Fortunately, there are some fairly easy options to fix this, and none of them involve giving up your protein shakes, or using IV’s.

1. Digestive Enzymes: Always take digestive enzymes about 15 min before liquid calories. Digestive enzyme deficiency is extremely common, and if you’re blasting your body full of high speed calories from a shake, you can bet you’re not getting nearly as much out of it as you should be. Even if you’re not enzyme deficient to any significant degree, you will not be producing nearly the amounts of enzymes as you would be by consuming a solid food meal.

   Any generic enzyme won’t cut it, however. Use a plant based full spectrum enzyme that is designed to break down in varying pH’s. I personally use Garden of Life’s ‘Omega Zyme Ultra’ with myself and clients.

2. Eat some food right before your shake: shakes always lack good fats, so have some nuts or natural peanut butter (chew the PB though, don’t swallow it like an oyster, weirdo). A bit of organic beef jerky is another great option that’s easy to take anywhere you can take a shake. Anything really, that gets you chewing.
3. Chew some gum: sounds silly, but if you’re in a pinch, throw a piece of gum in your mouth for a minute before you start sipping on your shake. It will trick your body into starting the digestion process. Continue to chew it while you’re drinking your shake if the flavors don’t excessively collide.
4. Sip Slowly: don’t slam your shake down like it’s a race. Sip on it like a civilized human and give your body some time to adjust to the influx of calories.
5. Drape a T-Bone Air Freshener over the lip of your shaker cup: Take advantage of the Cephalic Phase of digestion, Click Here. (Kidding, but feel free to send pics of you actually doing it).

Q: What are your thoughts on carbohydrates in the first meal of the day? I’ve heard people say this is an optimal time for carbs due to the overnight fast which leaves glycogen low and insulin sensitivity high. I want to have carbs to take advantage of this, but I always end up sleepy afterwards, or crashing in a few hours. Any thoughts?

A: For most people, I’m against non-veggie carbs in the morning. Although this is contrary to popular belief, my reasons speak for themselves. The main problem is that we practically have an Adrenal Fatigue epidemic on our hands. People don’t sleep enough, take in too many stimulants, use poor recovery methods from training, and don’t nourish their bodies the way they need to for optimal hormone function.

How does this relate to carbs in the morning? Adrenal Fatigue leads to excessively high cortisol levels, and cortisol directly impairs insulin sensitivity (1), (2). This becomes the worst time to put carbs in your body, as you are going to be highly insulin resistant, and a breakfast full of carbs will lead to fat gain, energy disturbances, and further impairment of insulin signaling.

Even if you take care of your body and are not experiencing any sort of adrenal fatigue, cortisol levels are always highest in the morning, at least 3x higher, and a whopping 10x higher than at night!

I can’t count how many clients I’ve had switch their morning meals full of things like oatmeal, fruits, cereal, etc., to something like scrambled eggs with chopped veggies. The typical outcome is 5 or more pounds of fat loss within 10-14 days, and a huge increase in energy during the day.

References

1.Rizza, RA, LJ Mandarino, JE Gerich. 2. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 54(1982): 131-138.