Low carb breakfast ideas

[Gammmmo]

I have been experimenting with carb cycling. On days I do weights and on the following day I don't worry so much as calories are king to support growth. However, being mindful of recent recommendations towards older guys and endurance athletes needing more protein than one might expect, I am struggling for cost effective ideas for things to eat which aren't chock full of carbs but which contain protein and good fats. Especially at breakfast - reason being I don't want to eat eggs everyday for fear of developing some sort of intolerance (I believe I induced my Coeliac Disease by having too much doughy food - possibly also made worse by intense exercise causing a leaky gut) nor too much bacon (too much red meat linked with bowel disease). I don't want to eat loads of carbs when I don't need to as It contributes to belly fat.

[Dangerscouse]

I'm not sure about low carbs if it means avoiding eggs but I also suffer with a wheat sensitivity (just wheat not gluten) and no way near as bad as an intolerance, but it does cause me issues with rowing due to constipation. I also think that this might be due to my love of pasta, bread, cake etc.

Just out of interest what intolerance could you get from eggs? I know that wheat has evolved over years due to over farming and it's innate requirement to protect itself. I eat a lot of eggs!!

[Dangerscouse]

Thought of some

Mackerel. Not too everyone's taste but I love it. Aldi sell it cheaply and you can blend it with avocado or soft cheese and a bit of lemon juice for a mackerel pate.

Turkey bacon?

[Allan Olesen]

I switch between combinations of greek yoghurt 10%, raw avocado, smoked salmon, fried ham/sausages/bacon, fried vegetables and scrambled eggs.

The yoghurt is very easy when I am in a hurry, and it tastes like icecream, just without any sweetness.

[JerekKruger]

Just out of interest what intolerance could you get from eggs? I know that wheat has evolved over years due to over farming and it's innate requirement to protect itself.

If anything being farmed should have the opposite effect, since humanity steps in and removes negative evolutionary pressures on the species thus removing any selection for defensive mutations.

I suspect that gluten/wheat intolerance primarily stems from consuming a lot of processed wheat which, for whatever reason, puts undue strain on the digestive system. Of course there's also genetic factors: I wouldn't be surprised if people who develop an intolerance have some genetic predisposition to do so.

I eat a lot of eggs!!

Me too! Eggs are great.

[Gammmmo]

@Stu - well very generally any time one tends to eat the same foods over and over again, there seems to be (Jerek: I have no study to say so ) an increased likelihood of developing an intolerance to that very foodstuff. A quick google around has thrown up people who think they've induced this. Of course there are many who have been eating stacks of eggs who swear by them. Believe me, it'd be much easier if I could just eat 2-4 EVERY DAY I just feel I should perhaps have a day or two off a week from eating them and rotate food accordingly. In general it's always good to eat a wide range of foods for nutrional diversity and probably the guy micro-biome (spelling?). FWIW Coeliac Disease is a bit different -that's genetic and it gets "switched on" - people don't really know why....some have said overeating gluten, some say it's as a result of gut disruption from food poisioning or infection, others say maybe even stress e.g. mental, physical. Given the brain and gut are directly linked and influence one another it's a massive area for further study....

Further to the red / processed meat issue, I do now find it suprising how those tending to eat low carb or more Paleo are pushing bacon as a regular breakfast thing. Again, I'd love to eat that with impunity.

Thanks for your suggestions. Already have Greek yog, but mackerel is a good one and avocadoes I do eat - can get 3/4 smallish ones for ~£1 at local green grocer.

[mdpfirrman]

We keep two three tubs of airtight nuts on hand nearly at all times. Raw walnuts are fantastic. I eat (only) nuts for breakfast on days that I'm doing Steady State work. I try to keep the carbs to a minimum those days. My SS days likely aren't as hard as yours but as long as you don't go too hard, you shouldn't need carbs.

Other ideas - don't know if you have Triple Zero (Yoplait) in the UK or not but they are higher in fat/protein and zero carbs. I also like they are stevia sweetened and colored with things like beet juice. Unsweetened greek yogurt with berries would be fantastic if you don't have access to Triple Zero.


Unsweetened Peanut butter if you can do that in the AM too works well.


Avocado smoothie is another - frozen 1/2 of an avocado, unsweetened nut milk (or soy or coconut), almonds and unsweetened vanilla protein powder (there are tons of those) blended up with just a bit of ice. I like a half of a banana in mine but you could go all avocado for more fat/less carbs. Only trick to avocados is you have to cut them and separate before freezing. You can't get avocados apart once frozen together. You have to peel them and cut into whatever you plan on using that day. Same with frozen berries and vanilla protein powder w/ unsweetened milk - very low carb.

