June 17, 2025 • 28 mins
Rice is a pantry staple — but should you be worried about what’s really hiding inside it?
In today’s episode of The Nutrition Couch, Leanne and Susie unpack some eye-opening new data on arsenic levels in Australian rice and rice-based snacks. From lunchbox favourites to your sushi roll, we break down the facts, risks, and simple swaps to help you make safer, smarter choices — especially if you’ve got little ones.
Also in this episode:
- Early puberty in girls: Could diet quality matter more than weight?
- Breakfast timing: Should you eat if you’re not hungry in the morning?
- Product review: Cauliflower gnocchi — the low-carb swap worth trying?
Whether you’re a health-conscious parent, navigating hormone changes, or just curious about your breakfast habits — this episode is packed with practical, evidence-based advice you can act on straight away.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Are you a rice lover? Do you like brown rice
or black rice? Or perhaps you tend to revert back
to regular old white rice? Or do you buy rice
crackers because they are a healthier alternative to chips and biscuits.
For the first time in a long time, today on
the Nutrition Couch we chat all things rice and share
some pretty scary data on water is really in the
(00:22):
rice and rice snacks that we regularly enjoy.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Hi, I'm Leanne Ward and today.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
We bring you the Nutrition Couch, the weekly podcast that
keeps you up to date on everything that you need
to know in the world of nutrition, as well as
our daily rice consumption. We have some interesting new data
that explores the link between young girls' diets and the
timing of their first period. We've also found a great
new vegetable and NOOKI to review, and our listener question
(00:48):
is all about breakfast timing. But to kick us up today, Susie,
I saw this great new article on diet and period
timing for girls. Because it's always been which is I mean,
I think it's actually research to support it. But as dieticians,
we've known forever in a day that it tends to
be the size of girls. Basically the BMI, the weight
(01:10):
that could perhaps indicate girls going through early menstruation or
basically going into puberty earlier than some other girls. So
body size and genetics have been shown in the research
and quite scrutinized for years now in the early onset
of puberty. But there's a new study that actually shifts
that focus from weight and BMI to diet quality. So
(01:32):
this is really really interesting and some great new research
that just goes to show it's not just about our weight,
it's not just about our BMI, it's not just about
calories or macros. The quality of your diet matters, and
even the quality of our children's diet matters as well.
So the study was from the Growing Up Today Study,
which is called the GUT study, and it has a
(01:53):
really large data set, so about seven and a half
thousand children across two cohorts. One cohort began back in
nine teen ninety six and the other one was a
little bit more recent in two thousand and four, and
the researchers tracked participants from age nine to fourteen and
then watch how their diet intersected with the onset of menstruation.
Basically so in the past, as I mentioned, we've always
(02:16):
PEIGD BMI and weight as a really big major driver
of girls who get their period earlier. But this study
essentially just flips the narrative on its head. It's basically
saying it's not so much about weight and BMI, it's
actually about potentially dietary patterns and the quality of your
diet as well. And the most interesting thing is that
(02:37):
diet is a major modifiable factor in puberty timing. We
can't change our genetics, we can't change who our mum
and dads are, we can't change so many things about
our body, but diet is a major modifiable factor, and
the nutritional intake of our young girls in particular obviously
girls only can actually influence both the early and also
(03:00):
the delayed onset of puberty, because children who tend to
be underweight who aren't eating enough can actually delay that
onset of puberty as well. So in terms of diet,
it was really showing that higher calorie diets and higher
levels of ultra processed foods were linked.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
To earlier puberty.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Basically, so ultra processed foods, sugary drinks, high fat foods,
really excessive energy intakes. The diet quality was linked to
girls going through puberty earlier and also excess body fat,
which was influenced by the higher calorie diet. The research
showed that may actually promote early activation of hormone or
(03:38):
pathways like the leptin signaling pathway as well. Now, the
study also broke down further to the high calori in
the ultra processed foods. A high consumption of protein and
animal fat intake may also accelerate puberty as well. And
you know, Susie, we have so many people out there who,
despite their best intentions, they think they're doing the right thing,
are giving their kids protein in protein protein protein. And
(04:02):
yes it's important, Yes it's a good macronutrient. Yes we
need more of it, but not children. Young children do
not need much protein at all. And a couple of
good slices of grainy bread is going to give, you know,
with a slice of cheese or two, it's going to
give most children upwards of ten grams of protein and
for a small child that is more than enough. So
a higher protein and a higher animal fat intake may
(04:23):
also accelerate puberty as well. So that's something that's really important.
To remember for parents of young girls. And also on
the flip side of that, the positives in diet were
more fiber, more fruits, and more vegetables that may help
to delay the onset of puberty as well, because plant
based foods fibers, they also have antioxidants, all of that
can support hormonal balance and help to delay the early
(04:45):
onset of puberty. And also we know that a high
fiber intake may help to reduce some of that circulating
estrogen levels and that may potentially slow some of that
progression of early puberty as well. And then probably the
last that they talked about a little bit was the
role of endocrine disrupting chemicals. So those the types of
(05:05):
things in a lot of process and ultraprocessed foods, are
in plastic packaging, and also there's a lot of what
we call endocrine disrupting compounds, so in plastics, microplastics, pesticides,
different types of additives in food as well. This may
actually interfere with hormonal development as well. So as much
as possible for our kids, but in particular young girls,
(05:27):
it's about whole foods. It's about as real quality, good quality,
colorful fruits and veggies and leaner types of protein and
good quality carbohydrates as we can get in because essentially
parents control what their children need, and the better we do,
the better our kids' health is going to be long
term as well, because girls that go into puberty earlier
that is actually linked with some future health risk or complications.
(05:49):
So girls who ender puberty earlier may have an increased
risk of breast cancer, type two diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and
also some mental health challenges such as zing zare depression,
and lower self esteem as well. So it's a really
really good, I guess research paper. Just to take us
back a couple of steps, and remember, it's not about
the macros. It's not about the calories as such, it's
(06:10):
not even about the weight. It's about the overall quality
of our diet but also our children's diet as well.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
True, it's interesting because it's sort of a fine line.
Some of it, of course, is genetic. You know, if
you've got your period eleven and a half, chances are
your daughter will as well. So that's not what we're
saying in terms of delaying natural the first period. Rather
that if your child has been predisposed to having significantly
higher abdominal waste, or you might have a child who's
not that active. There is evidence to show that that
(06:40):
and that's basically why it is a human species. We
go into puberty earlier because whether or not we like it,
it's programmed on a body weight scale, and humans are
bigger than they As we get bigger and more nutritions
available as a whole generations, we're larger people. But for me,
the message for mums of teenage girls, because certainly our
(07:01):
intention is not to be body shaming or weight overly
weight conscious, but what I would be paying attention to
and even with my own children, is their waiste measurement.
