I’m excited to share this delicious, high fibre recipe with you all. Whatever your age, guy or gal, this is a quick, easy solution to getting a good dose of all the macronutrients before you step out of the house. Or, pop it in your bag and have it for an energy boosting morning tea! Learn how to make my Milky Protein Overnight Oats…
Before we get to the recipe, let me give you some context around protein and fibre needs. These are essential macronutrients for your health, the other one is carbohydrates. Let’s love them all, but in the right proportions :)!
How much you need to be healthy
This is how much you need for optimal health, energy, mood and digestion. Not to mention hormone health. However, depending on your unique health status, you may need more of some. For example, if you’re in midlife you’ll need more protein and fibre and less carbohydrate.
- Protein: Women need 1.7 – 2.4 grams protein per Kg of bodyweight (i.e 70Kg body needs 119 – 168g protein daily) according to Dr Stacy Sims
- Fibre: Women need 25g fibre daily and men need 30g fibre daily. In midlife, women can eat more fibre to combat weight gain and assist in reducing cholesterol (which tends to rise in the transition period to menopause).
- Hydration: We all need 33mL pure water per Kg of bodyweight daily (i.e 50Kg body needs 1,650mL water daily
The problem is, currently women are not eating enough protein and fibre. According to Erdélyi et al., (2023) women over the age of 50 years in the Western world eat a diet that favours fat and salt, and is deficient in fruit, vegetables and calcium. Furthermore, during perimenopause a woman’s basal metabolic rate drops around 250–300 kcal per day. Eating more fat and being less able to metabolise our food is a recipe for unhealthy body composition.
For the midlifers!
Why do I need to refine the way I eat in midlife?
There are over 3 million Australian women in midlife right now, and this section is for you. Although I love working with herbal medicines for my clients, undoubtedly we need to make dietary changes to ensure that we can achieve the health outcomes we’re striving toward. The first of those is maintaining healthy weight and body composition (i.e the proportion of lean muscle to fat in your body).
According to Poehlman (2002) if women DON’T change their diet to mitigate the effects of slowing metabolism and changing hormones in midlife, there is a risk of gaining up to 2Kg bodyweight every year. Menopause is linked to poorer energy expenditure and increased loss of fat-free mass in the body (i.e muscle) along with increased fat mass around the organs in the abdomen (visceral fat). Increasing protein and fibre intake is a natural first step to addressing this phenomenon.
…therefore the goal my friends, is to keep your waist circumference in check, minimise your risk of cardiovascular and metabolic disease and prevent or reduce the risk of insulin resistance, metabolic associated fatty liver and other metabolic conditions including polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (previously PCOS).
Another reason that sticking with the same diet you’ve had through your 20’s can wreak havoc in your 40’s and beyond, is that during the menopause transition women go through a neuroendocrine shift. This includes the brain struggling with glucose usage (brain fog anyone?), and the disruption of neurochemicals such as serotonin and acetylcholine. In order to support healthy mood and cognition, it’s important to pro-actively replenish our neurochemistry through a diet rich in protein.
…therefore the goal is to help you learn, focus and remember effectively.
By eating a high protein diet you also support healthy stress response. The proteins you eat contain amino acids, the building blocks for stress hormones like adrenalin and noradrenalin. This helps to combat the midlife cortisol belly. For more on this have a listen to my episode on the link between oestrogen withdrawal and serotonin instability on the Well Woman podcast. Here I explain the drivers for mood change and cognitive decline in midlife. Listen to ‘Feel Better: Top tips for lifting mood in midlife ep.43’
Milky Protein Overnight Oats
This recipe provides:
- ~ 75g protein
- ~ 50g fibre
Divide this into two jars and you have a tasty way to boost your protein and fibre intake. You’ll meet your base fibre requirement, and you can also add more protein powder to cover two days dosage (rather than one).
- The rolled oats give 5g protein and 45g fibre.
- The Golden Hemp Protein powder (at two daily serves amount) gives 50-60g protein.
- The mango provides 1.5g fibre.
- The chia gives 5g fibre and 4.5g protein.
- The Greek yoghurt provides 20g protein.
It’s important to eat healthy fats, but I’ve played around with milks to use some that are less fatty than coconut milk (87% fat). So you could also contemplate using a high protein soy milk in place of the coconut milk which increases the protein content further.
One last thing: you may need to add more milk to make the oats more moist, depending on your preference.
Milky Protein Overnight Oats (Sze, 2026)
Milky Protein Overnight Oats
Equipment
- 2 Clean glass jars
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup organic rolled oats
- 1/4 cup probiotic yoghurt drink e.g Rokeby Probiotic Yoghurt
- 1/2 can organic coconut milk
- 8 pieces frozen mango chunks
- 2 serves Golden Hemp Protein Powder or your chosen protein powder. Aim to get around 50g protein in total.
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp chia seeds
- 1/2 cup Greek yoghurt
- sprinkle salt your chosen salt
- 1 tsp vanilla paste
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a large jar (or 2 smaller jars). Cover and leave in the fridge to set overnight.
- If you like your oats more runny, add more coconut milk.
If you liked this recipe you might also like some of my others:
Hey there! Welcome to my world of totally natural and powerful healing medicines. Medicines from nature. Medicine from Source. I’m a naturopath and herbalist with over twenty years of clinical experience working with a range of health conditions including hormonal, metabolic, mental health, sleep and more.
I’ve brought together years of clinical and teaching experience, academic skill and curiosity to bring you this blog. I hope you enjoy it!
References
- Erdélyi, A., Pálfi, E., Tűű, L., Nas, K., Szűcs, Z., Török, M., Jakab, A., & Várbíró, S. (2023). The Importance of Nutrition in Menopause and Perimenopause-A Review. Nutrients, 16(1), 27. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16010027 Link
- Poehlman, E. T. (2002). Menopause, energy expenditure, and body composition. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, 81(7), 603–611. https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0412.2002.810705.x Link
Sims, S (2024, October 13) Why Women Need to Prioritize Protein. Dr Stacy Sims. Link