I've been going through a Polyphenol kick. I'm into microbiome literature (trying to get in the door as a consultant with a few). Lots of information coming out that Polyphenols are really great for your stomach lining, though it's hardly an exact science. Since they are packed in antioxidants and low carb, what's the harm. We buy berries on sale - all kinds -- and freeze them. No need for ice in the protein drink that way. I'll make many versions of these. Today it was "Just Coconut" chunks from Trader Joe's - one g of fiber per chunk blended with SunWarrior "Warrior Blend" (no grains and no sugar) with unsweetened coconut milk and lots of berries. I sometimes throw in some Organic Cacao too. Very high protein, low carb.

[JerekKruger]

@Stu - well very generally any time one tends to eat the same foods over and over again, there seems to be (Jerek: I have no study to say so ) an increased likelihood of developing an intolerance to that very foodstuff.

Heh, you don't need a study don't worry . I think it's a pretty reasonable theory (which doesn't mean it's true of course) and it doesn't hurt to be careful in this case.

Further to the red / processed meat issue, I do now find it suprising how those tending to eat low carb or more Paleo are pushing bacon as a regular breakfast thing. Again, I'd love to eat that with impunity.

I think they're probably wrong to think so. There's legitimate doubt as to whether red meat is as bad as it was made out to be, but I don't think there's much doubt about the link between eating processed meats and colon cancer. Would love to be proven wrong

@Mike - it's funny you bringing up nuts what with all this talk of becoming intolerant to certain foods. Years ago, when I decided to put on weight whilst on a budget, I ate around half a pound of almonds a day (along with 6 pints of whole milk plus my normal diet) and ever since then I can't eat any nuts with any regularity without getting nasty stomach cramps. It's a real shame as they're pretty unquestionably good for you. I can stomach small amounts of unsweetened almond butter, which i add to my post workout shakes, but that's it.

[Dangerscouse]

Very interesting, thanks for that Paul.

I have also just read about a recipe on livestrong.com for Turkey sausages (or probably closer to burgers) as it's chopped red onion, egg, sage, rosemary, salt and pepper.

Peanut butter is great. No added sugar PB is cheap in Aldi. How about chia seeds and Greek yogurt with fruit? Soak them overnight and you get a sort of porridge.

[jamesg]

Best breakfast I ever had was in Vietnam: a large bowl of chicken soup, with (rice?) spaghettini and quail's eggs; with fresh chopped mint or whatever it was on top. In India not bad either: a very large portion, indeed the entire pan, of yogurt made overnight with buffalo milk; the fat content is double that of cow's milk, so about 7%.

Nowadays with the idea of ten servings of fruit/veggie a day, no breakfast can be complete without 2-3 squeezed oranges, a bunch of grapes, or equivalent.

[mdpfirrman]

@Stu - well very generally any time one tends to eat the same foods over and over again, there seems to be (Jerek: I have no study to say so ) an increased likelihood of developing an intolerance to that very foodstuff.

Heh, you don't need a study don't worry . I think it's a pretty reasonable theory (which doesn't mean it's true of course) and it doesn't hurt to be careful in this case.

@Mike - it's funny you bringing up nuts what with all this talk of becoming intolerant to certain foods. Years ago, when I decided to put on weight whilst on a budget, I ate around half a pound of almonds a day (along with 6 pints of whole milk plus my normal diet) and ever since then I can't eat any nuts with any regularity without getting nasty stomach cramps. It's a real shame as they're pretty unquestionably good for you. I can stomach small amounts of unsweetened almond butter, which i add to my post workout shakes, but that's it.

Interestingly enough, my wife, who is in remission from Fibro from going (I think) gluten/dairy free for a few years, has recently developed an intolerance to nuts as well. She was eating TONS of nuts and nut milk prior to this happening. The more I read on Microbiome, the less I feel I know to be honest.

I believe (this is just my gut instinct talking) is that she went so far to the extreme that it affected her microbiome in a way that nuts were intolerant to her. Now, there's been some recent research that a certain strain of Lactobacillus (obviously, typically found in dairy) might help with tree nuts. Overall, I think Gundy is wrong about most things (in terms of lectins) but I do think he has some points in terms of our intolerance to certain milk proteins. She can handle goat/sheep and A2/A2 dairy no problem. I'm trying to get her to eat some dairy to offset some of the tree nut allergies but she's worried (rightfully so) because she nearly went anaphlatic one time and we had to get an EpiPen.

https://newatlas.com/peanut-cure-probio ... udy/50954/