And what we know is that for preprebuti children or
even all of us, we want our waist measurement to
be less than half our height. So if you've got
a teenager or early preteen who is one hundred and
(07:23):
fifty centimeters and their waist is over seventy five, that
is a sign that perhaps they're gaining a little bit
too much abdominal weight, and that's a sign to perhaps
look at the quality of carbohydrates they're consuming. Are they
consuming juices and soft drink and refined sugars? And are
they overdoing the ultra process snap type food that young
kids do like to consume. And I think that's a
good message for parents. I wouldn't be weighing children, I
(07:45):
wouldn't be fat shaming, but what I would be keeping
an eye on is their WAISTE measurement. And if you
think your child is growing too quickly, that is the
measure that you want to slow down, particularly to not
sort of induce early puberty, which can happen when children
do have weight issues. So yeah, I thought it was
really fascinating research, and it actually lends itself to a
discussion when you talked about hormone disruptors. We're going to
(08:08):
do a whole session on that because we haven't covered
it before in the Potty and it's a really pertinent
thing that we're talking about more and more. But it
links to a discussion I've wanted to have for quite
some time about rice because rice, of course we've reported
and I actually think it might have been our first
episode of the Nutrition Couch podcast that we talked about
microplastics in cook rice packets, and so we haven't touched
(08:29):
on it for a while because full disclosure, I don't
talk about rice a lot land because I am not
a massive fan of rice because my background is in
weight control and from a glycemic index perspective, white rice,
which is the most commonly consumed rice, has an extremely
high glycemic index, and of course we consume it in
large amounts. You know, a couple of cooked rice is
(08:51):
equivalent of three or four slices of bread. Of carbohydrate
ten rice crackers is about two sizes of bread. So
it's sort of just never my go to carbohydrate. And
I'll say, if you're enjoying Asian cuisine out or you know,
you do enjoy rice, I'd go for certainly a brown
or black rice, which are more nutrient dense, but it's
just never my go to. I don't eat a lot
of it myself because I guess I'm really aware of
(09:11):
that glycimic load. Now, not taking away from Asian cultures
and in traditions where rice was a huge supplier of
energy for people working in rice fields who needed it,
but culturally, you know, in Australia we often have quite
a lot of it, and it is a refined carbohydrate.
But this start across my desk a few weeks ago,
and it was really a really strong reminder of something
(09:32):
we haven't heard a lot about because I didn't actually
know this either, But all rice is signet has got
actual our snak in it, and the reason for that
is that the way rice has grown, it comes up
through the soil. And surprisingly in Australia, our amounts of
our snak and rice are relatively high. Now they still
(09:52):
get through the sort of food regulations standard, but a
recent article we found shows that our standard is actually
reasonably high compared to Europe, and in particular, rice based
snacks are higher again than rice itself. So whilst we
get some from white rice, we actually get more from
brown rice because when the rice is processed turned into
(10:15):
white rice refine rice, you actually get rid of some
of that arsenack, whereas the brown rice is actually more concentrated.
And rice snacks again which are incredibly popular with children.
So I'm thinking about like the rice cakes and those
sort of colored rice chip things, and then of course
rice crackers. They're often picked up as a food that
is healthy, but it actually is a significant contributor to
(10:38):
arsenic in the diet. And of course that's a heavy
metal that accumulates in the body and very dangerous for
us over time, so we do have some take home messages.
We're certainly not on the podcast saying don't eat all rice.
We're on here today to talk about it in general,
what you can do to reduce it, but particularly in
the case of arsenic levels in kids snacks, it is
something to be concerned about. So the research I'll refer
to goes back as five years ago, sorry to January
(11:00):
twenty twenty, and it was research public in the International
Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health and found that
seventy five percent of rice based products had tested concentrations
of arsenic that exceeded the European guidelines for safe rice
consumption for babies and toddlers. So basically what I wanted
to talk about was, first of all, if you are
(11:23):
an awareness leanne that there is arsenic and rice, because
did you know that before we sort of talked about it.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Yeah, I knew that.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
It's why I've always recommended WAGH protein powder as my
gold standard, particularly if my ladies are pregnant of breastfeeding
they want a bit of protein powder to supplement that died. Yeah,
I never ever recommend vegan protein because it typically well
for many years was rice based, and I was always
worried about the level of arsenic in a pregnant of
breastfeeding woman and myself as well. I never took rice
based protein powder or vegan protein powder for that reason,
(11:49):
so I've always known about the earthenic levels.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
And I don't like you. I don't intend to feed.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
My kids too much rice, purely for the fact that
it's so messy and I literally just cannot handle rice
everywhere much more A fan of potato as or a
bit of bread or something, I just find it a
lot easier. So I never gave my kids a lot
of rice either. But it is a really good reminder
as well.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
And I should say Leend does have a Malaysian background, So.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
I eat some rice, I just don't give my kids
a whole lot of it.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
So the first thing to know is that you can
still safely consume rice, but I would if you're a
regular rice consumer. The first take home message from this
is if you are buying it in quick cook packets,
first of all, you absolutely must take it out and
cook it in a glass or ceramic container in the microwave,
because we know that anything cooked in a pouch, whether
(12:36):
it's a soup, whether it's rice, whether it's pasta, it
leaches microplastics in to the food, and rice is indeed
a significant contributor to microplastic consumption, so we do get
a lot from that. So that's the first thing. The
second thing is really if you consume rice regularly, you
want to cook it twice because the simple act of
half cooking it, rinsing it, and cooking it again will
(12:58):
get rid of a significant proportion of the arsenic that's
naturally occurring in there. Whether it's brown, whether it's white.
Now I wouldn't say eat white rice over brown, because
brown has more arsenic, But what I would say is
that if you regularly cook rice at home, I'd be
cooking it twice and rinsing it to get rid of
I think it's about seventy percent. You can reduce the
overall arsenic content by cooking and pre cooking it and
(13:20):
then rinsing it. So that's a must as well. So
take it out of the pre cook packets, particularly if
it's your lunch go to with tuna, you got to
take it out and then ideally we will rinse it
when you can, and that will reduce it significantly if
you're making rice based dishes for the family. But in
the case of rice based snacks, I don't like it.
I don't like them because nutritionally they're high GI. Even
(13:41):
brown rice, you're still getting a significant proportion of carbohydrate perserve.
And now, particularly for kids and children, they're just not
good for us to be loading up with that heavy metal.
