Top 9 Proteins for Smoothies

Do you eat breakfast every morning?

Be honest!

Breakfast is a great way to kickstart your metabolism when you wake up, and it gives you the energy to get out the door for a great day. But what you put in your breakfast matters.

A reader recently asked me for low-carb breakfast ideas. When I get low-carb requests I usually want to do some myth-busting.  I’m not a low-carb aficionado.  Or low-fat.  Or low-protein.  Alright, maybe low-protein hasn’t swept across the country yet but… just in case.

Anyway, as I was preparing my reasons for why we shouldn’t hate on carbs so much, it hit me: many breakfast foods are just carbs.  Carbs aren’t the enemy, but most of the common breakfast foods in North America are absolutely chock full of simple carbs.

Breakfast cereals: simple carbs

Toast and jam: simple carbs

Eggos: simple carbs

Muffins: simple carbs

This person probably wasn’t looking to go all Atkins and cut out every single gram of carb. Anything that’s actually balanced would be low-carb in comparison!

What does balanced mean? There are three main components to food that provide use with calories: carbs, fat, and protein. It’s important for our meals to contain all three.

How to Stay Fuller for Longer

These parts of food fill us up the most and prevent us from returning to the kitchen sooner:

Protein: Work by slowing down stomach emptying

Fats: Work to curb consumption by creating a pleasant mouthfeel and taste. They also slow down stomach emptying somewhat

Soluble fibre: Slow digestion by increasing the thickness of food going through the digestive tract. Essentially, they get in the way of the body’s ability to digest food quickly

The Benefit of Protein at Breakfast

There’s also evidence that a protein rich breakfast can make a huge impact on your overall health. It can help you get in tune with your internal cues for hunger and fullness. It can even reduce your cravings for snacks throughout the day!

(hey! I have a whole e-book full of high protein, high fibre breakfast recipes!)

How to Get Protein at Breakfast

Eggs are the classic protein for breakfast. Unfortunately, my stomach turns at the thought of them in the morning. If you can do eggs in the morning, do it! Eggs are amazing and healthy!

Smoothies can also be a great method for boosting the amount of protein you eat at breakfast. Here are my favourite protein sources for smoothies. Notice how protein powders didn’t make the list? I don’t find anything wrong with protein powders and they can benefit people who are looking to build or maintain muscle mass for either recreational purposes or as a result of a medical condition. However, they’re unnecessary for most people and are rather expensive so I recommend that people eat protein naturally found in everyday foods!

Go grab a blender and get your smoothie on. Just don’t forget my cautionary tale about smoothies!

If your smoothies would be better categorized as “chunkies” then click here for tips on how to get the perfect smoothie! 

Since you’re probably wondering how to add some of those weird ingredients in the table above, here are some recipe ideas to get that protein into your next smoothie: