Newsletter #11: Blood sugar stable breakfast biscuits, better-for-you Reese's cups, and creating a "fast" metabolism by making MORE functional mitochondria
Welcome back! This week’s newsletter includes:
🥑 Good Food: An easy, delicious, savory breakfast biscuit recipe by my colleague Sonja! High in protein, loaded with micronutrients, and blood sugar stable. 😋
🔄 Good Swap: Let’s talk swaps and solutions for that chocolate craving. I’ve got some metabolically healthy peanut butter cup alternatives for you! 🤤
🧠 Good Thought: How to create a “fast” metabolism by making MORE functional mitochondria ⚡️
🥑 Good food - A breakfast biscuit
This week’s Good Food starts your day with a simple, high-protein, micronutrient rich breakfast to set yourself up for stable blood sugar (and therefore stable energy and low cravings) for your day. 😋
YUM.
I know making a savory breakfast can feel daunting and time consuming, so that’s why this week I’m featuring a Good Energy approved make-ahead breakfast option…and it’s a biscuit. 🤯 These are easy to make in bulk and keep in the fridge/freezer to re-heat when you want to make something quickly.
My incredible colleague and Head of Operations, Sonja, made these high-protein breakfast biscuits recently and brought them over when we were co-working and I devoured them. She brought over a batch that were previously frozen and I toasted it and put some grass-fed butter and Erewhon seed-oil free chili oil and sauerkraut on top. YUM.
The reason why I loved them so much - besides the taste of course - is because they have the following elements Good Energy eating principles while being EASY to prep and store:
💪 Protein: Each biscuit has ~20g protein from the organic eggs, almond flour, and ground chicken. Protein tells our cells “let’s build”! and is necessary for the synthesis and maintenance of skeletal muscle tissue, which plays a key role in regulating metabolic health by both a glucose absorbing sink, constantly taking up and using glucose from the bloodstream. Muscle also releases hormones called myokines that can be anti-inflammatory and improve insulin sensitivity (shoutout to Dr. Gabrielle Lyon’s book Forever Strong which is ALL about protein and muscle. If you haven’t read it: you must! Especially women, who traditionally aren’t as focused on building muscle! It’s crucial for feeling incredible! Dr. Lyon’s points out we are not over-fat, we are under-muscled). To get ~30 g of protein for breakfast (what I aim for with every meal), I’d either have 2 of these or just have 1 and add a side of greek yogurt with berries and Zen Basil seeds.
🥬 Micronutrients: The biscuits have micronutrients from the almond flour (magnesium, B2, manganese, vitamin E ) and spinach (magnesium, vitamins B2,B7,E, alpha lipoic acid), ground chicken (selenium, B3, B5, creatine) and eggs (selenium, B5, B7, creatine). Micronutrients and antioxidants tell the mitochondria, “You are resilient.” How fun is it to think of these biscuits as sending an empowering message to our mitochondria? 💗 Micronutrients facilitate the optimal action of many key biological processes, including how the body handles glucose…which leads me to my next point!
☀️ Starting your day with protein + a blood sugar stable breakfast: Breakfast is usually what sets us on a glucose roller coaster for the WHOLE day because typical American breakfast is filled with refined grains and sugars (think: croissants, donuts, cereal, Pop-tarts, toast, etc.). This recipe satisfies that “bread-y” craving but avoids the refined carbs and adds in protein and fiber to help keep your blood sugar stable. Each biscuit has about 20g of protein, 16g fat, and 6g of fiber. As a reminder, we want to minimize post-meal spikes because glycemic variability (big swings in glucose) is bad for health, and because big spikes often lead to big crashes (reactive hypoglycemia) which is when people often feel cravings for MORE carbs (aka, the glucose rollercoaster) — see paper below from premier medical journal Nature which showed this! 👇️
This paper showed that post-meal glucose crashes (“glycaemic dips”) — which often happen after big glucose spikes — are predictive of increase in hunger and greater energy intake that day. That is the “glucose rollercoaster” we want to stay OFF of with a high protein, fat, fiber breakfast (or by fasting for breakfast).
Find the recipe here below and see Sonja’s reel on how to make them here. Be sure to tag me @drcaseykitchen and Sonja @sonjakm if you make them!
👨🏼🍳 Ingredients (Screenshot this!)