So I think, just be mindful that when you start
to question rice snacks, rice cakes, rice crackers, the chips,
be careful, particularly with kids, because we're giving kids things regularly,
(14:01):
they're much smaller bodies. It's a bit of our misleading
belief that they're healthier. They certainly aren't healthier nutritionally, and
they're not adding whole significant whole grains, and in the
case they are adding arsenic and in the case of
our standard levels are much higher than what is allowed
in Europe, which is just an interesting thing in general
to know.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
I certainly think it's interesting, but I also we're also
not here to alarm people or scare of people, because
obviously Australia has some of the tightest food regulations in
the world and food standards Australia and New Zealand has
actually set the maximum limit of arsenic and rice at
one milligram per kilo or body weight. Now, interestingly enough,
this is much higher than the World Health Organizations guidelines
(14:42):
ofero point three milligram tequilo. However, Australian regulations essentially saying
that it doesn't pose a health risk even though we
are set it up much higher limit than the rest
of the world, and that the arsenic found in Australian
soil does tend to be higher, and then the total
arsenic compared to other import variety types. However, a significant
portion of the arsenic in Austrian soil is in the
(15:04):
organic form, which is actually considered less harmful than the
inorganic arsenic form. So I thought that was quite interesting
as well. So as I said, we're not here to
scare people. It is about better diet quality. So having
a balanced diet, not eating rice with every single meal,
diversifying your carbohydrates. It's better for your diet quality, it's
better for your gut microbiome, and it's probably better for
(15:25):
your health as well. And really being I guess aware
that if you are consuming something like a vegan protein
powder that is based on rice, I would be swapping
to another type. If you need a vegan one, I'd
be swapping to something like father beans or a bit
of soy protein or something like that.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
So interesting.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
And then a few other mitigration strategies. Susia already went
through some cooking rice in excess water, so actually making
it really soggy, then draining that off and continuing to
cook it towards the end is really good. So sixs
to one water to rice ratio and then draining off
that excess water can actually reduce the arsenic content by
up to sixty And then further to that, if you
(16:02):
soak your rice beforehand, it may also help to lower
the arsenic level. So soak it, give it a good
rint a couple of times at extra water six is
to one ratio, drain off any of the excess water
and then continue to cook that and you're reducing your
arsenic content by about sixty to seventy percent. And then
last little fun facts. Although this is not a sponsor's
segment at all, we do like to support local companies.
(16:24):
So Australian rice in particular, a brand such as sun
Rice is grown largely in the rev riverinaa Riverina region
Verina region in Australia, and that is actually generally considered
a lower risk compared to other regions like overseas rice,
because Australian soils and water sources tend to have lower
(16:45):
historical arsenic contamination. Because I, for a long time, Susie
have known about the arsenic and rice, and I was
buying organic rice thinking that I was doing the right thing.
But actually organic rice and non organic rice tends to
have the same level of arsenic because it's grown in
the same region, in the same ground, with the same
water sources, So the arsenic level is comparable. So if
you had the budget, and so rather than buying organic rice,
(17:07):
I then swapped to buying Australian rice. So if your
budget allows, rather than spending that additional money on organic rice,
spend the additional money on trying to buy Australian rice.
And I think, particularly if your family does consume a
lot of rice, that will actually help to reduce down
some of that total arsenic level. And then some of
those mitigation strategies we talked about, soaking the rice, rinsing
(17:28):
it really well, cooking it in excess water, and sort
of park cooking it draining it and then double cooking
it again can be some really good strategies.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
But also keep in mind a lot of those rice
snacks are important, so it's worth checking a label in
that instance because we don't necessarily have transparency around those standards.
So a big group like Sunrise is very transparent, you
can get the information that we need, whereas we don't
have that with imported snacks. And I'm thinking that you know,
those little colored ones in particular, a lot of those
are coming from overseas, So just be mindful of if
(17:57):
you are choosing or need to feed your child and
family rice based snacks for allergy purposes, or you need
need gluten free diets, you know, you're always going to
be better to source astray and produce and be able
to track it. Because I actually think that the rice cakes,
the flavored rice cakes that you get in the pack
of ten might be Sunrise branded as well, So then
(18:17):
you'll be able to track the origins of that too.
So you know the ones, I mean there's salt and vinegar,
and I think they might be Sunrise. I think they
are sun right, Yeah, And so that means at least
you have transparency over and they're sort of addressing it
from an education perspective. So yeah, I think just mixing
it up and certainly not loading up on those kind
of snacks every day is probably a good move for
all of us.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Yeah, I think the bottom line is really Australian rice
if you can, if your budget allows for it, and
also that diversification in your diet. Don't serve your kids
rice cakes or rice snacks every single day, and don't
make rice the main carbohydrate sauce or even if you're
having sushi for your lunch, don't make it the main
you know, lunch sauce for you multiple times a week.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
All right, Moving.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
From one carbo hydrate to another. Our next segment, we
have found a delicious couliflower and yoki. Well I can't
really say delicious because I haven't tried it. I did
buy it, but I haven't really gotten around to trying
it yet. But we're very excited, Susie. It's got a
very good ingredient list. This one we found at woolwors.
Do you know the price because it actually says out
of stock at my local woolves.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
I don't have a.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
Price on I don't have a price either.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
But I think from memory it was about six or
seven dollars perhaps, So it's the Earth's kitchen couliflower and
yoki four hundred gram bag, vegan friendly and gluten free
as well for all of our listeners that need that,
which is great.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
It's a product of Italy.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Interestingly enough, ingredient wise seventy five percent cauliflower, cassava, flour, potato, starch, extraversion,
olive oil, and salt.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
That is, it could not literally make this better at home.
It's great.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Servings per pack is two, so a serving size is
two hundred grams, which is a decent portion, right. I
don't think you'd if you added a bit of chisney
protein and sauce and vegetables to that. I actually think
that's quite a good portion. So energy wise, just under
eight hundred killer jewels, about one hundred and eighty six calories.
Protein wise, two point four grams are served fat, three
points four grams are serving carbohydrates thirty two point four grams,
(20:04):
which is it's pretty good. Like it's a I guess
a lower carbohydrate load than if you were to have
traditional on your key or pasta or something.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Dietary.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Fiber is whopping eight grams a serve, which is great,
and sodium is six hundred and fifty milligrams a serve
as well. So a really great ingredient list, a strong
nutritional information panel, and just a really nice one for
a quick and easy dinner. I just add some sauce,
a bit of you know, a packet of pre chopped
beggies or something, and a bit of protein such as
chicken or tuna to that and think you've got a
really nice, balanced meal.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
I like it. I should have tried it before we
did the podcast.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
I know. I actually revert back to a couple of
weeks ago we covered a pea soup from Hines and
I had a couple of feedbacks that is not amazing.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
So I've had it. I like it. I'm sorry, I
like it.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
I think that, you know, there's always going to be
people that love it and who don't like well.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
I just think you can't get delicious cuisine which is
also super super healthy, like not everything that has really
strong nutrition is going to be absolutely delicious.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
I think a lot of soup is not great until
you add a bit of parmesan on the top. Myself,
so if the listener who didn't love it, put a
bit of parmesan and it will solve all your issues.
And I can't see how this wouldn't be pretty nice
based on the nutritionals because there's literally nothing in it.
