Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee - BITESIZE | Try This Simple Dietary Change To Help Reduce Cravings, Increase Your Energy, Get Stronger & Live Longer | Dr Rupy Aujla #583

Episode Date: October 2, 2025

Protein is the fundamental building block of life – forming everything from our DNA and skin to our enzymes and hormones.  Feel Better Live More Bitesize is my weekly podcast for your mind, body, and heart. Each week I’ll be featuring inspirational stories and practical tips from some of my former guests. Today’s clip is from episode 534 of the podcast with medical doctor and nutritionist, my good friend Dr Rupy Aujla. In this clip, Rupy shares why starting your day with enough protein could help reduce cravings, and increase your energy. He also offers simple practical tips to help you upgrade your breakfast — without overcomplicating your morning routine. Thanks to our sponsor ⁠⁠⁠https://www.drinkag1.com/livemore⁠⁠ Show notes and the full podcast are available at https://drchatterjee.com/534 Support the podcast and enjoy Ad-Free episodes. Try FREE for 7 days on Apple Podcasts ⁠⁠https://apple.co/feelbetterlivemore⁠⁠ For other podcast platforms go to ⁠⁠https://fblm.supercast.com. DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.

Today's bite-size episode is sponsored by the brand-new formulation of AG1, the daily health drink that has been in my own life for over six years. Now, some of the upgrades in the new formula include more magnesium, which supports muscle function and the ability of our nervous systems to relax, and it also now contains five instead of two strains of bacteria to reflect the latest advancements in microbiome science. It also contains key nutrients in bioavailable forms the body can easily and readily utilize maximizing their potential benefits.

AG1 makes it simple to be the best version of you. Over 70 ingredients, one scoop once a day for less than a cup of coffee. And right now, AG1 are giving my audience a special offer worth 58 pounds, which is almost 80 US. you will get 10 free travel packs and an awesome welcome kit with your first subscription. To take advantage, go to drinkag1.com forward slash live more. Welcome to Feel Better Live More bite size, your weekly dose of positivity and optimism to get you ready for the weekend. Today's clip is from episode 534 of the podcast with me. medical doctor and nutritionist, my good friend, Dr. Rupi Orgila.

In this clip, Rupi shares why starting your day with enough protein could help reduce cravings and increase your energy. He also offers some simple practical tips to help you upgrade your breakfast without over-complicating your morning routine. Proteins are the macro and microstructures of life. They are the most incredible biomolecules that are responsible for so many parts of our physiology. Everything from our DNA, our collagen, our skin, our hair, our enzymes, the receptors of signal molecules, hormones, that are on the surface of our cells,

this is all protein. When you consume protein, only about a quarter of that actually goes to skeletal muscle. The majority of the protein that you consume is actually being broken down and being used for those other structures that I just talked about. If you look at the more recent research studies

to determine that we should be consuming more protein, we underconsume. And there is obviously a big range as well of people. And if you look at the typical diets that are largely ultra-processed, that are low in protein and low in nutrients, you can see how this plays out in the long term. And I think protein, whilst it's not the only thing, it plays a really important role because of the magnitude of things that proteins are responsible for, our satiety levels, our cravings, but also our hormones, our weight maintenance,

and even our immune cells, these are all built from protein. So we need to give ourselves the best building blocks to ensure that our health thrives. In your brand-new book, Reapie, Healthy High Protein, which I absolutely love, you make the case that many of us are under-eating protein. Why is it, do you think, that many of us are under-eating protein? What are the consequences of us doing so? And how should that play in to our breakfast?

I think breakfast is a great place to start because we tend to under-consume protein at breakfast, and that sets us up for the rest of the day. And if you think about typical breakfast foods, and if anyone's listening or watching this, they can probably conjure up croissants, cereals, oats. While some of those are healthy, or healthier than other options,

they have a common denominator in that they tend to be quite low in protein unless we supplement with certain elements. And what that does is it does not replenish what we've been breaking down overnight. So when you wake up first thing in the morning, you're in a fasted state. And in that faster state during sleep, you're breaking down your proteins, you're repurposing those, you're rebuilding them up

into all these different structures, some of which are muscles, other which are enzymes and hormones, and you need to replenish that store of amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins. And so breakfast offers a prime opportunity to replenish those amino acids that your body has been breaking down. The other thing that I think a lot of people fall into the trap of is when you don't have protein at breakfast, you tend to have hunger mid-morning. Everyone's had that time where they've had something quick, maybe a cereal or something on the go. And then by mid-morning, you're hungry again. You're like, I've just eaten. Why is that? Well, protein is incredibly satiating. So it signals to your brain when you've had enough protein. There's a signal to your brain that says, I've had enough

