Sugary Breakfast Cereals
Here’s something that might shock you: many cereals today still contain a lot of sugar, with more than 30% of their weight coming from sugar, with many cereals having 10 to 14 grams of “added sugar” per serving. Think about that for a moment – you’re starting your day with what’s essentially candy in a bowl.
New research published in JAMA Network Open found significant increases in fat, sodium and sugar in newly launched cereals between 2010 and 2023. The numbers are alarming: fat content increased by 34%, sodium by 32%, and sugar by 11% in these newer products.
A 2011 report by the Environmental Working Group found that a 1-cup serving often contains more sugar than 3 chocolate chip cookies. When you consider that eating a serving of cereal with 14 grams of sugar puts you almost 30% of the way to your daily limit according to U.S. guidelines, or more than halfway according to WHO recommendations, it’s clear why doctors are concerned.
Bagels With Cream Cheese
Bagels from bakeries may be massive portions, with one large 4.6-ounce bagel containing nearly 350 calories and nearly 70 grams of carbohydrates. But here’s what makes them particularly problematic: bagels are very dense refined carbohydrates with around 50g of carbs per bagel, made typically with high glycemic flour which is digested quickly and can spike your blood sugars.
The cream cheese situation makes things worse. Cream cheese contains a lot of saturated fat and hardly any of the high-quality protein you can enjoy from other dairy products. Eating only a bagel and cream cheese “will leave you feeling tired, as it is mostly refined grains and saturated fat” and “does not provide enough protein or fiber, which are nutrients you need for feeling satisfied”.
What’s particularly concerning is how this combination affects your energy levels. These inflammation-causing calories come in the form of 300 to 500 calories worth of starch (about 65 grams of carbohydrates), setting you up for a blood sugar crash later in the morning.
Pancakes and Waffles With Syrup
These comfort foods are often made with refined white flour and topped with butter and syrup, which is essentially pure sugar, meaning they’re high in calories, fat, and sugar, yet lacking in protein and fiber. The combination is particularly devastating for your blood sugar.
Syrup is packed with sugar that quickly gets absorbed into the bloodstream, while pancakes and waffles are typically made with refined grains like bleached white flour, which also break down rapidly into glucose, creating a high-glycemic-index meal that triggers a fast and significant spike in blood sugar levels.
Pancakes lack protein and fiber, which are essential to keep you going throughout the day, and when you start pouring on the butter and maple syrup, they become quite an unhealthy breakfast option. The result? You’ll likely find yourself hungry and craving more refined carbs within a few hours.
Donuts and Pastries
Doughnuts cost you 250 to 550 calories, but the 15 to 30 grams of sugar in each is the real problem, as your body pumps out loads of insulin to try to accommodate such a huge amount of sugar, leading to a huge blood sugar spike followed by an even bigger sugar crash.
Donuts are deep-fried, sugar-loaded treats with zero nutritional value. Croissants, danishes, and similar pastries are high in butter, sugar, and fats, offering little nutritional value and contributing to calorie overload, with refined carbs contributing to rapid spikes in blood sugar.
This extreme up-and-down leaves you hungry soon after your breakfast and you’ll crave even more refined carbs – it’s a vicious cycle of unhealthy eating that starts with the first doughnut. Think of it as setting yourself up for a day of blood sugar roller coasters.
Flavored Yogurt
Some types of flavored yogurts can contain more grams of sugar than a soda and usually do not have enough protein or healthy fats to help slow the rise of blood sugar. This might come as a surprise since yogurt is often marketed as healthy.
Many yogurts on grocery store shelves are low in protein and full of added sugars, with classic yogurts like Yoplait Strawberry containing a whopping 13 grams of added sugar and only 5 grams of protein, which won’t be enough to sustain you the rest of the morning.
Many flavored non-fat yogurts contain more sugar than a comparable serving of ice cream. When manufacturers remove the fat, they often compensate by adding more sugar, creating a product that’s actually less satisfying and more likely to cause blood sugar spikes than its full-fat counterparts.
Muffins
Muffins are frequently seen as a quick breakfast option but can lead to elevated blood sugar levels and weight gain because they often contain high amounts of sugar and refined flour, with these refined carbs rapidly converted into glucose, resulting in a swift rise in blood sugar that triggers insulin release.
Muffins are high in refined carbohydrates, sugars, fats, and calories, with the high amount of sugar and carbs leading to spikes in blood sugar levels. What makes store-bought muffins particularly problematic is their size – they’re often much larger than a standard serving, meaning you’re getting even more sugar and calories than you realize.
The deceptive nature of muffins is part of what makes them so dangerous. They seem like a reasonable breakfast choice, almost like a quick bread, but nutritionally they’re closer to cupcakes without the frosting.
Toaster Pastries
The serving size for one toaster pastry averages about 200 calories and 15 to 20 grams of sugar, but most people eat two pastries (which come in a typical package), doubling the calories and sugar. Some types of frosted Pop-Tarts have as much as 30 grams of added sugar per serving, which is two Pop-Tarts pastries.
In addition to being high in sugar and refined flour, toaster pastries only have a couple of grams of protein, with studies showing that women who ate a breakfast with 3 grams of protein and 44 grams of carbs were hungrier and consumed more at lunch than women who ate a high-protein, low-carb breakfast.
These toaster pastries have little fiber and protein, two nutrients that should be included in a healthy breakfast. You’re essentially starting your day with what amounts to dessert, setting yourself up for energy crashes and increased hunger later.
Sausage and Bacon
Despite the appealing aroma of sizzling bacon, 68 percent of bacon’s calories come from fat, half of which is the saturated type, with each strip containing almost 200 milligrams of sodium, and most people don’t stop at one strip.