It's not going to be as rich as a potato
based or racotta based noki, but it's got a bit
(21:21):
of starch in it, you know. I think that with noki,
it's not really about the flavor of the knockie. It's
offen what you're mixing it with. So if you're adding
some tomato pisada and it can a bit of parmesan
into this, or a bit of goats, cheese and veggies,
like I'd put the Mediterranean mix from coals in and
a bit of chicken with this, and I'd pull it
out to go three serves. But yeah, I think that
it's going to be a pretty good choice and a
(21:42):
pretty good alternative to slightly lower the carbohydrates. But of
course get some of that very healthy cauliflower in there,
which has very powerful anti cancer properties. So I don't
love cauliflower, but I would eat a cauliflower and noki.
So I think it's a really great product to sort
of have more of a hart meal, butit a healthier version.
Let us know what you think. But yeah, we're pushing
(22:03):
back on the soup.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
I liked it, and Asla as a grainy bread as well.
I think, you know, a bit of dipping bread goes
a long way to.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
So I'm very strict on bread at night. With soup,
no bread at night. But anyway, that's my dogress.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Okay, I'm all for the bread.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
Let's talk about our listener question, which is very common,
should I eat breakfast in the morning if I am
not hungry? And like many answers in the world of nutrition,
in the ann I would say there's caveats. It's not
a one size fits all model. So this would be
my position. First of all, I think even if you're
not hungry, it's a good idea to have something before
nine am, within an hour or two of waking. And
(22:39):
the reason I say that is that if you're not
used to eating breakfast or are used to overeating at night,
it will take some time to kind of reprogram and
get a little bit hungry. So I'm not saying that
if you really are not hungry, you have to sit
down to two eggs to toast a big plate of veggies.
I'm saying that just start with something small, so maybe
a slice of toast in a single egg, or a
(23:00):
couple of crackers, corn crackers with a couple of slices
of cheese or some cottage cheese. Maybe a protein yogurt
in a bowl with a few berries, so you can
still have a small light breakfast. Because what I find
happens is people all say they're not hungry for breakfast,
but they're very happy to have a coffee and very
happy to pick up a banana bread or a muffin
at about ten. So I think it's convenient diets for
(23:20):
us versus if we're being purely what the body needs nutritionally,
you are better to refuel an hour or so, i'd
say within two hours of waking before nine am, to
get metabolism going, because otherwise you'll be pushing calories back
to the second half of the day, which isn't good
for the cycle. Where again, you tend to eat more
at night. So that then leads to the question, and
you're not hungry in the morning because you are eating
(23:41):
too much in the second half of the day. So
another way to ignite appetite in the morning is to
proactively have lighter meals earlier, so a piece of grilled
chicken and some green veggies, or a bowl of soup
for dinner minus the toast, and really give yourself a
good ten twelve, fourteen hours overnight without food and wait
for that rumble in the tummy to come. The exception
to this would be if I've got a client who's
(24:03):
been out to dinner and had a larger meal, several
glasses of wine, or for whatever reason, ended up having
dinner quite late and it was a heavy dinner. So
you might be at a function and they might not
serve dinner till eight or nine, and it might be
heavy red meat and a few glasses of wine. Once
or twice a week, if you don't wake up hungry
because you've eaten a lot of the day before, it
is okay to skip it. So I think, on the whole,
(24:24):
I like people to have something with some protein in
it within an hour or two of waking, and if
they're not hungry, in an attempt to reprogram appetite, I'll
give them something small, particularly if they're using a GLP
medication like Majara, where they're probably not going to be hungry.
I still want them to have something small, and I
certainly want breakfast not displaced with milk based coffee, with
the exception of, if you know, a couple of times
(24:45):
a week you're really not so hungry, you've had a
big meal the night before, it won't hurt you too
fast until lunchtime. So that's my summation. Do you agree?
Speaker 2 (24:54):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (24:54):
I agree, And I think my question would be, and
I open say to my clients, if you're not hungry
at breakfast, why is that? Because to me, that's an
issue if you've gone to bed, and like you said,
the exception is if you've had a really heavy meal,
you've gone out for a celebration, you've had a big
work function or conference. Those things are you know, few
and far between. We're not doing that every single day
on the regular on average, if you're not hungry. And
(25:15):
I'm not saying immediately when you wake up, if I
get up at five five thirty with the kids and
they've had a bad night, because I don't actually enjoy
getting up at five thirty by myself, I'm not necessarily
hungry because I'm a bit busy, I'm a bit stressed,
I'm tired, I might just line the couch with them,
have a cup of tea, and then we might get
to breakfast.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
At say seven or seven thirty eight.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
So breakfast to me is like within that whenever you
wake up, whether that's four am, seven am, up till
about nine to ten o'clock like you, Susie. So I
want my clients eating within a few hours of waking up.
Breakfast isn't immediately when you wake up. But the question
is if you're not hungry when you wake up for
a few hours after you wake up, why is that?
And often it's the case that you're overeating at night before.
(25:54):
Your portions are far too large the night before because
from a metabolic perspective, if you've gone to bed, so
the last meal you ate was say six or seven pm,
if you're then waking up at say six am, and
it gets to seven or eight o'clock, that is more
than twelve hours without food. Why are you not hungry?
That is the question. You're either over eating at nighttime
(26:14):
or your metabolism is pretty shonky, and you need to
do a little bit more weight training, a little bit
more exercise, and just look at the overall quality and
macronutrient balance of your diet to stak that metabolism up
and get that firing again. So it's not really a question.
I kind of have it as a set rule for
my clients. We will eat something in the morning period,
with some protein, with some fiber, with some healthy bats,
(26:36):
and with some balanced carbohydrate. Generally, my clients who are
really active don't have a problem they're hungry. It's the
ones that don't do a whole lot of activity, which
is fine.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
It's those guys.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Getting them to sort of get that metabolism going and
reducing those portions at nighttime to actually get them feeling hungry,
because it's far better from a metabolic and a hormone
perspective to fuel regularly and fuel earlier throughout the day
rather than flipping nutrition on it head, underreading breakfast, underreading lunch,
and then overeating significantly through the afternoon and at dinner time.
And for a lot of people who struggle with weight control,
(27:08):
that's what happens. They get busy, and we get it.
Susie and I busy mums. We're busy as well. But
as Susie said, even just grabbing a protein, yoga or
having a protein shakee blending it with some smoothies and
taking it in the car to school drop off and
sipping on that is better than nothing. You can sip
something at your desk as your log in and check
your emails at work. Something is better than nothing, and
start small and build from that. You certainly don't have
(27:29):
to sit down to this enormous meal at five am
when you wake up, but you should be hungry. If
you're up at five or six am, by seven eight o'clock,
you should be starting to feel hungry and you should
need something. So don't displace your hunger with multiple cups
of coffee. Actually fuel properly in the morning, and your
body and your hormones and your basically just body composition
over or will be so much more thankful for it.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
All right.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
That brings us to the end of episode two hundred
and ninety nine. We're getting there, Susie, We're getting their
two hundred and ninety nine. You know that your diet
needs a little bit more protein, a little bit more creatine,
or just a functional hot chocolate. Check out our range
of scientifically formulated products at design Bydietitians dot com.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Thank you so much for your loyal listening.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
Thank you for sharing the episodes with your friends and
family who think that might benefit and we will catch
you next week for episode three hundred.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
Have a good week.
