10 Breakfast Foods You Should Stop Eating/ healthcare

By choosing wisely what we eat in the morning, we can increase our energy level, focus, and productivity, allowing us to take on the world! Conversely, a poor choice at breakfast can give us a quick boost, but leave us feeling tired and sluggish at lunchtime.

However, the foods you choose to eat for breakfast can have a significant impact on your weight.

We may even be tempted to make other poor food choices throughout the day to compensate. Here’s our list of the 10 worst breakfast foods you probably eat every day. You’ll be shocked by some of them, especially number 10! Eating breakfast can have a positive impact on mental health in several ways.

1. Sugary, highly-refined cereals

In fact, we love breakfast cereal. Cereals are a quick, easy, healthy, and nutritious way to fuel up in the morning, ready to start the day. But only if it’s made with whole grains and no added sugars. Popular puffed rice, honey-coated nuts, and frosted flakes cereals (whether major brands or supermarket brand equivalents) are normally loaded with a spoonful of sugar.

In addition to the long-term health consequences of excessive sugar consumption, a sugary start to the day only maintains energy levels for a very short time. But once we digest that dose of sugar, we’ll soon feel hungry and may turn to another unhealthy choice.

Check the nutritional values of your cereal and make sure it has no added sugars. Choose whole grain cereals that are rich in filling fiber to help you make it to breakfast. Choose shredded whole wheat cereals, corn flakes that are not sugar-coated, and traditional oatmeal, but avoid microwaveable porridges that often contain hidden sugar syrups for flavor.

As the world becomes more and more health-conscious, people are starting to pay closer attention to what they eat and how it affects their bodies. One area of focus that has gained significant attention in recent years is the relationship between sugar consumption and weight gain. Sugar is a ubiquitous part of our diets, but research suggests that it may be contributing to the obesity epidemic. 

2. Pancakes or waffles

If you’ve ever made pancakes from scratch, you know that they are made with flour, eggs, milk, and sugar, as well as a leavening agent that gives them their fluidity, such as baking soda. they can also have an impact on your weight.

There are also vegan pancake recipes that substitute eggs and milk, and gluten-free flour can also be used to make gluten-free pancakes. But the one thing they all have in common? Sugar! The same goes for waffles. Yet they are both very common breakfast options.

The sugar load of a pancake or waffle breakfast is even more important because we don’t often eat pancakes and waffles plain. Who does?

Also, most often the flour used to make them is white flour, which has been processed to remove the whole grains and beneficial B vitamins. So it’s best to reserve them for vacation breakfasts! Discover the power of superfoods and their incredible health benefits. Learn how to incorporate them into your diet for optimal wellness.

3. Bagels and their fillings

Bagels are heavier than many other baked goods and are a popular choice for grab-and-go breakfasts, as they tend to hold their contents better than regular bread without getting soggy. Most bagels are made from white flour, which, as we learned above, is flour that has had all of its beneficial nutrients and fiber removed. So a bagel doesn’t provide much in the way of nutrition.

Then there’s the problem of the most popular bagel toppings – butter, cream cheese, and corned beef – all of which are high in fat and, in the case of corned beef, high in salt and chemical ingredients.

If you like bagels, keep them to a minimum and try topping them with low-fat cream cheese, smoked salmon, or peanut butter, all of which provide beneficial protein to give you energy in the morning. Bagels and their fillings can have an impact on mental health depending on their nutritional content and portion sizes

4. Muffins and pastries

Muffins are delicious, but let’s face it, by eating a muffin for breakfast, we’re allowing ourselves to eat cake for breakfast, and it’s probably only for our birthday every year! Even a muffin that we are sold as “healthy“, such as a blueberry muffin with fruit filling, is still more or less a cake. That said, a blueberry muffin at least has fruit in it, which is a healthier choice than a regular muffin or, even worse, a chocolate chip muffin. Blueberries are an excellent source of antioxidants and vitamins that contribute to a healthy immune system. Even then, save them for an occasional treat! Savory muffins can also be a better option but beware of cheese muffins, which are high in saturated fat. We’ve seen muffins made with zucchini and minimal sugar, which may not meet the sugar requirement, but certainly won’t start your day off right. The same goes for the baskets of delicious pastries found in hotels. They should definitely be reserved for the little pleasures of the hotel and vacation if you want to avoid a sugar overload at breakfast!

