RAD Diet 2: What can I Eat for Breakfast?
By
A few years back, if you had told me that I was being sent to a desert island and could only bring two foods with me, I would have declared, without hesitation, that I could survive on just cereal and pizza. Now, I never ate a ton of pizza for obvious health reasons. But cereal…well, I thought it was relatively healthy, and it always served as my breakfast of choice (Kellogg’s Frosted Mini Wheats being the clear favorite). Quite frequently, it was my dinner of choice, too, after a long work day. So you can imagine my dismay when first milk was taken away, and then I was told to limit packaged cereal consumption as part of the RAD Diet. I can’t skip breakfast—it throws my eating for the whole day. And you may have seen articles where nutritionists universally agree that a balanced breakfast helps you start the day right and eat fewer calories throughout the day.
Now my go-to breakfast food has become oatmeal. Prior to the RAD diet, I had the same tiny canister of oatmeal in the back of the pantry for years, well past its expiration date, and used only for the occasional baking recipe. Now I buy Quaker oatmeal in a 10-pound box at Costco (only $6.89)! I have created my own recipe that I call Antioxidant Oatmeal, because I load it with healthy berries and spices that have antioxidants. I throw in nuts for Omega 3 fatty acids and protein, not to mention that I love the crunchiness. I have actually grown to crave oatmeal and have learned to create lots of varieties to prevent boredom. I also appreciate how much more full it keeps me (and regular too, if I can be indelicate for a moment). It takes just a few minutes to make.
ANTIOXIDANT OATMEAL
1-1/2 cups water
dash of salt (optional
¾ cup oats (Old Fashioned or Quick Oats…not Instant)
small handful of chopped walnuts or slivered almonds
handful of dried or fresh fruit, chopped—Craisins, dates, blueberries, peaches, bananas, etc.
dash of cloves
dash of nutmeg (or substitute Mace or Allspice)
lots of ginger
lots of cinnamon
Stevia natural sweetener, to taste
Almond milk (original or vanilla)
Bring the water and salt to a rolling boil. Add oats and stir frequently. When about half cooked, add nuts and fruits (if berries, add after cooking is complete to prevent overcooking). Continue stirring until oatmeal reaches desired consistency. Transfer hot oatmeal to a bowl; add spices, Stevia, and a few tablespoons of almond milk.
Cinnamon and ginger are great for you, and it is hard to add too much. However, cloves and nutmeg are very strong spices, so go easy until you find the amount you prefer. Another option is to use pumpkin pie spice that you can buy pre-mixed (it basically contains these same spices). I keep Diamond walnuts, slivered Fisher almonds, fresh and frozen berries, Craisins, chopped dates, and Sun-Maid golden raisins on hand all the time, so that I can make different combinations everyday. For the almond milk, I prefer Silk (refrigerated half gallon), but Blue Diamond Almond Breeze and Almond Dream are also quite good. You could also experiment with adding natural maple syrup or raw honey as a sweetener. Add a cup of green or oolong tea to your morning routine and you are upping the nutrition factor even more. Here are some of my favorite flavor combinations for the oatmeal:
Blueberry Almond (freeze some blueberries now while they are cheap and plentiful)
Peach Almond (or nectarine…with or without skins)
Banana Walnut (great way to use an overripe banana)
Cranberry Walnut
Chopped Dates and Walnuts
Apple Raisin Walnut (without the apple skin)
Strawberry Almond
I recently read an article on the RealAge website (by Drs. Oz and Roizen, citing the work of Dr. Roberta Lee and The SuperStress Solution), and they confirmed my suspicions that eating this actually makes me feel better. Apparently walnuts, oatmeal, and tea boost the production of the brain’s “feel-good” chemicals and fight the effects of stress. The oatmeal contains tryptophan, a building block of the feel-good chemical serotonin, and lots of fiber to keep you feeling full. The nuts contain Omega 3’s, which nerve cells and brain chemicals thrive on, and which are thought to help stave off depression. All this, plus cholesterol lowering properties and antioxidants too! I am wondering why I ever thought ready-to-eat cereal was so healthy when this is clearly a better choice.