Are you a rice lover? Do you like brown rice
or black rice? Or perhaps you tend to revert back
to regular old white rice? Or do you buy rice
crackers because they are a healthier alternative to chips and biscuits.
For the first time in a long time, today on
the Nutrition Couch we chat all things rice and share
some pretty scary data on water is really in the
(00:22):
rice and rice snacks that we regularly enjoy.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Hi, I'm Leanne Ward and today.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
We bring you the Nutrition Couch, the weekly podcast that
keeps you up to date on everything that you need
to know in the world of nutrition, as well as
our daily rice consumption. We have some interesting new data
that explores the link between young girls' diets and the
timing of their first period. We've also found a great
new vegetable and NOOKI to review, and our listener question
(00:48):
is all about breakfast timing. But to kick us up today, Susie,
I saw this great new article on diet and period
timing for girls. Because it's always been which is I mean,
I think it's actually research to support it. But as dieticians,
we've known forever in a day that it tends to
be the size of girls. Basically the BMI, the weight
(01:10):
that could perhaps indicate girls going through early menstruation or
basically going into puberty earlier than some other girls. So
body size and genetics have been shown in the research
and quite scrutinized for years now in the early onset
of puberty. But there's a new study that actually shifts
that focus from weight and BMI to diet quality. So
(01:32):
this is really really interesting and some great new research
that just goes to show it's not just about our weight,
it's not just about our BMI, it's not just about
calories or macros. The quality of your diet matters, and
even the quality of our children's diet matters as well.
So the study was from the Growing Up Today Study,
which is called the GUT study, and it has a
(01:53):
really large data set, so about seven and a half
thousand children across two cohorts. One cohort began back in
nine teen ninety six and the other one was a
little bit more recent in two thousand and four, and
the researchers tracked participants from age nine to fourteen and
then watch how their diet intersected with the onset of menstruation.
Basically so in the past, as I mentioned, we've always
(02:16):
PEIGD BMI and weight as a really big major driver
of girls who get their period earlier. But this study
essentially just flips the narrative on its head. It's basically
saying it's not so much about weight and BMI, it's
actually about potentially dietary patterns and the quality of your
diet as well. And the most interesting thing is that
(02:37):
diet is a major modifiable factor in puberty timing. We
can't change our genetics, we can't change who our mum
and dads are, we can't change so many things about
our body, but diet is a major modifiable factor, and
the nutritional intake of our young girls in particular obviously
girls only can actually influence both the early and also
(03:00):
the delayed onset of puberty, because children who tend to
be underweight who aren't eating enough can actually delay that
onset of puberty as well. So in terms of diet,
it was really showing that higher calorie diets and higher
levels of ultra processed foods were linked.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
To earlier puberty.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Basically, so ultra processed foods, sugary drinks, high fat foods,
really excessive energy intakes. The diet quality was linked to
girls going through puberty earlier and also excess body fat,
which was influenced by the higher calorie diet. The research
showed that may actually promote early activation of hormone or
(03:38):
pathways like the leptin signaling pathway as well. Now, the
study also broke down further to the high calori in
the ultra processed foods. A high consumption of protein and
animal fat intake may also accelerate puberty as well. And
you know, Susie, we have so many people out there who,
despite their best intentions, they think they're doing the right thing,
are giving their kids protein in protein protein protein. And
(04:02):
yes it's important, Yes it's a good macronutrient. Yes we
need more of it, but not children. Young children do
not need much protein at all. And a couple of
good slices of grainy bread is going to give, you know,
with a slice of cheese or two, it's going to
give most children upwards of ten grams of protein and
for a small child that is more than enough. So
a higher protein and a higher animal fat intake may
(04:23):
also accelerate puberty as well. So that's something that's really important.
To remember for parents of young girls. And also on
the flip side of that, the positives in diet were
more fiber, more fruits, and more vegetables that may help
to delay the onset of puberty as well, because plant
based foods fibers, they also have antioxidants, all of that
can support hormonal balance and help to delay the early
(04:45):
onset of puberty. And also we know that a high
fiber intake may help to reduce some of that circulating
estrogen levels and that may potentially slow some of that
progression of early puberty as well. And then probably the
last that they talked about a little bit was the
role of endocrine disrupting chemicals. So those the types of
(05:05):
things in a lot of process and ultraprocessed foods, are
in plastic packaging, and also there's a lot of what
we call endocrine disrupting compounds, so in plastics, microplastics, pesticides,
different types of additives in food as well. This may
actually interfere with hormonal development as well. So as much
as possible for our kids, but in particular young girls,
(05:27):
it's about whole foods. It's about as real quality, good quality,
colorful fruits and veggies and leaner types of protein and
good quality carbohydrates as we can get in because essentially
parents control what their children need, and the better we do,
the better our kids' health is going to be long
term as well, because girls that go into puberty earlier
that is actually linked with some future health risk or complications.
(05:49):
So girls who ender puberty earlier may have an increased
risk of breast cancer, type two diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and
also some mental health challenges such as zing zare depression,
and lower self esteem as well. So it's a really
really good, I guess research paper. Just to take us
back a couple of steps, and remember, it's not about
the macros. It's not about the calories as such, it's
(06:10):
not even about the weight. It's about the overall quality
of our diet but also our children's diet as well.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
True, it's interesting because it's sort of a fine line.
Some of it, of course, is genetic. You know, if
you've got your period eleven and a half, chances are
your daughter will as well. So that's not what we're
saying in terms of delaying natural the first period. Rather
that if your child has been predisposed to having significantly
higher abdominal waste, or you might have a child who's
not that active. There is evidence to show that that
(06:40):
and that's basically why it is a human species. We
go into puberty earlier because whether or not we like it,
it's programmed on a body weight scale, and humans are
bigger than they As we get bigger and more nutritions
available as a whole generations, we're larger people. But for me,
the message for mums of teenage girls, because certainly our
(07:01):
intention is not to be body shaming or weight overly
weight conscious, but what I would be paying attention to
and even with my own children, is their waiste measurement.
