I used to go to bed thinking about breakfast. Overnight oats, banana pancakes, sourdough toast, a berry smoothie… you name it, I’d be thinking about it. The meals I plotted were usually sweet, dipped in a teaspoon of maple syrup, full of fruit and packed with carbohydrates. For fat, there’d be a little peanut or almond butter on the side. But despite all the planning – and trying to do everything right – I’d often be hungry an hour after eating and scrabbling for something to tide me over until lunch. Not ideal. It was only once I decided to properly take stock of my breakfast choices that I realised what I was missing: protein, and lots of it.
Having realised the sudden hunger onset mid-morning was likely due to a steep rise and fall in blood sugar, I decided to overhaul my breakfasts. Instead of grain-based cereals and bread, I’d prioritise protein-rich food sources – like whole eggs, lean meat, beans and legumes, plus enough fat to support my hormones, brain and energy.
Current NHS guidelines recommend 0.75g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, but this figure can shift based on your age and general activity level. “Eating a healthy portion of protein for breakfast can help balance blood sugar and energy,” says nutritionist and founder of Artah, Rhian Stephenson, who tends to recommend closer to 1.2g of protein per kilo of bodyweight per day to her clients. “Plus, studies have shown that front-loading your day with adequate protein improves satiety and decreases appetite throughout the day.”
I now know that the breakfasts I used to make, while delicious, were overly sweet, prompting my pancreas to pump out insulin to deal with the sudden sugar deluge. Similarly, because they were so light on protein, feeling full only lasted an hour or two at a maximum. That is, until I made the switch. Here are all the changes I’ve noticed.
Prolonged satiety
Before, I’d be itchy by 10am, searching around my desk for something to snack on. Having eaten breakfast just 90 minutes before, it felt demoralising to be once again at the whim of my hunger. Since switching to a breakfast of egg muffins – scrambled eggs baked with feta, chilli oil and peas – and a couple of chicken sausages on the side, I can go to 1pm or 2pm without a hunger pang disturbing my morning. When I’m at home and not rushing to leave the house, a vegetable-stuffed omelette with parmesan and Tabasco has become a hyperfixation.
What these meals are noticeably lacking, though, is a decent dose of fibre – another cornerstone of satiety and blood sugar control. As a quick fix, I’ve been leaning on either a supplement – the Artah Fibre+ – or plain psyllium husk, as well as adding more beans, grains and vegetables to my midday and evening meals.
- Why it’s Vogue-approved: Delivering around 7g of fibre per serving, Artah’s Essential Fibre+ combines a range of soluble and insoluble plant fibres with resistant starch, which acts like a prebiotic to nourish beneficial gut microbes. The formula is enhanced with gentle, digestion-supporting botanicals including chamomile and fennel, designed to promote regularity, support gut health and appetite control, and help reduce bloating.
- Key ingredients: Partially hydrolysed guar gum, psyllium husk, pectin, arabinogalactan, green banana flour, beta-glucans, ginger root extract
Less food noise
Food noise is horrible. For the unfamiliar, it’s persistent, intrusive or repetitive thoughts about food that make it difficult to concentrate on much else. “Food noise is not simply a desire to eat but an internal dialogue that can range from anxiety about controlling your weight to seeking comfort through food,” psychologist and psychotherapist Dr Anna Merolle explains. For me, prioritising protein in the morning and feeling much fuller for much longer has quieted the background buzz. It’s not a silver bullet, but I’ve found it an effective tool in managing symptoms – especially as my blood sugar doesn’t rollercoaster, adding fuel to the food noise fire.
Severe cases of food noise will require professional help, to identify individual strategies to help improve a person’s experience.
More energy
Because I don’t drink caffeine, I’m particularly aware of my energy – or lack thereof. Most days, even after eight hours of sleep, I’ll be groggy in the mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Since swapping to savoury, high-protein breakfasts, I’m chipper at 11am and at 4pm, largely thanks to protein’s ability to slow down digestion (and allow for a steady release of fuel) along with fewer peaks and troughs in blood sugar. Besides feeling more satiated, this cleaner-feeling energy has been the best part of making the change.
The only other thing to noticeably affect my energy levels in any meaningful way is the Inora Wake Up Call – a liquid food supplement containing B12 and Ginseng.
Why it’s Vogue-approved: “As a non-caffeine drinker, I’m hyper aware of my energy – or, to be more precise, my severe lack of it”, Vogue’s beauty & wellness editor Morgan Fargo says. “For the last month, I’ve been resolutely taking Inora’s daily offering: an energy booster in the morning, longevity supplement at midday and a calm-inducing one for the evening. Each tastes like a sweet tincture and contains a cocktail of ingredients designed to create the perfect environment for your body to thrive. Take the morning supplement, for example. Rather than giving you energy, the brand’s chief medical officer, Dr Chandra Ratnam, explains to me, it’s about supporting the internal processes that create energy. One month and a much brighter countenance and I’m sold.”
Mood regulation
Less sugar means a smoother ride for not only my blood sugar but my mood, too. Instead of an afternoon slump, my positive outlook remains much more stable after a high-protein breakfast.
A 2023 study into the association between protein and depressive symptoms found that amino acids – the building blocks of protein – play “a significant role in mental health as they help build neurotransmitters”. Neurotransmitters, like dopamine and serotonin, are the chemicals that allow brain cells to communicate with one another, and have a direct impact on how we feel.
Mostly, I think it was tackling the blood sugar highs and lows that helped me feel steadier. The key, I’ve found, is to pair protein with a healthy fat – like extra virgin olive oil or avocado – to support your brain, hormones and satiety signals.
