Tag: why am I always hungry

Posted on

Breakfast: Oat, Chia, Hemp and Nut Protein Pudding

Breakfast

Why is breakfast so important?

Breakfast is an important part of our health. It prepares us physically and mentally for the day and sets the tone for how our metabolism will respond for the day ahead.

This is why, the foods we choose to put in or not to put in our mouth in some people’s case, really does have an effect on how we live for that day.

Consequences of no breakfast or the wrong breakfast may include:

  • Poor concentration
  • Poor memory and retention of information
  • Brain fog
  • Irritability
  • Headaches
  • Low productivity
  • Poor brain function
  • Low energy
  • Low libido
  • Excessive hunger later in the day
  • Bing eating
  • Poor sleep
  • Higher levels of stress or a poor stress response
  • Slow metabolism

 

Longer term implications may include:

  • Weight gain/weight loss
  • Nutritional deficiencies
  • Blood sugar complications
  • Muscle wasting
  • Elevations in cholesterol and blood pressure

A well-balanced breakfast should include a balance of protein, healthy fats and a small amount of complex carbohydrates.

This Oat, Chia, Hemp and Nut Protein Pudding will have any feeling energised and ready to take on your day.

 

Oat, Chia, Hemp and Nut Protein Breakfast Pudding

 

Ingredients

1 tbsp. chia seeds

30g oats

½ cup water

Combine in a bowl and soak overnight.

 

1 tsp cacao powder

1 tbsp cacao nibs

1 heaped tsp almond butter (or any pure nut butter)

1 tsp cinnamon powder

10g vegan protein, flavour of choice

Another ½ cup water

1 dash almond milk

Toppings

10g Mixed nuts and seeds

10g hemp seeds

Method

Add pre-soaked chia/oat mix to a small pot.

Turn heat to low-medium.

Gently warm and add the remaining water, stir.

Once stirred through add the rest of the ingredients besides the toppings and stir until combine.

Remove from heat into bowl.

Top with mixed nuts, seeds and hemp seeds.

The pictured pudding also has dragon fruit chips for decoration, but you may like to add some fresh fruit such as passionfruit or berries.

You can enjoy this pudding cold or warm so it is a fantastic breakfast all year round!

Posted on

Adrenal Health: Constantly Snacking or Drinking Multiple Cups of Coffee?

Dietitian Nutritionist Adrenal

Does Your Adrenal Health Need Assessment?

Snacking habits can be caused by a range of factors, which may be as simple as confusing hunger for thirst, boredom or habit or a reflection of your adrenal health.

But there may also be an underlying biochemical and physiological reason.

When our blood sugar levels spike and slump rapidly after a meal or drop too low due to a period of fasting, our body signals an alarm to tell us we need to eat again and fast. Often, we reach for fast fuel items such as sugary, carb rich, salty or high fat foods. We can also find ourselves gorging at the next meal for similar reasons. These persistent peaks and troughs in blood sugar can lead to insulin resistance and can become dangerous to our health.

Other reasons may include adrenal depletion and fatigue.
We  may be under a lot of stress or anxiety from:

  • work
  • illness
  • study
  • family
  • finances
  • a traumatic event
  • over exercise
  • and other lifestyle factors

With this stress our adrenal glands (tiny little glands that sit above our kidneys), release the hormone cortisol and other fight flight hormones that give us the energy we need to get through a stressful situation. These hormones direct our liver to release glycogen as glucose and glucose floods our body in response to the stress. We then crash as our body tries to bring the glucose within normal range. When we crash we fatigue and our brain and organs reach for carbohydrates to rapidly increase energy supply again. Our adrenal glands and the hormones released were not designed to cope with the persistent stressors of today’s society and this often results in the depletion of the cortisol secreted from our adrenals, which is required for releasing glucose from the liver and muscles.

The vicious cycle, causes us to continuously reach for snack items.
There are ways to find out if your adrenals are depleted on or their way.

Speak with me to find out how and what we can do to assist in preventing adrenal fatigue, persistent snacking habits and blood sugar dysregulation.

 

Online Dietician

Loading...