And what we know is that for preprebuti children or
even all of us, we want our waist measurement to
be less than half our height. So if you've got
a teenager or early preteen who is one hundred and
(07:23):
fifty centimeters and their waist is over seventy five, that
is a sign that perhaps they're gaining a little bit
too much abdominal weight, and that's a sign to perhaps
look at the quality of carbohydrates they're consuming. Are they
consuming juices and soft drink and refined sugars? And are
they overdoing the ultra process snap type food that young
kids do like to consume. And I think that's a
good message for parents. I wouldn't be weighing children, I
(07:45):
wouldn't be fat shaming, but what I would be keeping
an eye on is their WAISTE measurement. And if you
think your child is growing too quickly, that is the
measure that you want to slow down, particularly to not
sort of induce early puberty, which can happen when children
do have weight issues. So yeah, I thought it was
really fascinating research, and it actually lends itself to a
discussion when you talked about hormone disruptors. We're going to
(08:08):
do a whole session on that because we haven't covered
it before in the Potty and it's a really pertinent
thing that we're talking about more and more. But it
links to a discussion I've wanted to have for quite
some time about rice because rice, of course we've reported
and I actually think it might have been our first
episode of the Nutrition Couch podcast that we talked about
microplastics in cook rice packets, and so we haven't touched
(08:29):
on it for a while because full disclosure, I don't
talk about rice a lot land because I am not
a massive fan of rice because my background is in
weight control and from a glycemic index perspective, white rice,
which is the most commonly consumed rice, has an extremely
high glycemic index, and of course we consume it in
large amounts. You know, a couple of cooked rice is
(08:51):
equivalent of three or four slices of bread. Of carbohydrate
ten rice crackers is about two sizes of bread. So
it's sort of just never my go to carbohydrate. And
I'll say, if you're enjoying Asian cuisine out or you know,
you do enjoy rice, I'd go for certainly a brown
or black rice, which are more nutrient dense, but it's
just never my go to. I don't eat a lot
of it myself because I guess I'm really aware of
(09:11):
that glycimic load. Now, not taking away from Asian cultures
and in traditions where rice was a huge supplier of
energy for people working in rice fields who needed it,
but culturally, you know, in Australia we often have quite
a lot of it, and it is a refined carbohydrate.
But this start across my desk a few weeks ago,
and it was really a really strong reminder of something
(09:32):
we haven't heard a lot about because I didn't actually
know this either, But all rice is signet has got
actual our snak in it, and the reason for that
is that the way rice has grown, it comes up
through the soil. And surprisingly in Australia, our amounts of
our snak and rice are relatively high. Now they still
(09:52):
get through the sort of food regulations standard, but a
recent article we found shows that our standard is actually
reasonably high compared to Europe, and in particular, rice based
snacks are higher again than rice itself. So whilst we
get some from white rice, we actually get more from
brown rice because when the rice is processed turned into
(10:15):
white rice refine rice, you actually get rid of some
of that arsenack, whereas the brown rice is actually more concentrated.
And rice snacks again which are incredibly popular with children.
So I'm thinking about like the rice cakes and those
sort of colored rice chip things, and then of course
rice crackers. They're often picked up as a food that
is healthy, but it actually is a significant contributor to
(10:38):
arsenic in the diet. And of course that's a heavy
metal that accumulates in the body and very dangerous for
us over time, so we do have some take home messages.
We're certainly not on the podcast saying don't eat all rice.
We're on here today to talk about it in general,
what you can do to reduce it, but particularly in
the case of arsenic levels in kids snacks, it is
something to be concerned about. So the research I'll refer
to goes back as five years ago, sorry to January
(11:00):
twenty twenty, and it was research public in the International
Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health and found that
seventy five percent of rice based products had tested concentrations
of arsenic that exceeded the European guidelines for safe rice
consumption for babies and toddlers. So basically what I wanted
to talk about was, first of all, if you are
(11:23):
an awareness leanne that there is arsenic and rice, because
did you know that before we sort of talked about it.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Yeah, I knew that.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
It's why I've always recommended WAGH protein powder as my
gold standard, particularly if my ladies are pregnant of breastfeeding
they want a bit of protein powder to supplement that died. Yeah,
I never ever recommend vegan protein because it typically well
for many years was rice based, and I was always
worried about the level of arsenic in a pregnant of
breastfeeding woman and myself as well. I never took rice
based protein powder or vegan protein powder for that reason,
(11:49):
so I've always known about the earthenic levels.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
And I don't like you. I don't intend to feed.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
My kids too much rice, purely for the fact that
it's so messy and I literally just cannot handle rice
everywhere much more A fan of potato as or a
bit of bread or something, I just find it a
lot easier. So I never gave my kids a lot
of rice either. But it is a really good reminder
as well.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
And I should say Leend does have a Malaysian background, So.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
I eat some rice, I just don't give my kids
a whole lot of it.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
So the first thing to know is that you can
still safely consume rice, but I would if you're a
regular rice consumer. The first take home message from this
is if you are buying it in quick cook packets,
first of all, you absolutely must take it out and
cook it in a glass or ceramic container in the microwave,
because we know that anything cooked in a pouch, whether
(12:36):
it's a soup, whether it's rice, whether it's pasta, it
leaches microplastics in to the food, and rice is indeed
a significant contributor to microplastic consumption, so we do get
a lot from that. So that's the first thing. The
second thing is really if you consume rice regularly, you
want to cook it twice because the simple act of
half cooking it, rinsing it, and cooking it again will
(12:58):
get rid of a significant proportion of the arsenic that's
naturally occurring in there. Whether it's brown, whether it's white.
Now I wouldn't say eat white rice over brown, because
brown has more arsenic, But what I would say is
that if you regularly cook rice at home, I'd be
cooking it twice and rinsing it to get rid of
I think it's about seventy percent. You can reduce the
overall arsenic content by cooking and pre cooking it and
(13:20):
then rinsing it. So that's a must as well. So
take it out of the pre cook packets, particularly if
it's your lunch go to with tuna, you got to
take it out and then ideally we will rinse it
when you can, and that will reduce it significantly if
you're making rice based dishes for the family. But in
the case of rice based snacks, I don't like it.
I don't like them because nutritionally they're high GI. Even
(13:41):
brown rice, you're still getting a significant proportion of carbohydrate perserve.
And now, particularly for kids and children, they're just not
good for us to be loading up with that heavy metal.
