WK04 L10 Balanced Breakfast Equals Decreased Cravings

Balanced Breakfast Equals Decreased Cravings

0:22 Welcome to your fourth week and final week in this Simple Strategies for Nutrition Beginners program. You've learned about the importance of drinking water and paying attention to your full signals.

0:33 You've also learned about the hand measurement system for proper carbohydrate, protein, and fat portion sizes. Today we're going to introduce your seventh simple strategy, which is eating a balanced breakfast.

0:47 A balanced breakfast is a breakfast that includes a protein, carbohydrate, and a good fat to start your day. Did you know that how you start your day can directly impact your food cravings throughout the rest of the day?

1:00 Let's talk about that for a moment. When we eat a meal, high in carbohydrates and low in protein, our bodies quickly digest the carbohydrates into glucose.

1:10 The glucose is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream and this is how our blood sugar levels rise. Your brain then senses a higher level of blood sugar and triggers your pancreas to release the hormone insulin.

1:24 To keep it simple, insulin helps the body use some of the blood sugar for energy. The rest is stored as body fat.

1:32 After insulin has done its job, your blood sugar levels are lower. However, sometimes the blood sugar goes too low. Low blood sugar is often experienced as fatigue, cravings, moodiness, feeling light-headed and hunger.

1:49 What do you think happens next? Your body tries to regulate this by craving more carbohydrates and or sugar. Starting this rollercoaster effect of high blood sugar to low blood sugar creates highs and lows of energy and food cravings.

2:08 Your energy levels and food cravings in the afternoon and evenings can often be traced back to what you ate for breakfast.

2:16 In today's email, you'll see examples of balanced breakfast. This week, we encourage you to try one or two new ideas for a balanced breakfast.

2:25 Pay attention to your energy and food cravings. Don't be surprised if you notice more stable energy levels and decreased food cravings.