How much protein should you have at breakfast?

Recently I gave a talk for the Hillsdale Civitans. It was a flury of information for them. I had 20 minutes to cover two topics:

1. An overview of Cancer Services, the non-profit agency that I work for. FYI – we are a 100% local agency providing education on cancer prevention and healthy survivorship as well as direct assistance to people facing cancer. I am so honored to be a part of the amazing team that we have. Plus – I get to write this blog as part of my job. WOOHOO!
2. An overview of how daily nutrition choices influence cancer risk. In 10 minutes. I know – Impossible! I just talk fast and try to share the most important pieces to know. They can always come to this website to find out more, if they want!

I had a lot of really great questions from the audience. Things like:

• what about pesticides on food?
• how about eggs, are they good for you?
• what about produce that is coming from another country?
• what type of greens are best?
• are pinto beans good for you?
• can I get my nutrients in a pill?

I tried to get all the answers into 10 minutes, but I’m afraid we went over a bit. However… I hit the jackpot because one of the members lived 1/2 mile away and has chickens. They offered me a dozen home grown eggs to take home with me. Of course I would love to have them. I call this a perk of the job!

We eat an egg almost every morning with our breakfast. Which brings me to the topic for today…

How much protein should you have at breakfast?

I was reading an article from the Candid RD recently. It really got me thinking about how much protein the average person eats at breakfast (very little, by the way!) vs. how much some new research is suggesting we should.

Most of us have heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I think it’s tough to make that claim. I mean, you’re going to have to eat throughout the day, so what makes one meal more important than any other? From an energy and brain booster standpoint, breakfast is the time that you tell your body it’s time to get going for the day. Without the carbs, protein and fat first thing in the morning, your body will be lagging.

Her bottom line is that we need to focus on including more protein in our breakfast, and she includes several recipes to do that.

Here are some easy real food protein ideas for your breakfast:

• egg
• greek yogurt (buy it plain and add fruit or jelly or honey to your liking)
• peanut butter or almond butter
• granola with nuts in it
• smoothie with ice, milk, peanut butter, greek yogurt, banana and spinach (yes – sounds gross but it’s so good!!!)
• omelet or frittata with eggs and veggies
• pintos with onion, peppers and an egg on top

The goal is to balance out your protein throughout the day, so that you’re not loading up in the evening when you’re body needs it the least. You need it the most to get your day going and sustain you. Remember – this is key for your kids too! Kids who eat breakfast do better in school.


Of course, you will always include 1 cup of fruit along with your protein for breakfast – that’s a must to get your fruit and veggie total up to 4 cups/day. For more on breakfast, check out these past articles: Fast and Easy Homemade Breakfast Sandwich and Meals to Fight Cancer: Breakfast.

And remember, you do NOT have to eat “breakfast food” for breakfast. Anything can pass for breakfast. One of my favorites is to cook something in the crockpot overnight and have it for breakfast. That will get your body ready for the day for sure!

Remember, the worst thing you can do is to not eat breakfast at all. Someone please tell my brother this. Thanks! 🙂

– Julie