I’ve eaten yogurt for breakfast for years but recently found a recipe and have tweaked it a little bit. I’ve been eating to put on size and trim up my waistline. I know how important getting a lot of protein is, and what I found is that adding collagen to whey helps speed recovery. Another aspect of weight management is fiber intake. Our modern diets lack sufficient fiber.
There are two kinds of fiber, soluble and insoluble. Chia is a good source of both, but especially insoluble. Inulin is made from artichoke and other vegetable sources and is a good form of soluble fiber. Men need about 30-40g of fiber per day. Unless your diet is based on beans and legumes, you’ll have trouble getting anywhere near 30g without using some sort of supplement like ground chia and inulin powder.
I start my morning with coffee and 20g of collagen. At 9 o’clock I prepare my protein bowl.
Recipe
- 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries
- 1.5 tablespoons of ground or whole chia seeds
- 2oz of milk
- 1 cup greek yogurt
- Banana or granola
- 5-10g of inulin powder
- 1 scoop (25g) whey protein
- Maple syrup or vanilla bean paste
I microwave the blueberries for 2 min to release the juices. Berries are a common source of parasites, microwaving them until they’re bubbling (160 degrees) makes sure that any parasites inside the berries are dead. Blueberries are especially good for us because of their antioxidants and unlike strawberries most parasites on blueberries are on the exterior which means they’re removed by washing. Hopefully the packager of your berries did a good job of washing them but microwaving them not only helps get the juices out but provides good insurance against any lurking microbes.
After microwaving I sprinkle the chia on top and add about 2 oz of milk. This lets the chia have enough liquid to fully hydrate. It is ideal to soak overnight to help activate the enzymes in the chia that break down the antinutrients but even as much as 30 min to an hour can help improve the nutritional quality of the chia. You’ll need at least this much time for the hot mixture of chia, berries and milk to cool.
After the mixture is cool, add 1 cup of protein powder, a scoop of inulin, and mix together. Once fully mixed, top with banana or granola, some maple syrup and or vanilla bean paste. You could also add nut butter or other protein bowl ingredients like apple slices.
Benefits
If you follow suit, depending on your bowl size you are starting your day out with:
20g of protein from collagen in coffee
20g of protein from the Greek yogurt
25g of protein from the scoop of whey
6-10g of fiber from the chia
5-10g if fiber from the inulin
That’s 65g of protein, and 11-20g fiber, antioxidants, calcium, healthy saturated fat, complex carbohydrates from the milk, probiotics, probiotics, and more. I also add 3 drops of k2 mk4 and a dropper of b12 to help boost hard to get and synergistic nutrients.
To get the rest of my protein and fiber I usually have 1 apple (4.5g of fiber) with 2 tablespoons of peanut butter (3g fiber, 8g protein), and 6-7 oz of tri tip (35g of protein) with broccoli (5g fiber).
This protein bowl keeps me full for hours, in fact, I really have to struggle some days to get all of my recommended protein and fiber. I need about 170g a day, which means I still need an extra meal or more scoops of protein. To fill the gap, some days I make a hot chocolate with 12oz of milk, dark chocolate, and 30-50g of protein powder.
Collagen and fiber also work with the probiotics in the yogurt to help heal the gut. Before I started increasing my fiber and collagen I had really bad acid reflux and heart burn and some gall bladder symptoms that were extremely painful and concerning. These seem to be remediated and I’m feeling pretty good these days and I think it’s in large part to this protein bowl. Give it a try!