So I think, just be mindful that when you start
to question rice snacks, rice cakes, rice crackers, the chips,
be careful, particularly with kids, because we're giving kids things regularly,
(14:01):
they're much smaller bodies. It's a bit of our misleading
belief that they're healthier. They certainly aren't healthier nutritionally, and
they're not adding whole significant whole grains, and in the
case they are adding arsenic and in the case of
our standard levels are much higher than what is allowed
in Europe, which is just an interesting thing in general
to know.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
I certainly think it's interesting, but I also we're also
not here to alarm people or scare of people, because
obviously Australia has some of the tightest food regulations in
the world and food standards Australia and New Zealand has
actually set the maximum limit of arsenic and rice at
one milligram per kilo or body weight. Now, interestingly enough,
this is much higher than the World Health Organizations guidelines
(14:42):
ofero point three milligram tequilo. However, Australian regulations essentially saying
that it doesn't pose a health risk even though we
are set it up much higher limit than the rest
of the world, and that the arsenic found in Australian
soil does tend to be higher, and then the total
arsenic compared to other import variety types. However, a significant
portion of the arsenic in Austrian soil is in the
(15:04):
organic form, which is actually considered less harmful than the
inorganic arsenic form. So I thought that was quite interesting
as well. So as I said, we're not here to
scare people. It is about better diet quality. So having
a balanced diet, not eating rice with every single meal,
diversifying your carbohydrates. It's better for your diet quality, it's
better for your gut microbiome, and it's probably better for
(15:25):
your health as well. And really being I guess aware
that if you are consuming something like a vegan protein
powder that is based on rice, I would be swapping
to another type. If you need a vegan one, I'd
be swapping to something like father beans or a bit
of soy protein or something like that.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
So interesting.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
And then a few other mitigration strategies. Susia already went
through some cooking rice in excess water, so actually making
it really soggy, then draining that off and continuing to
cook it towards the end is really good. So sixs
to one water to rice ratio and then draining off
that excess water can actually reduce the arsenic content by
up to sixty And then further to that, if you
(16:02):
soak your rice beforehand, it may also help to lower
the arsenic level. So soak it, give it a good
rint a couple of times at extra water six is
to one ratio, drain off any of the excess water
and then continue to cook that and you're reducing your
arsenic content by about sixty to seventy percent. And then
last little fun facts. Although this is not a sponsor's
segment at all, we do like to support local companies.
(16:24):
So Australian rice in particular, a brand such as sun
Rice is grown largely in the rev riverinaa Riverina region
Verina region in Australia, and that is actually generally considered
a lower risk compared to other regions like overseas rice,
because Australian soils and water sources tend to have lower
(16:45):
historical arsenic contamination. Because I, for a long time, Susie
have known about the arsenic and rice, and I was
buying organic rice thinking that I was doing the right thing.
But actually organic rice and non organic rice tends to
have the same level of arsenic because it's grown in
the same region, in the same ground, with the same
water sources, So the arsenic level is comparable. So if
you had the budget, and so rather than buying organic rice,
(17:07):
I then swapped to buying Australian rice. So if your
budget allows, rather than spending that additional money on organic rice,
spend the additional money on trying to buy Australian rice.
And I think, particularly if your family does consume a
lot of rice, that will actually help to reduce down
some of that total arsenic level. And then some of
those mitigation strategies we talked about, soaking the rice, rinsing
(17:28):
it really well, cooking it in excess water, and sort
of park cooking it draining it and then double cooking
it again can be some really good strategies.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
But also keep in mind a lot of those rice
snacks are important, so it's worth checking a label in
that instance because we don't necessarily have transparency around those standards.
So a big group like Sunrise is very transparent, you
can get the information that we need, whereas we don't
have that with imported snacks. And I'm thinking that you know,
those little colored ones in particular, a lot of those
are coming from overseas, So just be mindful of if
(17:57):
you are choosing or need to feed your child and
family rice based snacks for allergy purposes, or you need
need gluten free diets, you know, you're always going to
be better to source astray and produce and be able
to track it. Because I actually think that the rice cakes,
the flavored rice cakes that you get in the pack
of ten might be Sunrise branded as well, So then
(18:17):
you'll be able to track the origins of that too.
So you know the ones, I mean there's salt and vinegar,
and I think they might be Sunrise. I think they
are sun right, Yeah, And so that means at least
you have transparency over and they're sort of addressing it
from an education perspective. So yeah, I think just mixing
it up and certainly not loading up on those kind
of snacks every day is probably a good move for
all of us.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Yeah, I think the bottom line is really Australian rice
if you can, if your budget allows for it, and
also that diversification in your diet. Don't serve your kids
rice cakes or rice snacks every single day, and don't
make rice the main carbohydrate sauce or even if you're
having sushi for your lunch, don't make it the main
you know, lunch sauce for you multiple times a week.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
All right, Moving.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
From one carbo hydrate to another. Our next segment, we
have found a delicious couliflower and yoki. Well I can't
really say delicious because I haven't tried it. I did
buy it, but I haven't really gotten around to trying
it yet. But we're very excited, Susie. It's got a
very good ingredient list. This one we found at woolwors.
Do you know the price because it actually says out
of stock at my local woolves.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
I don't have a.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
Price on I don't have a price either.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
But I think from memory it was about six or
seven dollars perhaps, So it's the Earth's kitchen couliflower and
yoki four hundred gram bag, vegan friendly and gluten free
as well for all of our listeners that need that,
which is great.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
It's a product of Italy.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Interestingly enough, ingredient wise seventy five percent cauliflower, cassava, flour, potato, starch, extraversion,
olive oil, and salt.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
That is, it could not literally make this better at home.
It's great.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Servings per pack is two, so a serving size is
two hundred grams, which is a decent portion, right. I
don't think you'd if you added a bit of chisney
protein and sauce and vegetables to that. I actually think
that's quite a good portion. So energy wise, just under
eight hundred killer jewels, about one hundred and eighty six calories.
Protein wise, two point four grams are served fat, three
points four grams are serving carbohydrates thirty two point four grams,
(20:04):
which is it's pretty good. Like it's a I guess
a lower carbohydrate load than if you were to have
traditional on your key or pasta or something.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Dietary.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Fiber is whopping eight grams a serve, which is great,
and sodium is six hundred and fifty milligrams a serve
as well. So a really great ingredient list, a strong
nutritional information panel, and just a really nice one for
a quick and easy dinner. I just add some sauce,
a bit of you know, a packet of pre chopped
beggies or something, and a bit of protein such as
chicken or tuna to that and think you've got a
really nice, balanced meal.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
I like it. I should have tried it before we
did the podcast.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
I know. I actually revert back to a couple of
weeks ago we covered a pea soup from Hines and
I had a couple of feedbacks that is not amazing.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
So I've had it. I like it. I'm sorry, I
like it.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
I think that, you know, there's always going to be
people that love it and who don't like well.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
I just think you can't get delicious cuisine which is
also super super healthy, like not everything that has really
strong nutrition is going to be absolutely delicious.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
I think a lot of soup is not great until
you add a bit of parmesan on the top. Myself,
so if the listener who didn't love it, put a
bit of parmesan and it will solve all your issues.
And I can't see how this wouldn't be pretty nice
based on the nutritionals because there's literally nothing in it.
It's not going to be as rich as a potato
based or racotta based noki, but it's got a bit
(21:21):
of starch in it, you know. I think that with noki,
it's not really about the flavor of the knockie. It's
offen what you're mixing it with. So if you're adding
some tomato pisada and it can a bit of parmesan
into this, or a bit of goats, cheese and veggies,
like I'd put the Mediterranean mix from coals in and
a bit of chicken with this, and I'd pull it
out to go three serves. But yeah, I think that
it's going to be a pretty good choice and a
(21:42):
pretty good alternative to slightly lower the carbohydrates. But of
course get some of that very healthy cauliflower in there,
which has very powerful anti cancer properties. So I don't
love cauliflower, but I would eat a cauliflower and noki.