There is some debate over whether those with gluten sensitivities can eat oatmeal. According to information I found online, oats themselves do not contain gluten; however, they are often grown and processed along side gluten-containing wheat or rye, and a very small percentage of people cannot tolerate even that small amount of cross-contamination of the gluten. If you are concerned, there are varieties of gluten free oatmeal available. Also, if you are diabetic, you may want to pay attention to the carbs not only in the oatmeal, but in the add-ins (for instance, Craisins can be high in sugar).
I hope you will give Antioxidant Oatmeal a try. Once you get into a routine, it takes just 5 minutes to prepare. In fact, the worst part of the whole process is cleaning the pot! (Soak it immediately and it will be easier later). On those days when oatmeal doesn’t sound appetizing, you can still eat eggs (try to eat no more than 3 eggs with yolks per week because of the cholesterol). And sometimes I do still eat boxed cereal, but I try to keep my cereal choices to those that are wheat free, such as Corn Chex, and I use almond or rice milk. Also check out Carole Reed’s recipe on this site for a delicious berry shake. That could be a healthy breakfast alternative on some days too.
Top o’ the morning to ya! What’s your favorite breakfast that works with the RAD diet?
Tina
So Delicious makes an unsweetened coconut milk that I use on my oatmeal.
Hi VirginaBlue,
You have asked some good–and tricky–questions regarding the diet. First let me tackle the easy one. Both spelt and rye have gluten, so if you know you have a gluten allergy, you should avoid them. If you don’t have a gluten allergy, then they might be ok to eat on the RAD diet. I say “might” because there is a lot of confusion around the “no wheat rule” and whether it pertains to those of us without a gluten allergy. According to Dr. Herbst, modern day breads made with wheat are very different from what was made in the old days. This is primarily because it is made to rise faster and fit modern mass-production standards. As a result, the gluten and nutrient contents are different, and could potentially cause gut inflammation even among those of us that are not gluten intolerant. Since we are trying to stem all inflammation to stop fat growth and speed healing of our bodies, that is obviously not good. Spelt is closely related to wheat, not sure about rye’s relationship to wheat (other than it has gluten). It is an interesting and confusing enough topic to be the subject of a future blog post…but I need to become more educated about this first. As I indicated in my post on sandwiches, I do still eat wheat, although I try to minimize it.
Now on to your question about fat. I don’t have a breakdown between how much good fat and bad fat to eat daily. I think the answer would be 100% good fat. However, as a rule of thumb, you want to keep your diet to under 30% calories from fat. So assuming you eat a 2000 calorie daily diet (which is what all the food companies base their stats on), then you want to eat no more than 600 calories from fat. A gram of fat is 9 calories, so that would be 67 grams of fat per day. I hope that is the info you were looking for.
I am so pleased to hear that the diet is making you feel better. Don’t worry about losing pounds…sadly, that may not happen. But it is still the right thing to do to stick to it for your overall health. If you have any RAD Recipes you would like me to post for the group, please send them to TinaTranfaglia@fatdisorders.org, and I will make them available.
I also wanted to alert you to a new feature on our website. In the upper right corner, we have added the ability to subscribe to the FDRS blog. So every time there is a new article posted (by me or one of us at FDRS), you will get an email announcement. You won’t get alerts when other members of the community respond to your comments though…so you have to keep checking back for that.
Thanks for writing,
Tina
Thanks Tina and all of my fellow RAD’s (I have Dercum’s)out there for the great questions, good tips and delicious recipes. I would love to see a forum for recipes too as I cook often, have made some pretty good meals using my newly found food friends, and would like to share them with others. I have been on this diet for three weeks now and have seen a significant decrease in my pain levels. Has anyone else experienced such a quick response in symptoms by going on this diet? I am so encouraged by my results, but want to make sure I don’t have the “placebo effect”. Although I am logging my caloric intake and energy expenditure on caloriecount.about.com and am showing a good sized calorie deficit, I still haven’t lost any weight. I would love to see some results in that arena as I need encouragement there too. Maybe I’m asking for too much!
Questions for Tina: How many grams of good fat is the guideline for the diet? I am trying to be moderate, but still am unsure of the measurements. (I love coconut oil, I could drink it if I didn’t know better and have craved fats all my life.) Also is spelt or rye flour okay? I know spelt is an ancient grain but unsure about it not having gluten. Rye crisps are a low calorie alternative for bread/crackers, but I really don’t know about that either.
