New Research Supports Bacon & Eggs For Breakfast

[tex]

Hi All,

According to a recent study (which was designed to determine the effectiveness of a high protein breakfast for individuals who were trying to lose weight):

The consumption of the high-protein breakfast led to increased fullness or "satiety" along with reductions in brain activity that is responsible for controlling food cravings. The high-protein breakfast also reduced evening snacking on high-fat and high-sugar foods compared to when breakfast was skipped or when a normal protein, ready-to-eat cereal breakfast was consumed, Leidy said.

"Eating a protein-rich breakfast impacts the drive to eat later in the day, when people are more likely to consume high-fat or high-sugar snacks," Leidy said. "These data suggest that eating a protein-rich breakfast is one potential strategy to prevent overeating and improve diet quality by replacing unhealthy snacks with high quality breakfast foods."

Protein-Rich Breakfasts Prevent Unhealthy Snacking in the Evening, Study Finds

Tex

[Polly]

Hi Tex,

We have believed this for a long time, haven't we? And that is one of the benefits of the paleo diet - a mostly-protein breakfast.

I am pro-egg, but I do think we need to be cautious about any cured meats. A recent study showed significantly increasing death rates among those who ate the most cured meats (bacon, sausage, ham, sandwich meats, etc.). Of course, it is now possible to buy UNCURED, bacon, sausage, etc. I think the study recommended eating not more than 2 pieces of bacon and one sausage per week in order to minimize risk.

Thanks for sharing.

Love,

Polly

[tex]

Hi Polly,

You're right, I did take some liberties with the title of this post. The report didn't endorse the use of cured meats, of course, since that would go against prevailing policies.

The thing that bothers me about that position though, is that cured meat has been a staple of the human diet ever since paleo people discovered how to use fire, roughly 400,000 years ago. Jerky was surely the first form of preserved meat. No one seems to know when humans first began to use salt to cure and preserve meat by means of desiccation, but it had to be a long, long time ago, because being able to preserve meat in times of plenty, was critical in many situations, for ensuring survival during lean times. It's even possible that salt was used to cure meat before someone figured out how to benefit from the controlled use of fire. That said, they obviously didn't use all the chemicals that some processors use today, but they surely used salt for preserving meat, wherever it was available.

Uncured bacon apparently isn't available everywhere, because when I asked my local (small town) grocer to order some for me, we couldn't find it listed on any of the lists from his suppliers.

And, of course, we all know that epidemiological studies are only as good as the judgment of those setting up the studies and interpreting the data, and it's easily possible to use such studies to show that virtually anything has a negative effect on longevity. After all, in the long run, everything we eat is associated with a 100 % certainty (not just risk) of death.

Love,
Tex

[Leah]

I just finished my bacon and Egg breakfast :) I can't believe that you have no nitrite free bacon where you live Tex! We have at least one brand in every grocery store here and Trader Joes now has two different ones. I don't believe that Nitrites can be good for you, and I don't know for sure the long tem effects, but I do know that I react to them on a small basis, so I try not to indulge too much. I also buy uncured salami and sausage sometimes .

Leah

[Deanna in CO]

Yes, strange about the uncured bacon. Here we can get Hormel Natural Choice bacon, lunch meats, and even smoked sausage. They do all have celery powder or celery juice, so some natural nitrites, but they are (technically at least) uncured. I depend on them, especially the turkey lunch meat.

I wish I could do eggs, though. It would add some variety to breakfast. At the moment I seem to be stuck with rice cereals and blueberries. :(

Deanna

[jgivens]

Don't you have any local farmers nearby selling meat? I get all of my meat from local farmers whose animals are clean and graze only on grass. I figure I don't get any of that secondary gluten that Tex warns us all about.
Perhaps it is just a function of living in the Midwest where small farmers are still trying to make a living as well as save the planet.
I think that the problem with eating cured meats even though our ancestors did it is that they never experienced all the other processed food in their diets at the same time. I think it is definitely a combination of things that is killing us off now.