Makes 10 biscuits (note: If you make more and make them smaller, then it won’t be 20g of protein per biscuit)
Things you need to chop or cook 🔪
1 small yellow onion diced (or 1/2 onion if it’s a big onion)
16 oz ground organic free-range chicken or turkey
When sautéing the ground meat, add 1 tsp smoked paprika, 2 tsp harissa, 1 tsp red pepper flakes for flavor!
You can also use an organic spicy chicken or turkey sausage here (casing removed) if you want a little more flavor.
3 cups chopped baby spinach
1-2 rosemary sprigs, finely chopped
Wet ingredients 🥚
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (or coconut milk or your favorite non-dairy milk)
6 eggs beaten together + 1 more egg where you save the egg white for topping and put the yolk into the mix
Things you just need to mix / dry ingredients 🥣
1 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup ground flax
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp garlic powder
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
👨🏼🍳 Instructions
Preheat oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. That’s the almond flour, coconut flour, ground flax, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, baking powder, salt and pepper. Mix well.
Finely chop the spinach and add to the large mixing bowl.
Dice and then saute the onion in a little avocado oil over medium heat for 4-5 minutes. Then add to large mixing bowl.
Next, saute the chicken or turkey sausage over medium heat. Add salt, red pepper flakes, smoked paprika and harissa! Saute until it’s fully cooked and then add to the large mixing bowl.
In a separate medium mixing bowl, whisk together 6 eggs. For the 7th egg, just crack the yolk into the bowl and save the white to brush over the biscuits right before they go into the oven. This helps give the biscuit a lovely golden brown color!
Pour eggs from the medium mixing bowl into the large mixing bowl. Stir everything together!
Scoop into about 10-12 evenly sized balls on the baking sheet. Press down a little so they look like scones. Brush the top with a little egg white. Optional: sprinkle a little feta cheese on top right before they go into the oven.
Bake for 20-22 minutes.
ENJOY!
Storage: You can keep them in fridge for 5-6 days and in the freezer for a month! Let cool before you store them.
One quick fun fact on rosemary - one of the ingredients in this recipe - is that recent in vitro studies showed that rosemary extract (RE) stimulated the secretion of the satiety-inducing hormone Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1). Last week I wrote about how you can naturally increase GLP-1 through food, read that article here!
Nutrition facts for this breakfast biscuit recipe - includes 20g of protein! 💪 I usually eat 2!
🔄 Good swap - Better-for-you Reese’s peanut butter cups
“I’m craving chocolate.”
Does that sound like something you’ve thought or said before? You are not alone. For me, sometimes it’s dark chocolate and almond butter. But what’s actually happening when we feel a craving? What’s the physiologic response occurring in the brain?
In my forthcoming book Good Energy, one of the Good Energy eating principles is to understand that “extreme food cravings are feedback from your cells that you’re giving mixed messages.”
Intense food cravings are complex, but they arise in part when the body is not getting what it needs to be triggered to be satiated. We have nutrient-sensing cells in the gut that will produce satiety hormones when stimulated — it’s our job to stimulate them properly with unprocessed, nutrient packed, organic food grown in good soil (good soil is key, because sustainably grown food will have MORE micronutrients per bite to meet your body’s needs). I interviewed Journalist and author of The End of Craving: Recovering the Lost Wisdom of Eating Well, Mark Schatzker, last year on A Whole New Level (listen here, or read recap here) all about cravings and why ultraproccessed foods drive us to be insatiable, and find myself still reflecting on that conversation.
Sugar acts on the same brain reward pathways as addictive drugs which is why cravings can be so strong. Environmental cues like smells and sights trigger the brain's dopamine system which makes us crave sugar. Stress causes short-term mood boosts from sugar but leads to a vicious cortisol-craving cycle in the long run. Avoid ultraprocessed foods, cravings improve.
So what can you do?
🥗 Eat whole foods: The best thing you can do to conquer cravings is eat whole, unprocessed or minimally processed foods to allow for the proper signaling between the brain, gut, and metabolism.
🩸 Keep blood sugar stable: Focus on Good Energy eating principles like eating balanced meals with enough fiber, protein and fat, eating meals earlier in the day and avoiding late-night meals, walking after meals, and not eating while stressed. Wearing a CGM can help you experiment with different stabilizing strategies (learn more through Levels here).
