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Hosted by Paul Evans, Registered Nutritionist (@paulthenutritionist)
Tired of the endless food fads, influencer nonsense, and TikTok nutrition “hacks”? This podcast cuts through it all.
No Forking Nonsense delivers straight-talking, science-backed nutrition advice that actually makes sense — in under 20 minutes. No fluff. No fads. Just real answers from a qualified expert who knows what works in the real world.
Each episode tackles one myth, one headline, or one common mistake — and gives you clear, practical takeaways you can apply straight away.
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Hello, and welcome to another episode of No Forking Nonsense, and happy Friday. Today, we're talking about breakfast. Is it the most important meal of the day? And if it is, what should you have if you're eating it? And if you're not having it, how can it impact you?
@paulthenutritionist:So we're going to go through all the myths, I'm going to give you loads of really super quick simple recipes so you cannot fail if you are having breakfast. Remember, if you are tired of being shafted, all the same nonsense being stuff being shoved down your throat, controversial opinions, negativity on your timeline, just interact with this podcast. People have been messaging me saying since they have shared this podcast, they've rated the podcast, they've been engaging more on my Instagram and other people's Instagram like mine, which is just factual information, they've seen their algorithm change. If you are fed up of all this negativity, all this shit, this is the movement that you need to do. Change your algorithm by interacting with positive factual posts only.
@paulthenutritionist:Anyway, enough about that, let s get into today s episode. Chat later. The first question is, is breakfast the most important meal of the day? And the answer is not necessarily, it s no more important than lunch and dinner. What we have to question is where does it sit in terms of our energy levels because what we don t want is to not have breakfast and then get to about 11:00 and then you have him a packet of biscuits, ham or you re reaching into Janet s home bought cake that has about 1,000 calories, it s pure sugar and it s going to raise your blood sugar levels and then they re going to sink and then you re going to feel probably low in energy and super hungry maybe about an hour later.
@paulthenutritionist:And that s what this is all about, it s about just ensuring that we can maintain our energy as much as possible. So what that looks like is ensuring that we are stable throughout the day. Essentially, what breakfast does for us if we are to have breakfast is it just kind of sets us up to ensure that we are fuelled because when it comes to fuelling, we want that consistency. I say to my clients, I never ever want you to be hungry and I also want you to feel like you ve got kind of stable energy levels. It isn just feeling like you need to devour cake and biscuits at 10:11 o'clock in the morning, which is a signifier that we need breakfast.
@paulthenutritionist:It is, I did a talk last week and one of the questions that two people asked was that they said they start shaking at about 10:11 o'clock in the morning. That is literally a blood sugar response. Now, if you are finding that come the end of the day after your dinner you are absolutely ravenous as well, that again suggests that there is an energy imbalance, whether that s at lunch, whether that s at dinner, or whether that is just the fact that you are having no breakfast or the wrong breakfast. So what do we do about it? If we are going to be having breakfast, we need to make sure that we are eating the right thing.
@paulthenutritionist:Now, I don want this to be made too complicated, but essentially, breakfast being the most important meal of the day was invented by Doctor Kelloggs himself. It was arguably the greatest marketing ploy that was of genius really, in that he said he d done some research and breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and as I say, s only more important than having dinner. But where Mr Kellogg s was definitely incorrect was suggesting that you have cereal and cereal is the answer because a lot of cereals these days, and it probably wasn't the case back in the day, but a lot of cereal these days, they are usually high in sugar. So I know that as a child, when you had like, do you remember like, ricycles and frostyrs and cocoa bobs, they are quite literally just sugar and what happens if you have simple carbohydrates or high sugar breakfast first thing in the morning, is you end up with that kind of blood sugar response and that is what impacts your energy levels and therefore it will make you absolutely ravenous and that's what we want to avoid. So what can we do about it?
@paulthenutritionist:To stop the absorption of sugars, which is what we want to try and avoid, you basically, if you are having a source of carbohydrate, a simple carbohydrate, there are two forms, there is complex and simple. Simple being it is a quick response, complex being it is digested a little bit more slowly so you don t have this spike in energy levels. Now if you are going to have cereal, it s fine, but we want to be mindful of the choice of cereal that we have but ideally, we want to have a source of protein, a source of fibre, or maybe a small bit of fat as well to slow down the absorption of those sugars into our bloodstream. So what I have got for you now is I am going to go through some really simple breakfast ideas, which will hopefully, when in fact they will, ensure that you are fulfilled in terms of your satiety levels, but also it gives you that kind of energy balance whilst also getting some nutrition and tasting pretty good as well. So I m really lazy and I can t be arsed to make a big perfect breakfast every morning.
@paulthenutritionist:So what I have most mornings, if not every morning, is a smoothie. And my smoothie is made up of a banana, some frozen blueberries, some milk, a handful of spinach and a scoop of whey protein, vanilla whey protein, throw it all into a NutriBullet, blitz it all up and that is ready for me in probably one minute. With regard to why that works, now obviously you have got all of the fruits with micronutrition, if I just had that without the protein powder, what would happen is I would get a blood sugar response, even though it's free, when you blitz it up, your body doesn't have to digest it and break all the fibre down because it's kind of artificially been broken down, that is technically a processed food what I have created there. But what I will do to offset all of that is I will have a scoop of protein powder because again that will slow down the absorption of the blood sugars, so that s the easiest thing to do to ensure that I am full until lunchtime, I am not getting an immediate blood sugar response and equally I am getting a good source of protein and vitamins and minerals in as well, including the macronutrient which is carbohydrate, which is what everybody probably needs.
