They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Nutritionists advise you to eat breakfast during the holidays to avoid overeating at big meals. We’ve written before about seemingly healthy snacks and entrees that aren’t what they are billed as being. Today, we are looking at foods that are far from being the breakfast of champions. We all know without thinking that doughnuts are bad. We realize that a bran muffin is secretly just an unfrosted cupcake. But, other foods mislead us. They are sold as the wholesome choice while being packed with sugar, fat and preservatives.
We’ll shun a toaster pastry and reach for the canister of apple cinnamon without hesitation. Oatmeal is filled with fiber that helps stabilize glucose. Its whole grains keep you full while not drastically impacting your blood sugar. It’s a balanced food that is packed with nutrients. Overall, oatmeal is a darn good breakfast… until companies start messing it around. Packed with sugar and instant oats that are low in fiber, when you eat instant oatmeal you might as well be eating Lucky Charms!
Ads tell us that protein shakes are an excellent way for busy people to eat a meal, gain muscle and lose weight. Swapping a liquid for food doesn’t aid satiation. While they may be lower in calories than a meal, many of them are filled with sugar. “You'd be better off taking a scoop of sugar and adding it to water than drinking all of the chemical non-food, sugar-laden ingredients that make up SlimFast,” said certified nutritionist Melissa Eboli. They can also be filled with contaminants like heavy metals.
It’s logical that turkey bacon is healthier than pork. The problem is that the highly processed turkey bacon has fat and flavors added to it to make it taste more like bacon. Additionally, turkey meat does not have anywhere near the protein pork has. Real bacon also has heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. While you shouldn’t be eating bacon every day, the occasional piece of bacon is no worse than the sodium-packed turkey imitator.
Egg white omelets are one of the most disappointing things you can have for breakfast. They just don’t have the flavor or texture of a regular omelet. It turns out they also aren’t as healthy! Egg yolks have fat and cholesterol, which they have long been maligned for containing. But, they have been shown to raise HDL, the good cholesterol linked positively to heart health.
On the other hand, the egg yolk is mostly water with little nutritional value. When we’re being “good” we’re not just ordering a less tasty omelet: we’re also requesting a less healthy one! Studies have seen that egg yolks and whites work together to make a healthy food.
With all this in mind, it seems the best option is to consider your choices, read labels and have a sensible portion of something that sounds good to you. Remember that fruit, whole grains and simplicity with rarely lead you wrong!