food. I don't need to crave any more food. So it curbs your cravings. And there is something called the protein leverage hypothesis that perhaps some of your listeners have heard, which is your body will continue to signal to you to keep eating until you've met your personal protein threshold. And unless you've hit that personal protein threshold, you will continue to be hungry, hence why you're reaching for the biscuits, you're reaching for something sugary, even though you've just eaten a couple of hours before. And what happens when you eat protein is that not only does it signal to your brain

that you're having enough food and it has the satiating effect, but it also delays something called gastric emptying as well. So when you consume food, if you eat something, you swallow it, it goes into your stomach, that is bathed in acids and other enzymes to break down that food. And if you're having protein in that mix,

it delays that gastric emptying so it spreads up the absorption of those ingredients over time so you don't get these big spikes in carbohydrates and sugars and people might think to themselves initially, okay, well I'll just go for some of those processed foods

that label themselves as high protein having 20 grams or 25 grams of protein and that's not what I'm suggesting whatsoever I think the majority of the processed foods that we see on supermarket shelves are not only deficient in protein, but they also have ingredients that are remarkably different from the initial ingredients that they were generated from, whether that's from wheat or grain, et cetera. And that processing

makes it super easy to absorb the carbohydrates, the sugars within that food. And that leads to sugar spikes and corresponding crashes, but it's also not satiating. And with protein in the morning. Not only is it going to be satiating, it's going to lead to less hunger, reduce those craving so you don't overeat, but it's also going to give you the best possible chance to actually consume enough protein for your needs over the course of 24 hours. So if you're not having enough protein at breakfast and you have to compensate at lunch and dinner, you're less likely to hit your overall target. And over time, you can see how easy it is to understand. to consume for your requirements.

If we go back to breakfast then, right, and talk about these common foods that people are having, which, as we've already outlined, are going to be low in protein. Let's go through a few of those, like oatmeal, like croissants, like breakfast cereals. And then perhaps you can suggest how we might change that up.

Yeah, right? Both for meat, eaters, and for v. Because what's interesting about healthy high protein, your new book, is these three pillars you talk about, right? Number one, maintain protein, number two, support gut health, number three, lower inflammation. For the last years, there's been a lot of talk about gut health and inflammation, right? And you're not saying they're not important in your book. You're just saying that we need to bring in protein into the equation, right? And there are three questions in the book you want people to ask themselves when they sit down to eat.

Is there enough protein on my plate to meet my requirements? Are there ingredients in this meal that are supporting my gut health? And number three, is the overall impact of this meal going to be anti-inflammatory? Okay, how about this, Rupee? How about we look at breakfast and then try and apply these three questions to certain common breakfast meals? Is that a reasonable way of looking at this? That's a great way of looking at it. So let's imagine oatmeal, right? Oatmeal has been talented as super healthy. It's got fibers that lower your cholesterol. It's got fiber that can

support your gut health, beta glucans, et cetera, et cetera. If we look at it through the lens of those three questions, right, is there enough protein in plain oatmeal? The answer is no. No. Because even if you're consuming 300 grams of total product, let's say, it's about three to four grams per hundred grams of protein in oats. So no, it's not going to be enough for folks unless you're super, super small and your protein requirements are very low, which we've established is not the case. Is there, are there products that support gut health? Yeah, probably. Yeah, we've got some fibres in there. We've got some BT glucans. It's probably going to be generally quite healthy. Is this going to be anti-inflammatory? Potentially, but with the blood

glucose-spiking potential of oats, if you're not having it with berries or you're having any other anti-inflammatory ingredients, like cinnamon. 2BD, I would say. I wouldn't say it's going to be a home run for inflammation. This is really interesting. So my bias based upon what I've seen throughout my career is that I don't generally recommend oats to people for breakfast. I'm not saying it can't be good for some people, but of course my bias will be based on what I've seen, right? So usually people are coming in to see the doctor, not always, but usually they've got some degree of health issue that they want to help with, right? And if we look at the degree of metabolic dysfunction in society, it is reasonable that a lot of patients who come in to see you or

me over the years would have a degree of metabolic dysfunction. Yeah. So I've often found, not for everyone, but I've often found oats tend to cause this big blood sugar high, blood sugar low two hours later, people feel hungry again. Now, I know that's not the same for everyone, and I'm sure that will come down to their microbiome and their state of metabolic health. Some people have a big bowl of oatmeal in the morning, and they're not hungry again for four hours. So I think metabolically, microbiome-wise, there's something different going on. I personally don't have oats for breakfast, but you do, don't you? Yeah, but I have changed the way I have my oats in the morning. And I don't always have oats in the morning.

