April 11th, 2016| Posted By: Magdalena Wszelaki| Posted in Adrenals, Anti-Candida, Articles, Estrogen Dominance, Menopause, PCOS, Thyroid| Tagged avocado, breakfast, cacao, chocolate cherry smoothie, eggs, farmers wife, rebalance hormones, recipes, sauerkraut
It can be hard to imagine that the right kind of breakfast can be instrumental in rebalancing our hormones. Today you will learn why that is so and what kinds of breakfasts can make such a difference.
The biggest challenge many of us face is feeling confused about what to eat for breakfast. Many others think they are eating “healthily,” but in reality, they consume breakfasts that are so full of sugar that they might as well be called “morning desserts”.
Many of us grew up with the belief that a good breakfast should contain large amounts of fruit, flavored yogurt, grains, cereals, bars, and oatmeal.
Here is the problem: they are full of carbohydrates and sugars.
Breakfast, sugar, and hormones
This creates three hormonal and metabolic problems:
Sugar addiction
When we consume too many carbohydrates and sugars for breakfast at, say 8 am, we will then experience a sugar dip by 11 am and feel hungry or shaky, moody, and unfocused.
So what do we do? We reach out for something sweet again, like a bar, fruit, or coffee to “rebalance our sugar level” and this way we end up only adding more sugar to our lives.
It’s not uncommon for many people to eat as much as a 30 teaspoon equivalent of sugar per day without even realizing it. One thing you can do today is to check the sugar content of the food you eat, especially for breakfast by using the simple conversion of 4 grams = 1 teaspoon of sugar.
As an example, Starbuck’s Vanilla Frappuccino contains 69 grams of sugar which equal 17 teaspoons of sugar. Naked’s 15-oz orange juice will set you back with 42 grams (or over 10 teaspoons) and a Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Blueberry Muffin label states 24 grams or 6 teaspoons of sugar.
As you can see, it’s easy to fall into the sugar trap and become dependent on sugar.
Sugar lows and adrenal exhaustion
The second problem is that sugar addiction and sugar dips create STRESS to the body which calls for a release of cortisol by the adrenal glands to rebalance our sugar levels.
One of the functions of your adrenals (other than helping us deal with stress) is to rebalance our sugar levels.
As it is, many women suffer from compromised adrenals and these sugar dips weaken our them even further.
Compromised adrenals have been linked to premature aging, dry skin, fatigue, coffee addiction (another skin-aging factor), weight gain, moodiness, frequent sickness, and feeling depleted and de-motivated.
Breakfast and sleep connection
Many women note that their carbohydrate-rich breakfasts and sugar dips are big contributors to their insomnia, poor sleep, and waking in the middle of the night. That’s not surprising – we often experience compromised sleep due to sugar level dips and cortisol spikes which are what keep us awake or wake us up in the middle of the night.
Their sleep typically improves with a change of breakfast. More on that below.
What is a good breakfast?
OK, so what do you do?
In today’s article, there are tips that will help you stop craving sugar, and help you feel grounded, focused, and satiated, and they might help you achieve deep and restful sleep.
Tip #1: PFF Breakfast
PFF stands for “Protein, Fat, and Fiber.”
Yes, this means we will be loading up our breakfasts with protein, fat, and fiber. Why?
Because they will guarantee us no sugar dips, they will sustain our sugar levels so we don’t exhaust our adrenals and they will help us break our sugar habit (or addiction).
Proteins are also full of amino acids which are the building blocks on our hormones.
The sources of proteins in your breakfast could come from fish, beef, chicken, bison, lamb, tempeh (if you can tolerate soy), and coconut butter, but also from moderate amounts of pre-soaked nuts and seeds, if tolerated.
I know, it might sound a bit unusual to be talking about dinner food for breakfast, right?
If you think about it, all global cuisines have savory breakfasts – like the Turks eat plenty of salami and cheese, Chinese dim sum is fat and protein-heavy, a traditional Japanese breakfast would have some miso soup and fish which are savory and rich in protein and fats.
Tip #2: Real food only
Many people think of protein shakes and powders when they hear the word “protein” and “breakfast.”
