Healthy breakfast: protein protects against diabetes

All content is checked by medical journalists.

MunichWomen who eat eggs, milk and cheese for breakfast protect themselves from diabetes. The reason: protein-containing foods in the morning keep glucose and insulin levels in check, as American researchers have now discovered.

For the study, a team from the University of Missouri-Columbia served 34 healthy women between the ages of 18 and 55 a different breakfast for three days each. The scientists wanted to find out how a protein-rich breakfast affects the test subjects' sugar level.

Sweet versus hearty

For this they were given meals that all had around 290 kilocalories and a similar amount of fiber and fat. The protein content of the dishes, however, varied significantly. One day the women ate a pancake with only three grams of protein. On the other two days there were eggs and sausages for breakfast, one with 30 grams and one with 39 grams of protein. The participants' blood glucose and insulin levels were measured before and every 30 minutes after meals for four hours.

Scrambled eggs beat pancakes

The result: After the two protein-rich meals, both the glucose and insulin levels were lower than the pancake dish with only three grams of protein. "The lowest values ​​were achieved after eating the egg dish with 39 grams of protein," explains study leader Kevin Maki.

After the meal with 30 grams of protein, the blood sugar peaks were an average of ten percent lower than after the low-protein pancake dish. In the case of the dish with the highest protein content, however, the difference was even more pronounced at 14 percent. The insulin values ​​gave a similar picture. They were around 45 percent lower with 30 grams of protein and 54 percent lower with 39 grams than after enjoying the pancake.

High insulin peaks promote diabetes

Insulin levels play an important role in the development of type 2 diabetes. If it shoots up due to carbohydrate consumption, the pancreas is forced to supply large amounts of insulin. At the same time, the body's cells become less sensitive to insulin, which means that even more insulin is required. In the long run, this exhausts the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas.

No complete change in diet necessary

As the study shows, protein-rich foods for breakfast help keep blood sugar and insulin levels stable. “A breakfast with 39 grams of protein would probably be a complete change in diet for most,” suspects study author Heather Leidy. In this country, too, most people start the day with a lot of carbohydrates - with bread rolls or muesli. Nevertheless, it is easily possible to at least increase the protein content in breakfast. For example with eggs, milk or milk products.

Protective protein diet

The study shows that protein-rich meals can help healthy people keep their sugar levels under control. Further studies should show whether this also applies to people with pre-diabetes, the preliminary stage of diabetes. Then a protein-rich breakfast could help prevent it from becoming manifest diabetes.

Around six million people in Germany suffer from diabetes. About 90 percent of them have type 2 diabetes. In addition to a genetic component, the risk factors include, in particular, poor diet, obesity and lack of exercise. (jb)

Source: Maki K. et al. Acute effects of higher protein, sausage and egg-based convenience breakfast meals in postprandial glucose homeostasis in healthy, premenopausal women. The Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB Journal). 04/29/2014

Tags:  Baby Child teeth healthy workplace