Are you getting it in the morning?

If this is your usual though process in the morning then perhaps you should read on..."Cereal, milk, eat, door" or perhaps "toast, butter, door".

Protein intake at breakfast should be given more consideration. This is especially true as the older we get the less we can synthesize dietary amino acids (net protein utilisation) and the more we need to retain muscle mass to reduce the effects of muscle loss with age (sarcopenia at 3-5% per decade after the age of 30). Where participating in regular physical exercise the requirement increases to enable adaptations that promote fitness. And you should be participating in regular physical exercise.

After an overnight sleep induced fast your available protein pool (nitrogen balance) will be in a depleted state, meaning that one of the first stages of malnutrition - catabolism (muscle and lean tissue breakdown) - will have started and the anabolic (muscle regeneration or building) process can not continue. For this reason a regular protein intake in line with your nutritional requirements at intervals of 3-4 hours is recommended for strength and conditioning adaptations to occur.  Grass fed beef, nuts, free range eggs, fish, free range chicken etc make for appropriate breakfast choices to support lean tissue health.

Simply having a processed cereal and/or toast is a recipe for simply surviving not thriving, the milk, butter and fortified products will just about save you from complete malnutrition but this is a weak choice for sustained health over a lifetime. Many people also turn to healthy juices and smoothies for a quick breakfast, there are too many permutations to vilify juices and smoothies but they aren't all created equal. Adding oils, fats, protein, fibre etc will generally lead to sustained energy whereas omitting these things will do just the opposite. Blood glucose from sugar and insulin spikes with troughs do not set you up for sustained energy throughout the day and they generally lead to increased body fat and reduced lean muscle.

I recommend variety for breakfast, by all means have your usual choices but break it up a bit and add in protein options with reduced sugars and carbohydrates, unless of course you're going to be using it for exercise in the next couple of hours.

7 Ways Towards pH Balance From Eating Greens

I was talking with a client today who understands that managing the body's pH level from the foods we eat is a potential source of better health has led me towards providing you with this list of 7 ways you can get more greens into your diet.

I not trying to 'teach granny' here but we often forget to get our 5-a-day in, fact is for various reasons it should be more like 10-12 a-day.

By their nature green vegetables promote better balance within the body through reducing the need for it to work harder trying to maintain a normal pH level. Conversely there are other foods that add more of a load towards an imbalanced pH, these are generally the foods that you already know should be largely excluded from your diet or consumed in moderation such as: fizzy drinks, refined wheat products, sweets and other sugary products and even red meats.

Where pH is concerned, the balance of a meal is evened out in the stomach as is the glycemic load (GL -  rate of sugar uptake into the blood stream) where all foods are mixed together to form chyme before passing into the intestines for further digestion. You may find that eating certain foods causes acid reflux, this is not the same as managing pH balance with alkalizing foods but as ever a healthy diet is a healthy diet and that means generally you will have less issues in the long-term.

1. Cooking - we are often limited in our choices by limitations in our repertoire. Use Google to expand on your intake of green vegetables and try out some now recipes.

2. Drink your greens - my children found delight in a spinach, kale, apple and lime juice and so will you, so if you don't already have a juicer and a blender then I recommend you get them asap and get going. Again you'll find all the recipes you need on Google.

3. Soups - I find that the best soups are the quickest. Stock and vegetables in a pot for 20 minutes then either blend whole/part or not at all.

4. Stir-fry - Again this is quick and easy, most veg require scant preparation so where speed is the essence this is perfect. When was the last time you made a stir-fry?

5. Salads - it's that time of year. When was the last time you added Kale to a salad? Most of the vegetables you cook can be eaten raw and as such impart more vital nutrients that are lost in the cooking process.

6. Omelettes - Cereal for breakfast? Unless your cereal is loaded with berries/fruits, nuts/seeds and/or you have protein on the side you're not getting a head start on the day’s good nutrition. Omelettes are a sure fire way to get quality protein/fats and be able to add in more vegetable. Again a few more minutes to make than cereal or toast but the bang for your time buck is way more.

7. Use green leafs - do you like to wrap your salad and meat in bread? Try using green leafs instead to make a wrap and experiment with different lettuces and cabbages.

So your day could look like this:

• Breakfast - Omelette with spring onions and green peppers.

• Mid-morning snack - Smoothie with banana and avocado.

• Lunch - Salad: Kale, beetroot, carrots, red onions with olive oil and lemon juice. Side of flaked tuna.

• Afternoon - Green pea soup.

• Dinner - Chicken stir fry. Broccoli, peppers, mange tout, carrots, red onion.

How many fruit and vegetables 'A-Day' in this sample day? 10-12 portions depending on portion sizes.

Basically this is the sort of diet we should all aim for on a daily basis to promote good health. The constituent parts are all there and depending on how much protein you use in portions you should be getting around your intake to support muscle maintenance in-line with a basic strength training plan. Your carbohydrates will be mostly slow release and of high quality for greater nutritional value to support a leaner body. Your fat intake will be high quality to support proper cellular metabolism and functioning. Your fiber intake will be amazing for a healthier digestive system and all sorts of other stuff too.  

Give it a go and then expand on your repertoire with a little help from Google.