Well, in this new approach to your breakfast, the focus is on using only real and fresh food, not processed foods like powders and shakes.
As humans, we were designed to eat, metabolize and absorb real food and not food that can sit in a box for two years – like protein powders.
That’s not real food. That’s just great marketing and gimmicks that make us feel fearful that we can’t get the right nutrients from real food.
It might be hard to hear me urge you to put away your protein powder. But, if you suffer from hormonal challenges, why not try something different for just the next three days and see how your body responds?
There are a couple of recipes at the end of this article for you to try; we hope you will give them a chance.
What to expect?
People who follow the PFF breakfast recommendations report massive improvements.
Many of them start losing weight, feel focused and grounded, their sugar addiction ends or lessens, they stop to binge, their energy returns, their skin clears of acne, eczema, and dryness, they sleep better, and many report less PMS and less hot flashes.
Is it not amazing? From a simple change like that?
So let’s get to work. Try the recipes below and let us know how they worked for you.
How did you feel after having them for a few days?
Are you craving sugar the same way?
How different is your skin now?
PFF Recipe #1: Farmers Wife Breakfast
A hearty and savory breakfast is a wonderful way to start the day feeling grounded and satisfied.
Healing foods in this recipe:
- Sauerkraut (probiotics, estrogen regulator)
- Mustard greens (nutrient-packed, estrogen regulator)
- Avocado (sugar-balancing, anti-inflammatory, nutritionally dense, anti-carcinogenic)
- Ghee (precursor for a precursor of steroid hormones like estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, cortisol, and DHEA)
PFF Recipe #2: Chocolate Cherry Smoothie
This low-sugar breakfast recipe can easily be adapted to become a decadent snack or a healthy dessert. The fat from the avocado and coconut butter along with the protein from the hazelnuts and pumpkin seeds will help keep blood sugar levels stable.
Healing foods in this recipe:
- Cacao (magnesium, flavonoids as antioxidants, vitamin Bs and E)
- Avocado (sugar-balancing, anti-inflammatory, nutritionally dense, anti-carcinogenic)
- Coconut butter (supports plump skin, is anti-bacterial, healthy fat for long-term energy, is high in fiber, precursor for many hormones)
- Pumpkin seed (high in magnesium, zinc, protein, fiber, anti-oxidant, anti-fungal, anti-viral)
Chocolate Cherry Smoothie
Prep time
Total time
This low-sugar breakfast recipe can easily be adapted to become a decadent snack or a healthy dessert. The fat from the avocado and coconut butter along with the protein from the hazelnuts and pumpkin seeds will help keep blood sugar levels stable.
Equipment: blender
Author: Magdalena Wszelaki
Serves: 2
Ingredients
- 1 avocado
- 2 tbsp raw unsweetened cacao
- 1 tbsp coconut butter
- a handful of pumpkin seeds
- a handful of hazelnuts, pre-soaked overnight
- a handful of dry cherries, pre-soaked in hot water for 10 minutes (you can replace them with goji berries too)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp lemon or lime juice
- 1⁄2 tsp cinnamon powder
How To Make
- Put all ingredients into the blender and blend until smooth.
Learn more withOvercoming Estrogen Dominance
“The body has an amazing ability to heal. We just need to give it the right resources.”
In Overcoming Estrogen Dominance, my goal is to empower and give you the tools to take control of your hormones and health.
More than 70% of women experience estrogen dominance. The symptoms range from lumpy and fibrocystic breasts to thyroid nodules, hot flashes, fibroids, uterine polyps, painful, heavy or irregular periods to infertility and miscarriages, from mood swings to insomnia, weight gain to fatigue.
So many women have experienced the pain and frustration that comes when they feel their symptoms and complaints are dismissed or minimized. This is particularly true for women who are experiencing the symptoms of hormone imbalance. Even when doctors do offer treatment, it’s typically in the form of prescription medication or invasive surgical procedures.
In Overcoming Estrogen Dominance, I hope to show that those extreme interventions are often unnecessary, and to give women a roadmap to reverse estrogen dominance using food, herbs, supplements and natural protocols to rebalance hormones.
To get your copy of Overcoming Estrogen Dominance, go here.