Thanks!
Thank you so much for this info Tina! It is very helpful! I was drinking a lot of Crystal Light so I plan to make that change also. I look forward to looking for the Pure Fitness Crystal Light. I had switched to Stevia awhile back in place of Splenda.
I am not diabetic. I have not been tested for a Gluten or wheat allergy but it seems like a something I should try to have done.
Thank you!
You are welcome, Carrie. I believe, for the gluten intolerance, you can start with a simple blood test. If it is positive, you will have your answer. However, there is a high percentage of false negatives. So if you are negative, which I was, the only sure way to know is that they take a tissue sample during an endoscopy.
One more question – is there a RAD Diet Cookbook? If there is, where could I purchase one. If not, we could make one and sell it on this site to raise money!
(I updated my username from above so you all would know my first name)
Hi everyone!
I am 31 years old I was recently diagnosed with Lipedema after YEARS of misdiagnosis (a doctor suspected I had it and after a lot of research I finally believe this is the correct diagnosis). I can’t even begin to explain how happy I was to find this website. I have had a lot of trouble with getting any help or direction from doctors. The RAD Diet answers a lot of my questions that I had about diet. I look forward to this forum and the great ideas that will come from it.
I do have a few questions about the RAD Diet. Are the following foods acceptable with the diet:
Baby red potatos?
Sprouted grain bread such as Ezekial products?
Is all fruit ok?
Egg Substitute?
Almond butter or all natural peanut butter with flax seed?
Crystal Light?
I really appreciate your help and advice! I was following a diet similar to the RAD Diet but was eating a version of turkey almost every day! Eeek! Now I know to stay away. I can’t wait to see if cutting out turkey makes me feel better!!
Thank you!
Hi Carrie,
I am sorry to hear about your Lipedema, but glad you have found a community and it’s always good to have a firm diagnosis. I love your idea about a cookbook and hope we can work towards that! Thanks for a great suggestion. At the very least, stay tuned as we post recipes in the future. In the meantime, let me answer your other questions as best I can, regarding whether these foods are part of the RAD diet:
Baby red potatos?–I think these would be OK in limited quantities, provided you are not diabetic. I don’t know that they are any better nutritionally than white potatoes (maybe the skin is), but they still are starchy/carbs.
Sprouted grain bread such as Ezekial products? I have heard of this, but am not exactly sure of the ingredients. There is a high correlation with gluten sensitivity and some of the RADs. If you don’t have a gluten sensitivity (or there is none in this bread) it is probably OK. Certainly whole grains are better than refined starches and sugars. And all natural, less processed would be better still. I know for sure that I do not have gluten intolerance (based on blood test and endoscopy/biopsy), so I actually do eat wheat still.
Is all fruit ok? I am not aware of any restricted fruits, the only caveat being if you are diabetic, you might want to watch the sugar/carbs. Many fruits are high in antioxidants–like berries–and are highly encouraged!
Egg Substitute? Yes, even whole eggs are fine in moderation, provided you don’t have a cholesterol problem.
Almond butter or all natural peanut butter with flax seed? These are good, as long as you read the ingredients and make sure there are no added hydrogenated fats. I bought a national brand of one (I think it was Skippy) and it actually had added hydrogenated fat!!! Defeats the whole purpose. The Krkland brand natural peanut butter from Costco is just peanuts and salt–all good. The Maranatha brand of nut butters is also good. I am sure you could find good ones at Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods as well.
Crystal Light? Regular Crystal Light is made with aspartame (nutrasweet)…same as diet soda…so we are supposed to avoid this “foreign substance”. However, there is a new Crystal Light that I am raving about called Pure Fitness. It is made with Stevia and cane juice/sugar. It has no artificial sweeteners, preservatives, or artifical flavors. I have only found it in Stick Packs that you add to a 16.9 oz bottle of water (I just measure 2+ cups into a glass). So far I have tried Grape, Kiwi Strawberry, and Lemonade. It is 30 calories per packet (or per bottle), so not as low as regular Crystal Light, but a good tradeoff to get away from the aspartame. I have heard rumors that the major Diet Soda brands are trying to formulate with Stevia and that they have received FDA approval…but I suspect those are a long way from launching still.
Hope that helps!
