While we may wish to consistently offer our families satisfying, nutritious meals, busy lives don't always lend to 3-5 freshly prepared, whole food "squares" each day. As a result, many Americans succumb to the plethora of fast options that abound—despite their poor nutritive value.
According to Palo Alto Medical Foundation, over 25% of Americans consume fast food every day. This leads us to the alarming forecast from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that within 10 years, fully 75% of Americans will be overweight. However, these grim statistics need not include you and your family.
At 7 Natural Laws, we have a solution. While you're working towards those nourishing, home cooked meals, you can ensure that at least one daily meal—breakfast—is protein-packed and nutrient-dense. The solution is as simple as it is beneficial—a Natural Whey Protein shake. Here are 10 reasons to make this a core component in your daily menu:
The Perfect Breakfast
Would you agree that breakfast is your most important daily meal? Clearly, what you eat—or don't eat—in the morning lays the foundation for your entire day in terms of stamina, concentration, weight loss (or gain) and more. The Natural Whey Protein breakfast shake—with an ideal balance of low-calorie, complete protein, "good" fats, and super green carbs—sets you up for hours of energy, vitality and stable blood sugar levels.
Superb Natural Protein
Our bodies need protein with every meal. Along with synthesizing muscle and hormones, your body uses protein for many biochemical reactions that support an active metabolism, cardiovascular function, immune health, and more. Protein and fats also anchor carbs for balanced blood sugar levels. Many proteins are either incomplete or come with a price—saturated fat and cholesterol. Whey protein, on the other hand, is rich in all essential amino acids and free of lactose, saturated fat and cholesterol.
Stokes Your Metabolism
How does the Natural Whey Protein shake boost your metabolism? When you skip breakfast, you're actually fasting for 15 hours or more, causing your metabolism to slow to a crawl. While merely eating stimulates metabolism, dietary protein goes further, stimulating thermogenesis—calorie burning—better than either carbohydrates or fat. Protein-rich meals in fact provide a metabolic advantage, stimulating body fat loss while preserving valuable lean muscle and stabilizing blood sugar.1
Ideal Nutrient Ratio
A major key to optimizing nutrition for yourself and your family is ensuring that you consume the correct balance of lean protein, healthy fats and unprocessed carbs for every meal. What's the right ratio? A fist, a thumb and a fist. Here's how your Natural Whey Protein shake fits that bill.
- A fist-size portion of lean protein (Natural Whey protein powder)
- A thumb-size portion of healthy fats (flax, nuts, seeds, omega-3 rich oil)
- A fist-size serving of unprocessed carbs (superfood greens, fresh fruit)
Nourishment in a Snap
Busy people need high-quality nutrition for lasting energy. The trick is making it easy. The Natural Whey Protein shake can be blended in 5 minutes and consumed on the run. If you forecast a hectic morning, you can even put the ingredients in a blending cup the night before, adding liquid and ice cubes before you dash out the door. We can't overstate the importance of launching your day with healthy, balanced nutrition. Your very quality of life depends on it.
Kid Favorite
What kid wouldn't prefer a chocolate shake to green beans for breakfast? Add two scoops of Greenergy green drink powder to your tots Natural Whey Protein shake and they get the equivalent of five nutrient-packed veggie servings. The greens, spirulina, barley/wheatgrass powder, green tea extract, and other concentrated superfoods in Greenergy contain powerful antioxidants and phytonutrients that aid digestion/elimination, enhance immune health and boost energy. All kids know is it tastes good!
Meal & Snack Variety
Delicious Natural Whey Protein shakes refresh your daily menu, offering an appealing alternative to the same old breakfast bagel or high-fat muffin. They also make you feel far better, far longer than any single carb source. Keep shake ingredients and blender cup at the office too. When co-workers reach for 4pm cookies, you can blend up an energizing chocolate delight that will carry you well through the day and even curb the tendency to overeat at dinner.
Sweet Success—Naturally
According to the American Heart Association (AHA) Americans gobble up to 22 teaspoons of sugar every day. The AHA says we should average no more than 6-9 daily teaspoons, but even this much sugar can negatively affect your health and waistline. Imagine, by contrast, a naturally sweetened, low calorie, protein-packed meal/snack option that tastes like ice-cream while providing the same nutrition as wild salmon and spinach. What a powerful—and user-friendly—tool to combat the dreaded sugar rush/crash cycle.
Brain-Power Essential
Numerous studies show that kids and adults alike perform better mentally after a healthy breakfast. One study noted that not only breakfast—but the actual meal quality—affects cognitive functioning thinking abilities.2 In another study, kids performed significantly better on a test of verbal fluency after eating breakfast, while skipping it adversely affected their thinking abilities, particularly the speed of information retrieval in working memory. It turns out that brain function is sensitive to even a short term lack of available nutrients.3
Filling and Satisfying
Low-calorie, high-volume foods allow you to eat more without gaining weight. For example, while fats have many calories packed into a small size or volume, other foods with a greater content of water and fiber for their calories—like fresh fruits and veggies—are high-volume foods. They fill you up, not out. The Natural Whey Protein shake is a prime example of a high-volume, nourishing, filling food with comparatively few calories. It's also highly satiating, meaning it keeps you content for hours due to the generous protein content.
How to Launch Your Nutritional Whey Protein Shake Breakfast Plan
To activate your nutritional breakfast plan, you need:
To make this delicious, energizing, metabolism-stoking, brain-power-boosting shake meal, follow these easy steps:
Easy 2-Step Recipe for Your Natural Whey Protein Shake
Step #1—Add the following ingredients to a blender:
- 1 - 2 scoops of Natural Whey Protein powder
- 1 – 1 ½ cups liquid like pure water, non-fat milk, plain soy milk or almond milk
- 1 cup fresh or frozen organic fruit
- Ice for a thicker, creamier shake
Optional but highly recommended for the perfect meal balance:
Step #2—Blend to desired smoothness and enjoy.
You can also vary your shake with vanilla, peppermint or almond extracts, or cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and ginger. This recipe makes a 32-ounce shake. Drink the full shake for a complete meal, or half for a smaller meal or snack. Remember, the Natural Whey Protein Powder shake is also the perfect lunch, post-workout recovery drink, snack—even dessert. Explore these delicious recipe variations too. Here's to your health!
References
1 Am J Clin Nutr. 2011 Mar;93(3):525-34. Epub 2011 Jan 12
2 PLoS One. 2010 Dec 8;5(12):e15213
3 J Am Diet Assoc. 1995 Oct;95(10):1134-9