Protein Oats Bowl
Have you been told that you need to eat more protein in your day? Perhaps you are vegetarian and are struggling to get enough protein in your meals? You may want to save this post and add this bowl to your breakfast repertoire.
Protein can act like carbohydrates and fat where if we eat too much of it, our body will take what isn’t used for our needs and turn it into glucose which is either burned for energy or stored as fat. This also means you shouldn’t be protein loading your daily requirement in one meal because the body has a threshold of how much protein it can use per meal for building muscle. The rest will get stored as fat or burned for energy so you want to ensure you are having some protein in each meal.
Protein helps increase satiety as it takes longer to digest compared to simple carbs or “white/refined” carbs. This helps keep us full longer and maybe even will prevent snacking until lunch time. Because of its slower absorption rate, it can regulate blood sugar and therefore insulin spikes much better preventing those “sugar crashes” and help sustain energy for a longer period of time. One way to prevent that mid-afternoon or post-lunch energy crash is to eat more protein and fibre and less refined carbohydrates during your lunch. Another way may be to add an adrenal supplement to your lunch regime but always speak with a naturopathic doctor to know which adrenal supplement is best for you first because there are so many options out there.
LADIES, this recipe may be beneficial to you!
This is a great breakfast for menstruating women to consume in the follicular phase (1st half) of the cycle [day 1 of your period until ovulation] because it contains pumpkin and ground flax seeds. Both of these seeds have phytoestrogens which can help modulate estrogen levels to help with follicular development and ovulation. This can help generate a healthier corpus luteum that secretes better levels of progesterone to either aid in pregnancy and implantation and preventing an early miscarriage…. OR help reduce PMS symptoms! If you are menopausal, these seeds may help mitigate hot flashes and night sweats.
Combining this with sesame and sunflower seeds in the second half of your cycle [ovulation to the last day before your period] can further help with maintaining progesterone and/or minimizing PMS symptoms.
Protein Oats Bowl
Ingredients:
½ cup water
¼ cup rolled oats
¼ cup fine almond flour
1 pitted date
A pinch of cardamom
¼ cup unsweetened almond milk
1 tbsp ground flaxseeds
1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
Method:
Bring the water to a boil at medium-high heat.
Add the rolled oats, almond flour, date, and cardamom to the water once boiling and lower the heat to medium-low and let it cook for about 8-10 minutes, uncovered. If it starts to stick, you may need to add more water.
Once it starts to appear almost cooked, add the almond milk and let it cook for another 3-5 minutes until the oats are soft and ready to your desired consistency.
Take off heat and add it to a bowl. Sprinkle with the ground flax and pumpkin seeds.
Enjoy!
Adding almond flour to oatmeal can help increase the protein value since ¼ cup of almond flour has 6g of protein. Between the oats, almond flour, pumpkin and flax seeds, you have about 14-15g protein in your breakfast.
