Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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I made a delicious smoothie for breakfast: 2oz heavy cream, 2oz almonds, 8oz whole milk, 1 banana, 1 cup frozen blueberries.

It contains:

822 calories

61g fat (21g saturated fat)

57g Carbs (35g sugar)

22g Protein.

If I enjoy it all at once at 8am, it will easily last me till 12:30pm lunch.

If I only have half, I'll be hungry about 10:30am for a snack.

Is there any advantage to "eating small meals more frequently" (half at 8am, half at 10:30am)??

Or, am I increasing insulin levels TWICE, which sounds bad; therefore, having it all at once being better?

Is the 57g carbs (35g sugar) too much for a single meal?

Thoughts?

Thanks, Mike

flag	asked Jan 17 at 14:30 CaveMan_Mike 4,633●13●51

	Half and half.. – Roth Jan 17 at 14:49
	Your "increasing insulin levels twice" makes me think this would be best eaten after a very hard workout. (Then again, a better PW meal would be food that you could chew...meat and starch, but you could probably find a lot worse things in the world than this shake, too.) – Amy B. Jan 17 at 17:37

greymouser · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-17 14:38:20Z UTC

3

There is a huge advantage to not drinking your food. If you ate those items for breakfast -- chewing and all -- instead of drinking them it is likely you would have higher satiety.

Summary: none of the above. Eat your food; drink water.

answered Jan 17 at 14:38

greymouser
16k●1●7●26

	Because of an unrelated GI issue, I can't eat eat almonds or berries unless blended/vitamixed. So, if you had to choose between the two options presented, do you think it makes any difference? – CaveMan_Mike Jan 17 at 14:49
	Gotcha. If that's the case, then definitely drink it as slow as possible. It takes very long (if at all!) for food drinks to register a sated feeling. With the amount of fat in there, though, you have a good chance. – greymouser Jan 17 at 14:57
	so, would that be the whole qty as slow as possible, or divided 3 hours apart? Would the slow-as-possible thing be like a slow drip (IV) causing a persistent elevated insulin state? – CaveMan_Mike Jan 17 at 19:25
	I suppose if I were to do this, which I wouldn't, I would drink a small amount every hour or so. – greymouser Jan 17 at 20:27
	Totally agree with the first comment. Smoothies are basically baby food. The calories hit your system too fast and spike your insulin. Why not just eat regular food? – UncleLongHair Feb 28 at 17:40

Karen · Answer 2 · 2013-02-28 17:33:33Z UTC

IMO since you are getting a clear insulin reaction, you'd be better off with something with far less carbs period. Normally I think the carb quantity question really depends on your status as far as metabolic syndrome, diabetes or overweight and that active, lean people can get away with a lot more.

However, definite insulin reactions to a big carb intake are an early warning sign even if you are currently lean. I started getting such bad reactions in my late teens/early 20s/30s that I would occasionally faint. During that whole time I was skinny as a rail, working outside full time and ate everything in sight without gaining an ounce. So I couldn't possibly have a carb problem right? Even after I went to take a glucose tolerance test (and passed out yet again) I was told I was in great shape due to leanness.

I also agree with the advice to eat rather than drink your calories. Shakes/smoothies etc seem to have some magical health aura around them that really is undeserved.

Eat this smoothie all at once, or half, 3 hours later: other half?

2 Answers