How Healthy is Your Breakfast?
By Sara Butler
Starting your day off with a healthy breakfast is important, but it’s also a time when people tend to give in and indulge a bit. After all, you’re starting a new day with a blank calories slate – why not? You have to be careful because breakfast can be full of fat, sugar and carbohydrate landmines for you to navigate. Here are some breakfast foods you should be eating and a few that you should stay away from.
Poor Breakfast Food Choices
It’s time to come to terms with your breakfast and understand there are some foods that you would be better off avoiding for the sake of your health. Here are a few foods that should only grace your breakfast table one in a blue moon.
- Sweetened, sugary cereals - These sugar-laden cereals may make a lot of claims about their benefits to your health, but if you’re eating sugary cereal first thing in the morning there are better ways to start off your day. Some sweetened cereals have as much as 24 grams of carbohydrates and 15 grams of sugar in just one serving.
- Donuts - These sugar bombs might grace your office breakroom frequently, but you need to just pass them right on by. It goes without saying these treats are typically loaded with sugar, but they also happen to pack in a lot of salt. Just one donut can have 20 percent of your recommended daily allowance of sodium. A donut every once in a while won’t be the worst thing you can do, but they are not a breakfast staple.
- Pancakes - This one may seem cruel, but the hard truth is that pancakes aren’t good for you. They are packed with carbohydrates and sugar and won’t leave you satisfied for long. The best course of action with pancakes, should you choose to have them once in a while, is to pair them with eggs or another protein in order to try to balance out your meal.
- Bacon - This sizzling breakfast staple shouldn’t be a morning go-to. It has a lot of saturated fat and sodium, so try to keep your bacon consumption to reasonable levels. It’s not valuable to your overall nutrition, so you’re better off making it a treat.
Healthier Morning Choices
Here are a few foods you should welcome to your breakfast table with open arms. Your stomach and your waistline will thank you later.
- Granola with fruit
- Whole grain toast
- Eggs
Start off your day with a healthy breakfast, and you’re guaranteed to be feeling the effects all day long!