So I think it's a really great product to sort
of have more of a hart meal, butit a healthier version.
Let us know what you think. But yeah, we're pushing
(22:03):
back on the soup.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
I liked it, and Asla as a grainy bread as well.
I think, you know, a bit of dipping bread goes
a long way to.
Speaker 3 (22:09):
So I'm very strict on bread at night. With soup,
no bread at night. But anyway, that's my dogress.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Okay, I'm all for the bread.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
Let's talk about our listener question, which is very common,
should I eat breakfast in the morning if I am
not hungry? And like many answers in the world of nutrition,
in the ann I would say there's caveats. It's not
a one size fits all model. So this would be
my position. First of all, I think even if you're
not hungry, it's a good idea to have something before
nine am, within an hour or two of waking. And
(22:39):
the reason I say that is that if you're not
used to eating breakfast or are used to overeating at night,
it will take some time to kind of reprogram and
get a little bit hungry. So I'm not saying that
if you really are not hungry, you have to sit
down to two eggs to toast a big plate of veggies.
I'm saying that just start with something small, so maybe
a slice of toast in a single egg, or a
(23:00):
couple of crackers, corn crackers with a couple of slices
of cheese or some cottage cheese. Maybe a protein yogurt
in a bowl with a few berries, so you can
still have a small light breakfast. Because what I find
happens is people all say they're not hungry for breakfast,
but they're very happy to have a coffee and very
happy to pick up a banana bread or a muffin
at about ten. So I think it's convenient diets for
(23:20):
us versus if we're being purely what the body needs nutritionally,
you are better to refuel an hour or so, i'd
say within two hours of waking before nine am, to
get metabolism going, because otherwise you'll be pushing calories back
to the second half of the day, which isn't good
for the cycle. Where again, you tend to eat more
at night. So that then leads to the question, and
you're not hungry in the morning because you are eating
(23:41):
too much in the second half of the day. So
another way to ignite appetite in the morning is to
proactively have lighter meals earlier, so a piece of grilled
chicken and some green veggies, or a bowl of soup
for dinner minus the toast, and really give yourself a
good ten twelve, fourteen hours overnight without food and wait
for that rumble in the tummy to come. The exception
to this would be if I've got a client who's
(24:03):
been out to dinner and had a larger meal, several
glasses of wine, or for whatever reason, ended up having
dinner quite late and it was a heavy dinner. So
you might be at a function and they might not
serve dinner till eight or nine, and it might be
heavy red meat and a few glasses of wine. Once
or twice a week, if you don't wake up hungry
because you've eaten a lot of the day before, it
is okay to skip it. So I think, on the whole,
(24:24):
I like people to have something with some protein in
it within an hour or two of waking, and if
they're not hungry, in an attempt to reprogram appetite, I'll
give them something small, particularly if they're using a GLP
medication like Majara, where they're probably not going to be hungry.
I still want them to have something small, and I
certainly want breakfast not displaced with milk based coffee, with
the exception of, if you know, a couple of times
(24:45):
a week you're really not so hungry, you've had a
big meal the night before, it won't hurt you too
fast until lunchtime. So that's my summation. Do you agree?
Speaker 2 (24:54):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (24:54):
I agree, And I think my question would be, and
I open say to my clients, if you're not hungry
at breakfast, why is that? Because to me, that's an
issue if you've gone to bed, and like you said,
the exception is if you've had a really heavy meal,
you've gone out for a celebration, you've had a big
work function or conference. Those things are you know, few
and far between. We're not doing that every single day
on the regular on average, if you're not hungry. And
(25:15):
I'm not saying immediately when you wake up, if I
get up at five five thirty with the kids and
they've had a bad night, because I don't actually enjoy
getting up at five thirty by myself, I'm not necessarily
hungry because I'm a bit busy, I'm a bit stressed,
I'm tired, I might just line the couch with them,
have a cup of tea, and then we might get
to breakfast.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
At say seven or seven thirty eight.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
So breakfast to me is like within that whenever you
wake up, whether that's four am, seven am, up till
about nine to ten o'clock like you, Susie. So I
want my clients eating within a few hours of waking up.
Breakfast isn't immediately when you wake up. But the question
is if you're not hungry when you wake up for
a few hours after you wake up, why is that?
And often it's the case that you're overeating at night before.
(25:54):
Your portions are far too large the night before because
from a metabolic perspective, if you've gone to bed, so
the last meal you ate was say six or seven pm,
if you're then waking up at say six am, and
it gets to seven or eight o'clock, that is more
than twelve hours without food. Why are you not hungry?
That is the question. You're either over eating at nighttime
(26:14):
or your metabolism is pretty shonky, and you need to
do a little bit more weight training, a little bit
more exercise, and just look at the overall quality and
macronutrient balance of your diet to stak that metabolism up
and get that firing again. So it's not really a question.
I kind of have it as a set rule for
my clients. We will eat something in the morning period,
with some protein, with some fiber, with some healthy bats,
(26:36):
and with some balanced carbohydrate. Generally, my clients who are
really active don't have a problem they're hungry. It's the
ones that don't do a whole lot of activity, which
is fine.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
It's those guys.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Getting them to sort of get that metabolism going and
reducing those portions at nighttime to actually get them feeling hungry,
because it's far better from a metabolic and a hormone
perspective to fuel regularly and fuel earlier throughout the day
rather than flipping nutrition on it head, underreading breakfast, underreading lunch,
and then overeating significantly through the afternoon and at dinner time.
And for a lot of people who struggle with weight control,
(27:08):
that's what happens. They get busy, and we get it.
Susie and I busy mums. We're busy as well. But
as Susie said, even just grabbing a protein, yoga or
having a protein shakee blending it with some smoothies and
taking it in the car to school drop off and
sipping on that is better than nothing. You can sip
something at your desk as your log in and check
your emails at work. Something is better than nothing, and
start small and build from that. You certainly don't have
(27:29):
to sit down to this enormous meal at five am
when you wake up, but you should be hungry. If
you're up at five or six am, by seven eight o'clock,
you should be starting to feel hungry and you should
need something. So don't displace your hunger with multiple cups
of coffee. Actually fuel properly in the morning, and your
body and your hormones and your basically just body composition
over or will be so much more thankful for it.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
All right.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
That brings us to the end of episode two hundred
and ninety nine. We're getting there, Susie, We're getting their
two hundred and ninety nine. You know that your diet
needs a little bit more protein, a little bit more creatine,
or just a functional hot chocolate. Check out our range
of scientifically formulated products at design Bydietitians dot com.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Thank you so much for your loyal listening.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
Thank you for sharing the episodes with your friends and
family who think that might benefit and we will catch
you next week for episode three hundred.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
Have a good week.
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