Hi all,
I just found a recipe I wanted to share…similar to Mary’s suggestion and some of the others above. I am embarrassed to admit it comes from one of the “Real Housewives”, Betheny Frankel! It starts with precooking a batch of brown rice and keeping it in the fridge.
Ingredients:
1/2 c cooked brown rice
1/4 c milk (use almond, rice, hemp, coconut)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 TBSP dried cranberries or raisins
1 tsp slivered almonds
1 TBSP maple syrup (natural is best)
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and warm up over medium heat (<5 mins). Pour into a bowl and serve immediately.
Hi Jackie,
Welcome! We have other UK residents in the RAD community (rare adipose disorders). They may not have posted something here, but they participate on various Facebook and Yahoo support group pages (feel free to connect with some of us personally using our names on the main page of this site, or join the Fat Disorders Research Society page on Facebook).
As for dietary restrictions…if you have not already read it, visit my first Diet Blog entry from a few weeks ago, called “Following the RAD diet”. All the do’s and don’ts are mapped out there. In theory, all cow’s milk is disallowed because some of the bad sialic acid found in beef can also reside in the milk. Skim milk is better than with-fat, and organic is better than non-organic…if you must indulge. Good milk substitutes include rice, almond, hemp, and coconut, in which there is no concern about sialic acid, but you may want to watch fat, calories, or carbs if you have any of those concerns. Soy milk is a no-no because of the plant estrogens it has….so use sparingly or not at all. You may even be able to find rice-milk based cheese. I have not personally tried it…I just know it is out there somewhere.
Hii – I’m new to this site and enjoying reading all your tips so far however, I seem to be the only UK resident so far – would I be right? This means that I’ve never heard of the majority of your suggestions. Can anyone come to my assistance?
I changed to a piscetarian diet 3 weeks ago but I’ve also cut out cheese (when I admitted to myself where Rennet came from). I thought I was doing OK until I discovered (today) that Soy Milk is a no no! It’s pretty disgusting but I had just gotten used to it! Is full skimmed milk allowed or is all milk (except nut/rice) banned?
This recipe sounded so good that I had to have it for dinner! I added no soy, dairy or wheat “butter” (which is actually really delicious), almond milk, a packet of stevia, a teaspoon of agave syrup, the spices and blueberries. It was amazing, I don’t even miss my usual sweets. I started the RAD diet two weeks ago and am finding it pretty easy to follow with minimal changes. Already I am having less pain in in my back, legs, butt and thighs during the day. I woke up this morning without the dull aching that I usually feel all over my body from rolling around all night in bed trying to find a comfortable spot (there weren’t any before). This is the first night in two or three years that I had restful sleep!
For dessert last night, I made a “sorbet” from frozen berries and a little bit of coconut and almond milk. Wow, it was so satisfying and delicious. I think the “nut” milks are my new comfort food and are a great base for so many things. I use it to make so many of my foods now.
Great suggestions, Ann! I have to check out the aisle at Whole Foods and see what varieties I can find to mix it up a bit.
Great article Tina!
I do a detox program occasionally that requires me to go gluten-free (and doesn’t allow oatmeal), and I have found several great cereals that I love – my favorites are Bob’s Red Mill “Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal” (gotta love that name!
and Erewhon Brown Rice Cream. There are tons of other options in the Whole Foods Cereal aisle, many made by Bob’s Red Mill. Several of them are available in “regular” grocery stores too. I like them so much that I usually eat them even when I’m not on the detox. My nutritionist said it’s a good idea to try to mix things up, not eat the same thing every day, so I try to buy several and alternate them. Most take only 5-6 minutes on the stove.
They’re going to be more expensive than Quaker at Costco, but my motto these days is that I don’t scrimp when it comes to the food I put in my body.
The other day I was making a cold grain salad with quinoa. I made a mistake and added steel cut oats instead of the quinoa, but came up with a good breakfast food that I just eat cold.
I mix short grain brown rice and steel cut oats (equal amounts) in a rice cooker, and follow the instructions for the rice.
Cool, and add fresh (or frozen) blueberries
Sweeten with Agave Nectar.
I put this in a large container in the refrigerator, and have instant breakfast food. Good for those days when the pain is high, and having to stand and cook, or even heat up something is difficult.
Easy, delicious, and healthy!
This sounds great, Mary! Thanks for sharing.