The sausage biscuit is basically a saturated fat and sodium bomb, with the sky-high sodium in highly processed sausage making your blood pressure surge, and if you have hypertension, it may increase your risk for stroke too. Nitrates and nitrites in sausage have even been linked to increased risk of certain cancers.
Every additional 1.8 ounces of processed meat you eat daily could raise your risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes over time, according to Harvard researchers, so these breakfast meats should be saved for special occasions. The convenience factor doesn’t justify the long-term health risks.
Granola Bars
Granola bars are rarely made with whole grains and complex carbohydrates, which are the carbs you want first thing in the morning if you want some long-lasting energy. Granola bars often have too many added sugars and not enough protein, so they won’t keep you full enough to count as a breakfast.
These bars often contain refined sugars and minimal nutritional value, making them inadequate for sustaining energy and overall health. Despite marketing that suggests they’re healthy, portable breakfast options, they’re more like candy bars dressed up with a health halo.
The problem with granola bars is they seem like they should be healthy – after all, they often contain oats and nuts. But the reality is that most commercial versions are held together with sugar and corn syrup, making them more of a dessert than a nutritious meal.
Commercial Smoothies
Smoothies from fast-food chains or convenience stores may seem like a nutritious breakfast option, but they can be deceivingly high in calories and sugars when made with fruit syrups, ice cream, or sweetened yogurt instead of whole fruits and vegetables.
Unfortunately, smoothies tend to be low in protein, so they won’t keep you full for long, though you can make a healthier smoothie at home by combining wholesome ingredients like leafy greens, fresh fruit, nuts, seeds, oats, milk, and protein powder.
Store-bought smoothies can contain as much sugar as a milkshake while masquerading as a health food. The liquid form also means you’re likely to consume them quickly, leading to rapid blood sugar spikes without the satisfaction that comes from chewing solid food.
Cinnamon Rolls
Cinnamon rolls are one of the worst breakfast foods on the planet, loaded with added sugars, fats, and refined flour, often dripping with sugary icing and made with refined flour and lots of butter, offering little nutritional value, with the high sugar and fat content leading to energy spikes followed by a sharp drop, leaving you feeling lethargic mid-morning.
What makes cinnamon rolls particularly problematic is their size and calorie density. A single large cinnamon roll can easily contain more calories than you should have in your entire breakfast, with most of those calories coming from sugar and saturated fat.
The sweet, comforting taste might feel satisfying in the moment, but you’re essentially eating cake for breakfast. The combination of refined flour, butter, sugar, and often cream cheese frosting creates a perfect storm for blood sugar chaos.
French Toast
While French toast may occasionally be a sweet treat, enjoying it regularly means sugar and refined carb overload, as this classic breakfast dish typically consists of white bread soaked in eggs and milk and fried in butter or oil, and when served with syrup, it becomes a high-calorie meal rich in sugars and saturated fats, with the combination of refined carbs and sugar leading to spikes in blood sugar and providing little nutritional benefit.
The bread used in French toast is typically white bread, which is already stripped of fiber and nutrients. When you soak it in a mixture of eggs, milk, and sugar, then fry it in butter, you’re creating a calorie-dense meal that’s essentially dessert masquerading as breakfast.
Adding syrup on top makes the situation even worse, as you’re layering simple sugars on top of refined carbohydrates. The result is a meal that will send your blood sugar soaring and leave you crashed and hungry within hours.
Fast Food Breakfast Sandwiches
Fast foods tend to be highly processed and typically made with refined (simple) carbohydrates, making them low in fiber, and these types of food are digested quickly, which causes a spike in blood sugar. Many fast food breakfasts deliver a full day’s worth of fat and enough saturated fat for three days, with many breakfast items obscenely high in sodium and calories that can top 1,000.
Most fast-food breakfast options, such as breakfast sandwiches or burritos with eggs, bacon, sausage, cheese, or a hash brown patty, are packed with calories, fat, and refined carbs. What’s particularly concerning is how these meals compare to what doctors recommend for daily intake.
A Breakfast Baconator from Wendy’s contains 710 calories and 48 grams of fat, with 19 grams of saturated fat – more than recommended for an entire day – plus 1,670 mg of sodium, getting you close to the daily limit before you’ve even fully begun your day. It’s essentially consuming a day’s worth of questionable nutrition in a single meal.
Scones With Jam
Scones topped with jam are truly more like dessert than a meal, made by mixing refined wheat flour, butter and sugar with desired flavorings, then shaped into small rounds and baked, usually topped with cream and jam or jelly, resulting in a high-calorie, sugary breakfast with little fiber and protein.
Eating a breakfast that’s high in refined carbs can spike your blood sugar and make you hungrier, with studies showing obese children reported feeling hungrier and less satisfied after eating a high-carb meal, leading to easily digested carbs and a lack of fiber driving hunger and increased food intake.
The British teatime tradition of scones might seem charming, but when you’re eating them for breakfast, you’re starting your day with what’s essentially cake. The combination of refined flour, butter, sugar, cream, and jam creates a meal that’s almost entirely empty calories with virtually no nutritional value beyond energy that will quickly disappear.
These breakfast foods might taste amazing and feel convenient, but they’re setting you up for energy crashes, increased hunger, and potential long-term health issues. Ultraprocessed foods are clever manipulations of mostly unhealthy ingredients titrated to appeal to common cravings – tasty by design, but it’s all a trick, drawing on our natural craving for sweetness but largely devoid of the nutritional value historically associated with that taste. The next time you’re tempted by one of these breakfast options, remember that you’re essentially choosing dessert over nutrition. Your body deserves better fuel to start the day – wouldn’t you rather feel energized than exhausted by 10 AM?
