There’s no need to sacrifice happy hormones for fun this holiday season! This simple tip will not only support hormone balance, but it will also help you stay on track with your health goals and feel your best throughout the holidays, and it’s really quite simple.
Start your day with a protein-rich breakfast. Here’s why:
You may have learned before that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and I would argue that is very much true! One study found that breakfast skippers experienced higher post-meal insulin and glucose levels after lunch. Research also suggests that breakfast skipping may result in increased blood sugar levels the rest of the day. In other words, eating breakfast plays an important role in blood sugar regulation! You may be wondering what that means for your hormones, keep reading to find out.
Blood sugar balance is essential for healthy hormones. The goal when it comes to blood sugar is keeping levels steady, and avoiding large spikes or drops in blood sugar. Chronically riding the blood sugar rollercoaster of big glucose spikes and crashes sets off a cascade of problems in the body from inflammation to oxidative stress, which disrupt hormone balance. It’s important to point out here that I mentioned both blood sugar highs, and lows, wreak havoc on your hormones. Low blood sugar activates the body’s stress response, resulting in increases in stress hormones like cortisol and epinephrine to help bring glucose levels back up. Not only do these stress hormones impact blood sugar regulation, and in turn hormone balance, but hormones are chemical messengers in the body and they’re constantly communicating with one another, meaning they don’t act in isolation. Stress hormones like cortisol can directly impact other hormones in the body like thyroid and sex hormones.
As you can see, learning how to maintain blood sugar balance is one of the most important things you can do to support hormone health! Poor blood sugar control, insulin resistance, and excess insulin set off a cascade of problems in the body from inflammation to oxidative stress, which disrupt hormone balance. Eating breakfast is one way to set yourself up for successful blood sugar balance, but there’s one more key piece of the puzzle here – it’s important that you’re breaking your fast with protein. Consuming sufficient protein at breakfast has been shown to support a more controlled blood sugar response at the second meal. Protein has minimal effect on blood sugar levels when there’s proper amounts of insulin around, and it helps keep blood sugar levels steady.
One of my favorite ways to get protein in at breakfast is by including Svete Beauty Fusion collagen! In addition to other whole-food nutrients, Svete Beauty Fusion includes 11 grams of grams of hydrolyzed multi-collagen per serving, allowing for a convenient (and tasty) delivery of protein first thing in the morning. Here are some of my favorite ways to incorporate collagen into my morning routine:
- Add it to coffee (whether hot or cold!) – I love blending collagen in my morning coffee along with some nut milk or grass-fed heavy cream to create a creamy and frothy beverage. Svete’s Beauty Fusion Chocolate Coconut would be a great addition to give your coffee a “mocha” flavor.
- Blend it in a smoothie – my favorite protein-rich smoothie always includes berries. You can get the best of both worlds with Svete’s Beauty Fusion Fresh Berry!
- Mix it in energy bites – you can easily add collagen to your favorite energy bite recipe and pair it with your breakfast for a protein boost.
Keeping your hormones healthy throughout the holidays doesn’t have to be hard, simply start your day with a nourishing, protein-rich breakfast to support balanced blood sugar all day long… your hormones will thank you!
Resources
Nas A, Mirza N, Hägele F, Kahlhöfer J, Keller J, Rising R, Kufer TA, Bosy-Westphal A. Impact of breakfast skipping compared with dinner skipping on regulation of energy balance and metabolic risk. Am J Clin Nutr. 2017 Jun;105(6):1351-1361. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.116.151332. Epub 2017 May 10. PMID: 28490511.
Kobayashi F, Ogata H, Omi N, Nagasaka S, Yamaguchi S, Hibi M, Tokuyama K. Effect of breakfast skipping on diurnal variation of energy metabolism and blood glucose. Obes Res Clin Pract. 2014 May-Jun;8(3):e201-98. doi: 10.1016/j.orcp.2013.01.001. PMID: 24847666.
Park YM, Heden TD, Liu Y, Nyhoff LM, Thyfault JP, Leidy HJ, Kanaley JA. A high-protein breakfast induces greater insulin and glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide responses to a subsequent lunch meal in individuals with type 2 diabetes. J Nutr. 2015 Mar;145(3):452-8. doi: 10.3945/jn.114.202549. Epub 2014 Dec 24. PMID: 25733459; PMCID: PMC6619673.
