Sugary Breakfast Cereals – The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
Breakfast cereal is one of the most overrated health foods. By and large, they are the nutritional equivalent of vitamin and mineral-fortified low-fat cookies with a sprinkle of added isolated fibers. Even cereals that market themselves as healthy options are deceiving consumers in plain sight.
Cereals like Special K are particularly deceitful because they engage in health-washing even though their sugar content is still quite hefty. The other big no-no for the doctors TODAY.com spoke to include any breakfast items that are high in sugar and refined or simple carbohydrates with little nutritional value, such as donuts, pancakes, sugary cereals and packaged toaster pastries.
Store-Bought Smoothies – Sugar Bombs in Disguise
A store-bought fruit smoothie can pack 58 grams of sugar in a single 16-oz bottle. Jamba Juice’s banana berry smoothie, for instance, has a whopping 58 grams in 16 ounces. That’s more sugar than you’d find in a can of soda, yet these drinks carry a health halo that makes people think they’re making smart choices.
Pre-made smoothies or options from smoothie shops can be loaded with added sugar and might not have enough fiber, protein, or fat to keep you satiated. If your smoothie tastes sweet, it’s likely full of sugar – many store-bought options have almost as much sugar as a soda. The convenience factor makes these drinks particularly dangerous for busy people trying to make healthy choices on the go.
Granola Bars – Candy Bars With Better Marketing
Many granola bars are full of added sugar, coated in chocolate and dressed up with a little protein powder – making them nothing more than a glorified candy bar. “I’ve seen bars with as much as 25 grams of added sugar, which is ludicrous,” says Andy Bellatti.
Commercially manufactured granola bars, on average, contain a much sugar as many candy bars. Some granola bars are essentially candy bars disguised as a “healthy” food choice. “Many granola bars on the market are often low in protein, low in fiber, and high in added sugars, leaving you less than satisfied,” says Jamie Adams, MS, RD, LD
Bulletproof Coffee – The Fat-Burning Myth
The current trend of dumping butter into your coffee (the “bulletproof” recipe calls for butter and MCT oil) is ridiculous for a couple of reasons. First off, the idea that it’s a fat-burning drink is completely false. If anything, it’s a fat-gaining drink.
Butter is not a magic food. If anything, it’s a food that needs to be carefully moderated since it can adversely affect blood lipid profile by increasing apolipoprotein B (apo B) levels, which has the potential to raise the risk for cardiovascular disease. In addition to raising apo B levels, adding supplemental MCT oil to coffee has the potential to raise fasting blood glucose and triglyceride levels. The trendy drink that promises to burn fat could actually be doing the exact opposite.
Store-Bought Muffins – Dessert Masquerading as Breakfast
Store-bought muffins look delightful – even the bran ones – but they typically have over 600 calories each. Plus, they are high in saturated fat and added sugar and don’t provide better-for-you nutrients like fiber and protein to help keep you feeling full.
What makes these breakfast treats particularly sneaky is their association with healthiness. Bran muffins sound wholesome, but they’re often loaded with just as much sugar and fat as their blueberry or chocolate chip counterparts. The massive portion sizes found in coffee shops and convenience stores make things even worse, turning what should be a light breakfast into a calorie bomb that leaves you hungry again within hours.
Fruit-Only Smoothies – The Sugar Rush Trap
A typical homemade fruit smoothie came to a whopping 65g carbs and 37g sugar. For perspective, that’s just 2g shy of the sugar content in an entire can of full-sugar Coca-Cola… or over 9 teaspoons of sugar. The total calories were 396kcal, but 264 calories (67%) came from carbohydrates, of which 152 calories (38% of the total) came from sugar alone.
All-natural smoothies packed with fresh fruit and oats are likely to contain a lot of sugar. While they might provide a worthy vitamin-boost, sipping on a sugar-packed smoothie for breakfast could seriously rev up your appetite and calorie intake later in the day. The natural sugars in fruit become problematic when consumed in large quantities through blended drinks.
Avocado Toast – The Incomplete Meal
You will find variations of this popular combo on feeds and restaurant menus but there is a way to make avocado toast a better breakfast according to Samantha Cassetty, MS, RD, New York City-based nutrition and wellness expert. “I love the combo of avocado over toast, but I never eat it on its own because it doesn’t contain enough protein.”
Generally speaking, people benefit from at least 20 grams of protein in the morning – more if you’re trying to lose weight or gain strength. If I’m eating avocado toast for breakfast, I’m serving it with eggs on top and a latte on the side to bump up the protein. The Instagram-famous breakfast might look healthy, but it falls short of providing sustained energy for your morning.
Processed Breakfast Meats – Cancer Risk on a Plate
Again and again, the experts told TODAY.com that they avoid processed meats, which include classic breakfast meats like bacon and sausage. “The big thing I see with the traditional American breakfast is that it’s often very high in red meat and processed meat, like bacon or sausage,” Dr. Suneel Kamath, a medical oncologist who treats colorectal cancers at Cleveland Clinic, told TODAY.com.
“I try to minimize the amount of processed meats that I eat, as they are associated with an increased risk of stomach and colorectal cancer,” said Ho, a gastroenterologist. The convenience and taste of bacon and sausage come with serious health consequences that most people prefer to ignore while enjoying their weekend brunch.
Instant Oatmeal Packets – Fiber Fraud
While plain oats are genuinely healthy, the flavored instant packets tell a different story entirely. These convenient breakfast options are often loaded with artificial flavors, excessive amounts of added sugar, and minimal fiber compared to their steel-cut counterparts. The processing removes much of the beneficial nutrition that makes oats a superfood in the first place.
Oatmeal came up again and again as a healthy, fiber-rich favorite. Steel-cut oats are “high in fiber, including the soluble fiber beta-glucan, which keeps the gut regular and prevents constipation,” gastroenterologist Dr. Wendy Ho, health sciences clinical professor at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, told TODAY.com previously. The key difference lies in choosing the right type of oats and avoiding the sugar-laden instant varieties.
Energy Bars – Caffeine and Sugar in Disguise
Let’s take a look at the nutritional content of its Annabar Cinnamon Swirl Crunch. One bar has 285 calories, 11 grams of fat, 17 grams of sugar, and only 1 gram of fiber. At 20 grams, the bar is high in protein. While the protein content seems impressive, the sugar and calorie load make these bars more suitable for athletes than average people.
The Anabar is meant for athletes building muscle, and not for the average person looking for a healthy breakfast bar. At 285 calories, it’s on the high end of calories compared to other breakfast bars. It’s also low on fiber and contains a high level of added sugar at 15 grams. The marketing around these products often targets busy professionals, but the nutritional profile tells a different story about who should actually be eating them.
