You will hear me speak of the importance of protein for breakfast regularly as I believe it is of first importance. I believe breakfast should consist of healthy protein and smart fats. There are multiple ways to achieve this; the meat and nuts breakfast (a favorite of Coach Poliquin) or an omelet. Either way both are acceptable forms of a breakfast especially compared to the common ready to eat (RTE) cereal breakfasts that are pushed as health food these days (sugar laden shit!)
I read a study recently on the satiety effects of breakfast when comparing eggs to a bagel and it was not shocking to find that the eggs one hands down. Two groups were chosen for an isocaloric (equal calories in each breakfast) breakfast one being eggs and the other a bagel. The groups consisted of overweight and obese women between the ages or 20-60. Both groups were then allowed to free eat for the remaining 36 hours of the test and the group who ingested the egg breakfast was found to have consumed substantially less calories in over the next 36 hours than the bagel group and they also reported greater feelings of fullness than the bagel group.
These findings are not surprising given the massive blood sugar rush and insulin rush that the bagel breakfast would create relative to the eggs. The take home message remains – eat protein and smart fats for breakfast (meat and nuts or eggs) to ensure a good start to the day, feelings of fullness that last longer, less potential for binging, and less desire for calories over the following hours.
A good example egg breakfast would be;