@paulthenutritionist:So another thing you can have, if you don't want to have a smoothie, is really simply get yourself some Greek yoghurt, it could be higher fat, I haven't got a problem with higher fat, just depends on what calorie controlled diet you might be on, but get some green yoghurt, either higher fat or lower fat, again some blueberries because they are really nutritious fruit, a scoop of oats and then maybe some nuts or flaxseed or something on top as well, and then maybe a dash of agave syrup. Again, you'll get the sweetness, you'll get the crunch, but also as well you're getting a source of protein from the Greek yoghurt and some decent vitamins and minerals. Another really simple thing if you do really like cereal is make sure you just get lower sugar versions. You So could have some bran cereal, even some Weetabix, but have it with again some blueberries on top, some milk, whether that's cow's milk or almond milk, which tastes like piss in my opinion, but almond milk, oat milk, whatever, but also have a scoop of whey protein. They have got choices there, you either have it as a whey protein shake, and again whey protein gets a lot of bad rap because it s something I don want to be a bodybuilder, it is literally just milk, so you haven got to worry about that.
@paulthenutritionist:But you have a scoop of whey protein on the side, or I have some clients who will get vanilla whey protein, shake it up with milk and then tip that over their cereal and it actually tastes really nice and really creamy. Another thing you can do, porridge, nothing wrong with porridge, but what it does well actually, there are two things that I need to say about porridge. If you are having porridge, you need to ensure that you are not having that really fine stuff. Do you remember Reddy Breck as a kid, don know whether that s the thing, but the really fine oats, again your body will just there's nothing to break down there, so you will get an immediate blood sugar response. Now you can slow that down by having a source of whey protein either in the porridge or again on the side, but what I would do is I would get much more thicker cut oats, so you can get, they are called steel cut oats, Irish, I think it's the Irish steel cut oats that probably the best because they are much thicker and so your body takes a little bit longer to break down the oats and absorb sugars into your bloodstream.
@paulthenutritionist:But again, have it with a source of fruit, so whether that's mixed berries, blueberries, whatever it might be, a source of milk again, cooking it with cow's milk or plant milk, whatever, but have yourself a source of protein on the side. Or once you've made your porridge and it's cooked, and this is really important, you don't make it lumpy, just put a scoop of whey on top of that, it can be really, really nice. The other thing with porridge that you could do is make yourself some oats, cook it as normal, again don't add anything to it. And then once it has been cooked, that is when you will add a scoop of protein because it mixes a lot better. You could also add a spoonful of peanut butter to it, which again, source of fat, you get those decent mega monounsaturated fats and some decent B vitamins in there as well and as a result of that, again, it will slow down the absorption of the blood sugars, it will make you feel fuller for longer and it just tastes pretty good as well.
@paulthenutritionist:If you've got a little bit more time having scrambled eggs on a bagel, I would recommend a protein bagel, can get in Warburton, do really nice protein bagels which are packed full of fibre, they've also, they're usually about eight grams per bagel, really nice and they've got a really good texture to them. But get yourself three eggs, some spinach, maybe cook it with a knob of butter, cook it really slowly and again, job done, source protein, source fibre, you've got some spinach in there so you get a few of minerals and vitamins in there as well and that will absolutely keep you fuller for longer. Staying on the eggs and having an omelette, so what I like to do with an omelette is I will have two whole eggs and two egg whites, maybe put some feta cheese in it or some low fat mature cheddar, then add some veg to it as well, just so again you are getting those micronutrients which many people miss and that in itself will keep you fuller a lot longer. And there are so many other things that you can do with breakfast depending on how much time you have got, but it doesn t have to be made complicated.
@paulthenutritionist:Super simple breakfast options will ensure that you are completely full until lunch time, which should be the aim. Personally, what I would do is I would have breakfast and usually at about 10:11 o'clock, I have myself an apple, maybe a protein yoghurt or a protein bar, and then I have my lunch at about 02:00 and that is where I will have a good source of protein, good source of carbs, good source of fats, loads of veg and salad but we will touch on lunch another time but I really hope that makes sense. To conclude, breakfast isn't any more important than having lunch or dinner It s really important that if we are having breakfast, we are eating the right things. If you are someone who doesn t find yourself getting hungry and that your energy levels are pretty stable throughout the day, you probably don t need to panic about breakfast but equally as well, if you do find yourself hungry, if you find yourself feeling like you have got brain fog or your energy is laxed at any point during the day, then you want to take every opportunity to fuel yourself properly. Hope that makes sense, any other questions, let me know, I'll speak to you next time.
@paulthenutritionist:That's it for this episode of No Forking Nonsense, I hope you enjoyed that one, I have breakfast, I have the same thing every single day. I'm not sure how many people listen to the end of this so I'm going to do something. If you would like an hours free video call conversation with me, your favourite registered nutritionist, on Instagram, send me an emoji of a tomato, nothing else, and I will give you a complete MOT of your nutrition and your health completely free. But do not tell anyone, so send me a tomato. It's just for you, the secret lol, who listen at the end of a podcast.
@paulthenutritionist:Send me an emoji of a tomato and I'll have a little chat with you on video. See you later.