I change it up throughout the week because I think diversity of ingredients is super important as well. The way I have my oats now, and just to riff on your point, you know, there are some endurance runners, for example, people who do triathlons and marathons who love oats because they're using that big store of sugar to efficiently power their muscles. That's not most people. Most people in today's world are going straight from their oatmeal at breakfast, jumping on the train, and going to work where they sit down for multiple hours a day. They're not running up hills and doing mountains. And that's the context and nuance that it's missed so much when we talk about that.

You know, that diet, that breakfast, in the context of what? As you say, if you're really active and you're a builder, you're a painter, you're a decorator, Okay, your breakfast need may be completely different than if you're actually sat behind a screen to four hours. I'll tell you who loves oatmeal, Kipchogi. He does. And Kipchogi is one of the world's fastest runners at distance. So, you know, it gives you the context, you know,

just using that very simple example, that's someone who's going to thrive on oats. I'm not saying that you can't thrive on oats unless you're like, you know, an ultra marathon or distance runner. but that's sort of the ballpark of where people are going to be thriving owners. So how have you changed the way you do oats to meet these three criteria?

So whilst I'm someone who exercises most days, I have a very simple base formula for my oatmeal in the morning. So I do overnight oats. In a big tub, which is literally what I had this morning, I'll have two tablespoons of oats, which isn't actually that much. It's around 30 grams of oats. Two tablespoons of milled flaxseed,

a tablespoon of chia seed, and a tablespoon of shelled hemp seed. Let's go through the nutritionals. So oats are largely carbohydrates there, right? Quite low in protein, has some beta glucans. Milled flaxseed is around 20, 25 grams of protein with large amounts of fiber as well. Chia is on the lower side of protein in terms of the different seeds,

but it's still quite a rich protein source, around 8 grams per 100 grams or something like that. Sheld hemp seeds is 30 grams per 100 grams of protein and it is one of those novel plant proteins that has all nine essential amino acids as well. I have that as my base and then I combine flavors on top of that so I have raw cacao again another really rich protein source. Sometimes I'll also add a protein powder I'm sure we're going to get to protein powders a little bit later the pros and cons of those and then I'll have either water or a milk of choice that in my case is either full fat dairy or it's a plant milk that doesn't have

any fillers or any extra sugars in. That compared to a typical overnight oats recipe is much higher in protein. It's like two different meals, isn't it? Completely different. When you look at the nutritionals, the one that I've just described to you is around 35 grams of protein, the previous one was sub 10. Have you noticed they, I think you've already answered this, but let's just highlight like the point, you've had times in your life where you'd have a standard bowl of oatmeal. Yeah. And how did you feel throughout that morning, energy, focus, hunger compared to when you're having your new, you know, improved, supercharged overnight oats, basically, with all these other

protein and gut health sources? It's like night and day. It really is not in day. So you can feel a difference. You can feel the difference. Like, as I'm chatting to you now, I know I've had a couple of cups of coffee. but my focus, my energy, is completely steady. I'm not feeling like, gosh, I'm going to have another biscuit

or gosh, you know, I wonder if I'm going to have a snack in between lunchtime, which I used to feel, particularly when I was working full-time in A&E. I now have this steady energy because I'm powering myself first thing in the morning with protein. And that's a mantra that I'm sort of getting people to think about. It's protein first power all day. if you have protein first in the morning, it will give you power all day. You will be, you will have better energy. You will have less fatigue and less cravings as well. And so you're tipping the balance towards more protein, higher fiber, less inflammation. It's a very simple way of

analyzing any time you sit down to eat and what's in front of you and what's on your plate and how you can make some very simple tweaks. And I do this in the book quite a bit. It's, you know, can you add just one more? Can you swap this for that? And in terms of proteins, you know, there is a protein calculator for free that you can use in the book and it actually personalizes it to your age,

your activity level, with your postmenopausal, all sorts of personalization there. So in terms of breakfast, I always think about are there leftovers that I can have for breakfast? Breakfast, I think, has got this brand of having to be sweet,

Whereas actually, if you look at traditional diets, they tend to be very savory. Like my traditional diet, Punjabi breakfast is definitely a savour affair. It's whole wheat, it's dull, it's spinach, it's yogurt. These are all high protein ingredients that when combined together will give me enough sustenance for the day. Can you layer different proteins on top of each other? So just like I did with my oatmeal, I'm layering shelled hemp seeds, cacao, chia seeds, can you use toppers? Can you think about your breakfast in a, in a savory manner? What about savory breakfast? They tend to be higher protein by virtue of the fact that using

savory umami ingredients. My team, whenever I come in in the morning, they look at me, they used to look at me quite strange because I would literally pile everything into a little frying pan, and put the lid on. And my go-to in the mornings is some kale, pumpkin seeds, hot smoke salmon, a little bit of olive oil on top of my protein bread. And I literally just put that on the hob, put the lid on. And literally, I'm not exaggerating. It literally takes me five, six minutes. And I eat it straight out of the pan because it's actually quite a small saucepan. And they used to think, oh, isn't that funny, like, Rupi eating out of the pan and stuff, like for his breakfast. But now they've all started.

