Beans for Breakfast

Europe has the right idea! In the States, I'm sort of an odd ball having beans in the morning, but over the pond, it's part of a "complete breakfast". The photo was my breakfast at a lovely hotel in London, England last summer :)

My hope for you is to get MORE BEANS every day, and no better time to start than at breakfast! The American Institute for Cancer Research published the most comprehensive analysis of diet and cancer, based on a half million studies around the globe. Among its recommendations, the Institute suggests we eat beans, not weekly or daily, but THREE TIMES A DAY.

• "Second Meal Effect" of beans
• Protein first thing in the morning - Lasting energy for the day!
• Nutritional benefits of beans!
• Tips from a French biochemist for better blood sugar control / Savory breakfast
• Try this Creamy Peanut Butter Pie!

The "Second Meal Effect of Beans"; it's shown that when one eats beans/legumes, the next meal they eat does not raise the eater's blood sugar level as high as when the person has not eaten beans in the previous meal. I often say, while I don't recommend cake as a meal, if you eat cake after you have eaten beans, your blood sugar spike will be LESS OF A SPIKE than if you hadn't eaten the beans previously. These effects are seen hours, and even days after bean/legume consumption!

While protein controversy is constant, I think all nutrition experts agree that getting some protein first thing in the morning is good advice. This allows us to have sustained energy to get through our day with gusto! Protein and fiber are digested more slowly than simple carbohydrates alone, allowing a steady supply of energy. To clarify fiber is a carbohydrate and carbohydrate foods containing fiber (whole grains, fruits, veggies, beans), also provide SUSTAINED ENERGY.

Honestly, every food you'll find promoted here is going to provide NUTRITIONAL BENEFITS of fiber, vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and carbohydrates! Beans do get special mention for providing more PROTEIN than other foods!

Glucose Goddess is a French biochemist named Jessie Inchauspe. I see value in the ways she teaches people (especially women) to better control their blood glucose. Those who oppose her, dislike the "eat whatever you want" attitude. True, people could benefit most by using her tips, ALONG with appropriate/healthy choices otherwise. Still, her tips do improve blood sugar, AND this particular health marker is very important for many of the health outcomes we all care about (heart health, digestive, cancer, brain health, etc). Here is a cheat sheet for her great tips (all great advice):

1. Savory breakfast (beans help here!)
2. Walk/move/exercise for 10 minutes after a meal each day
3. Eat veggies before a meal each day
4. One Tbsp vinegar (any kind, not alone, please add to a glass of water) prior to a meal each day

By the way, all beans are legumes, but not all legumes are beans. For example, garbanzo beans and lentils are legumes, but not beans.

Here is Dr Greger's video about the "Second Meal Effect of Beans"

"People you eat the most legumes appear to only have a fraction of the risk for a type of prediabetes known as metabolic syndrome" 

Increased Lifespan from Beans

How Beans Help our Bones

Slow Your Beating Heart with Beans

Block Cancer with Beans

Here are 10 Glucose Goddess Hacks

COMMENTS: How do you eat your beans for breakfast? Please tell us in a comment below!

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Top 7 Reasons to Eat Breakfast BEFORE Morning Exercise!

(Here is a recipe for the above photo.)

1) Break the fast! When you wake, your body is in a fasted state, “starvation mode”, and will hang on tightly to calories (slow your metabolism) until you “break the fast” by eating, thus SPEEDING up your METABOLISM!

2) Your MUSCLES and TUMMY will FEEL better -- once you’ve found what works for you!

3) You will have more ENERGY to exercise harder -- HIGHER INTENSITY!

Now it’s a chain reaction starting with HIGHER INTENSITY EXERCISE...

4) Your post-exercise metabolism will increase more -- you’ll BURN MORE CALORIES for the the next 10-12 hours! ...because the level of increase is dependent on exercise intensity.

5) Your FITNESS will improve more than working at a lower intensity -- obvious, but still great!

6) Increased fitness will allow you to exercise EVEN HARDER next time, or make similar exercise seem EASIER!

7) Finally, if your mode of exercise requires ALERTNESS (outside, alone in the dark) or CONCENTRATION (basketball at the gym), you will definitely experience improvements in these areas with some eats!

I like to eat, SO any time it would be BETTER for me to eat, than not to, is pretty awesome!

WHAT to eat? Anything! CARBOHYDRATES are mainly what you want! Perhaps with a little protein. 100-300 calories is about right for most people.

...Normally (any non-exercise-related time really), I recommend a well-rounded combination of carbs including fiber, protein, and healthy fat.

Here are some EXAMPLES:

• Banana or other fruit, 100% fruit juice
• Whole wheat toast, PB&J sandwich, oatmeal, cereal, whole wheat crackers
• Non-fat milk, yogurt, kefir
• Larabar, Laraballs!, granola bar, sports bar
• Non-breakfast-y foods work too: pizza, rice, beans, hummus, pasta, leftovers

WHEN? Well, right away! If you can wait any amount of time to exercise, your tummy might appreciate it!

Now go for it! I’m sure you have something on hand that will work!

TELL ME IN A COMMENT! Do you eat breakfast before morning exercise? What do you eat? Have you ever tried and it didn’t go well?