Eat Protein and Fat for Breakfast to Stay Full Until Lunch
A sweet start triggers a blood sugar crash that makes the brain demand more sugar, and a savory first meal breaks the cycle.
The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett · Glucose Goddess: The 10 Glucose Hacks!Jessie Inchauspe, a biochemist who studies blood sugar, says if you change one thing about how you eat, change breakfast. A morning built on protein and fat, with nothing sweet, should keep you full for four hours, while most sweet breakfasts leave people hungry again in two.
The reason, as she explains it, is what happens after a sweet start. A breakfast of cereal, muffins, granola, fruit puree, orange juice, or sugar in coffee sends blood sugar sharply up. Then the hormone insulin brings it down, and as it falls, hunger and cravings rise. Scientists have shown that falling glucose increases activity in the brain's craving center, so you reach for more sugar, spike again, and spend the whole day on what she calls a glucose roller coaster, foggy, tired, and hungry.
Her fix is a savory breakfast. Start with protein, such as eggs, meat or fish, beans or nuts, yogurt or cheese, or last night's leftovers. Add healthy fats like olive oil, butter, or avocado. If you like, you can include a small portion of starch, such as a piece of bread or some potatoes. The key is nothing sweet.
The same rule applies if you fast. Whether your first meal comes at 8 a.m. or 4 p.m., make it savory, she says, because after fasting the digestive system is empty and sensitive, so sugar rushes into the blood especially fast. If you want something sweet, save it for dessert after lunch or dinner, when other food is already in the digestive system and blunts the effect.
Tomorrow, build the plate around protein first, and see if lunch feels four hours away.
Questions people ask
What are some simple savory breakfasts that fit this rule?
Yes. Eggs, plain Greek yogurt, fish, meat, tofu, nuts, cheese, and protein powder all count, as do leftovers from dinner. She says the test is whether you stay full for about four hours, so add enough protein and some fat like olive oil, butter, or avocado.
Can I still have coffee in the morning?
She says black coffee can still raise glucose in some people, especially those who feel jittery or anxious, and what you add matters more. Sugar, flavored syrups, and large amounts of oat milk add fast sugar, so keep coffee unsweetened and consider having it after, not before, breakfast.
Is fruit okay at breakfast?
Whole fruit still contains sugar and fiber slows but does not erase the rise, so she treats it as better than juice but still sweet. For the first meal she advises nothing sweet at all, including fruit and juice, and saving fruit for dessert after a meal with protein, fat, and fiber.