleus – that senses and coordinates many of our body’s tendencies and behaviours. It is probably the primary programmable cortex in our nervous system, and it really is the one that most defines the “creature of habit” descriptor as we ascribe it to humankind.  And guess what: protein is one of the most significant levers we can use to tweak its response in order to enhance our performance.

To get back to breakfast – it’s that moment just beyond waking (usually!) where our blood sugars are at their lowest, and our cells at their most sensitive…often that translates to our nervous system too…eek…and in that moment what we choose to consume can either trigger immediate and acute energy release (coffee at 6am on an empty stomach anyone??) or a sustained gradual accumulation of energy that saves us from those stifled yawns at 3pm. Protein consumption at waking (and also at bedtime) is the simplest tweak to our diet to bring these energy levels into balance. 

So how much protein do we need to get this system working for us?  And where do we go to look for the sources? Read our next blog to find out why – So How Much Protein is in My Protein Though