doing it because I espoused these benefits of healthy high protein and they notice the benefits themselves as well because they're more intuitive about how they feel mid-morning and they have a lot more energy. And that's one of the things I really like about this approach is that it does simplify eating for people, right? Even those three questions that you propose, right? Is there enough protein on my plate to meet my requirements? Are there ingredients in this meal that are going to support my gut health? Is the overall impact of this meal going to be anti-inflammatory? And, you know, there's a lot more education on that in your book for people who are interested. But it's not a bad way for people to assess breakfast, lunch, and all their meals, frankly, is it?

It's quite a nice, elegant framework to think about your food. What about someone who's listening, Rupee? And, you know, they're interested in their health, but, you know, they're busy. They've got to rush out in the morning. They don't have much time for breakfast. And so, I don't know, let's say their current breakfast is two pieces of toast, butter, and strawberry jam. Okay. So if that person came to you and said, Rupi, okay, listen, I'm hearing what you're saying here. I think from what you're saying, Rupi, that's probably a breakfast low in

protein. Make the case to that person why they should think about changing it. And if they are going to change it, can you recommend something for them? Okay. Let's play with this. So let's imagine I'm not really asking you to change anything at all. If you fancy bread in the morning, toasted with butter, fine. Sounds delicious. Let's think about the bread first off, okay? So stage one is can we swap that white bread that is devoid of nutrients and actually they've had them stripped out

and then artificially added in in the flour to meet the recommended targets that are set by the government? can we swap that for a slightly higher protein bread? Now, bread doesn't naturally have that much protein in, but if you go for something like a sourdough, because of the fermentation process that has been allowed to actually release a lot of those proteins that are naturally in the grain,

your protein absorption actually increases and the total amount of protein within that bread actually increases as well by a factor of around 100%. So that's not a bad swap. if we're just looking for those marginal gains and I'm doing the least amount I can for this individual, that's probably something I would suggest. Let's imagine

that you're going one step further. I've actually got a recipe in the book. You do, I was going to ask about that. For my own bread, right? And that one slice of bread offers around 8 grams of protein. And the reason why is because we're using nuts and seeds

and cillium husk, which is naturally high in protein, high in fiber, to deliver what is a really accessible and easy protein rich meal in the morning. So if all you've got time for is popping some bread in the in the toaster or under the grill, then that offers you a really easy option. And that bread, I'm not a baker. I do not like baking. I don't do cakes. I don't anything. That bread recipe, you put everything into a bowl, add a bit of water and oil, put it into a loaf tin and in the oven for about 60 minutes. I do this once a week with me and my wife. We have it every single week and we absolutely love it. And to go one step further, which is something that I do

in the mornings as well, you can use that bread and instead of putting butter on it, maybe try peanut butter. What about tahini? What about some sort of seed butter? Because that again pushes your protein slightly higher. And then if you've got a little bit more time, exactly seven minutes, pop a couple of eggs into some boiling water. And that way you are far surpassing the 25 or 30 grams of protein that you may require in the morning. And I almost guarantee, I know I don't make guarantees, but I'm confident that people who have enough protein in the morning for breakfast will not have those sneaky cravings mid-morning anymore. We've seen it hundreds of times, right, with patients. If all you take from this entire podcast is to eat more protein at

breakfast and then pay attention. Just pay attention to what happens in the day. I think people will be quite surprised. I agree. Try it for a week and assess for yourself. Do you feel better? Because ultimately, that will be, that's where you find the gold. I hope you enjoyed that bite size clip. Do spread the love by sharing this episode with your friends and family. And if you want more, why not go back and listen to the original full conversation with my guest. If you enjoyed this episode, I think you will really enjoy my bite-sized Friday email. It's called the Friday 5 and each week I share things that I do not share on social media. It contains five short doses of positivity, articles or books that I'm reading, quotes that I'm thinking about, exciting

research I've come across and so much more. I really think you're going to love it. The goal is for it to be a small yet powerful dose of feel good to get you ready for the weekend. You can sign up for it free of charge at dr chattery.com forward slash friday five. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Make sure you have pressed subscribe and I'll be back next week with my long form conversation on Wednesday and the latest episode of bite science next Friday.