🧠 Mindfulness: When a craving hits hard, trying to resist it might not help. Instead try and allow the craving to happen; just notice it, feel it, and let it fade. And drink a big glass of water or sparkling water! Mindfulness practices can help slow your body’s stress response so that the next time you crave chocolate in a stressful moment, you can pause, recognize the underlying feeling, and choose another option - like a cup of tea, a walk, or a healthier alternative (ideas below!).
🔁 Find a better-for-you swap: There ARE some healthier chocolate swaps! In addition to the Evolved Almond Butter Cups (which I LOVE), I also love doing a few squares of 80-90% dark chocolate with a little bit of Nutzo butter, organic almond butter, and some Maldon flake salt.
The below table shows the nutrition information of one peanut butter cup across different brands:
No one is surprised Reeses got an F
The only brand I can recommend here is Evolved Almond Butter Cups, which is organic, high fiber, and no refined seed oils, additives, or sugars. They also aren’t too sweet, which I love. I so appreciate companies going the extra step to make their food actually good for the body.
🧠 Good thought - BUILDING a “fast” metabolism
Is there such a thing as a “slow” or “fast” metabolism? It’s a question many people wonder about in their pursuit of more energy as well as weight loss.
Before we answer the question, we have to think about what metabolism actually is. In the simplest terms, metabolism is the process of converting food energy to cellular energy. For the most part, this happens in the mitochondria. This is a complex process, and if this process works well - meaning we can make more cellular energy from food - this represents a “faster” metabolism: burning through more food energy (which contributes to our healthier weight) and making more ATP (more energy).
While genetics play a role in our metabolic rate, it’s a small part of the picture (maybe as little as 40% or less, by some research). We build a fast metabolism through any choices that increase mitochondrial processing power in the body, which means, simply:
1. Getting each mitochondria to be MORE functional.
2. Making MORE mitochondria.
3. Getting each mitochondria to churn through MORE energy substrates to make energy.
When you break those 3 things down, it gets a bit more technical. To “have a faster metabolism,” we want to:
Promote mitophagy
Enhance mitochondrial enzyme activity
Lower oxidative stress (which damages the mitochondria)
Decrease mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations
Improve epigenetic control of the mitochondrial processes
Increase the process of mitochondrial fusion
Enhance mitochondrial biogenesis
Increase glucose disposal
Instead of focusing on whether you were “born with” a “fast” or “slow” metabolism, focus on what you CAN control: the dietary and lifestyle strategies we can implement to create more mitochondria, make them more efficient, and have them do more work.
In this blog post, I break down ALL of it, including 17 specific strategies within your control that help with each of these components, and why they are important!
One thing I mention in the article is that I supplement with Urolithin A. You can get it naturally from sources like pomegranates to enhance mitophagy and clear dysfunctional mitochondria. I also take 1000 mg of Urolithin A every day by Timeline nutrition, which is the only mitophagy-specific supplement I know of with hoards of peer-reviewed research.
With good energy 💓
Dr. Casey
👀 In Case You Missed It
Pre-order BONUS: Exclusive recipes, a special Levels discount, and more!
I am so excited to announce a SPECIAL BONUS BUNDLE to say THANK YOU to those who have already pre-ordered Good Energy, and as a thank you if you order before May 14th! 📚✨
This bundle includes a PDF with a sneak preview of the book and bonus content about how to best stock your Good Energy Kitchen, an exclusive discount of 25% on a new Levels membership (this is something we almost NEVER do!), and the pre-release recipe and demo-video of this DELICIOUS metabolically healthy Lemon-Almond Cake with Jammy Strawberries 🍰🍓
Anyone who has already pre-ordered is eligible to redeem this special bundle. If you haven’t ordered yet, you can still get this by pre-ordering Good Energy now until May 13th 11:59PM PT ⏰
Redeem pre-order bonus here: https://woobox.com/4gwzb8
I am thrilled to announce that my course with Commune will be out this week, Thursday, March 21st. The course is titled Optimize Your Metabolism with Dr. Casey Means.
This course is an 8-day online video course that covers the science and philosophy of “good energy,” so you can say goodbye to fatigue and reclaim your vitality. Learn how you can align your daily choices – from nutrition and exercise to detoxification protocols – to best support your metabolism, now and for the rest of your life!
Sign up here: https://www.onecommune.com/casey
Check out this new podcast I did with Olivia Amitrano on What’s The Juice where I share the importance of trusting your body’s wisdom, taking control of your metabolic & mitochondrial health, and exactly how to become your own best healer. Listen to the episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
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