5. Fruit juice

Who doesn’t like coffee and orange juice for breakfast? A small glass of fresh fruit juice (about 150 ml) is fine in itself if it complements an otherwise balanced breakfast. The problems start if you drink a lot more each day. If you think about oranges, how many could you eat in one sitting? One or two is what we think.

But if you drink a big glass of freshly squeezed juice (by yourself or a fresh store-bought orange), you could eat twice as much. Oranges are good for you, as are the other fruits used to make juice. They contain high levels of vitamin C and other vitamins and minerals. But the fruit also contains fructose, a fruit sugar.

So if you eat one or two oranges, you don’t consume much fructose. But if you consume four or more oranges at one time, in the form of a drink, you are consuming more sugar than you think. So if we drink juice alone at breakfast, we may be hungry soon after. Fruit juices also remove the fiber from the fruit, since you are not consuming the pulp. Fiber is important for intestinal health. So eat whole fruit and keep fruit juice to a minimum. And definitely avoid fruit juices with added sugars! 

6. Low-fat or fat-free yogurts

yogurt, whether made from cow’s milk or a non-dairy alternative such as soy, is a healthy choice because it is rich in protein and probiotics (good bacteria that contribute to gut health). So at first glance, you might think that low-fat or fat-free yogurt is an even healthier choice. But beware. Often, the fruity varieties of these seemingly good-for-you yogurts contain more added sugars than the full-fat varieties! (Even low-fat plain or Greek yogurts sometimes contain added sugars).

The problem is that fats and sugars make things taste good. If you remove one, the other is usually added to enhance the taste. Therefore, if a product is advertised as low-fat, always be sure to check the ingredient list and nutritional information for sneaky added sugars. They may be listed as sugar, sugar syrup, honey, or glucose. If the light is red for sugar, chances are your “healthy” breakfast yogurt contains added sugars. On the other hand, low-fat yogurt with no added sugars is not very caloric and will not sustain you for very long. So add a piece of fruit of your choice and sprinkle it with chopped nuts or oats for a deliciously healthy and filling breakfast. 

7. Breakfast bars

If there is one food that has been promoted more as a healthy option when it is not, it is the breakfast bar. Often marketed as options for athletes and people who exercise regularly and don’t have time to make a bowl of granola or muesli, breakfast bars should be viewed with caution. They are often not the healthy cereal substitute they claim to be. We recommend that you read the label.

Like most of the cereals mentioned above, cereal bars often contain high levels of added sugar, most often from the sugar syrups and honey used to glue the bar together. In addition, because they are not eaten in a bowl with cow’s milk or a non-dairy alternative such as soy or almond milk, they also lack protein.

Protein keeps us fuller for longer, so eating one of these bars for breakfast will likely leave us feeling hungry soon after. So opt for low-sugar bars with no added sugars and an added protein source, such as peanut butter. Or have a healthier version of these bars with a glass of milk. 

8. Bacon and other processed meats

Bacon, sausages, ham, and other types of processed meats may taste good, but it’s usually due to the added salts and processing techniques used to please our taste buds (at least those of meat eaters). (Well, meat eaters’ taste buds anyway). Processed meats are rich in saturated fats and very high in calories.

Their consumption can lead to health problems, including weight gain. The salt content, which is often present in these meats, only compounds the problem. Consuming too much salt can make us thirsty and dehydrated at best.

In addition, processed meats are linked to stomach and intestinal problems later in life. On the other hand, bacon and sausage provide protein that keeps us full and able to handle all the tasks we need to accomplish each morning. But a healthier breakfast rich in animal protein is eggs. So opt for two poached, hard-boiled, or scrambled eggs on wholemeal toast for an energizing, healthy, and low-fat breakfast. We’re not saying that you should avoid bacon and sausages altogether. If you enjoy eating them, reserve them for the occasional weekend breakfast and avoid eating them every day.

9. Fast food breakfast items

Picture the scene. You’re exhausted, late for work and have an important meeting to attend with no time to remedy your fatigue with a healthy smoothie. Or you’re on time for work because you have a deadline to meet, but you had a few too many drinks last night and you’re hungover.

What are you going to do? Like many of us in this situation, there’s nothing you can do: you have to go to the nearest fast food joint and get something. Sausage muffins, cheese toasties, hash browns, and bacon fritters – you’ll find it all. And of course, you’ll get an instant energy boost.

But it’s short-lived, and you may not even make it through your meeting or deadline before you feel the pinch. Fast food breakfasts are usually fried, processed, or both, and contain a lot of saturated fat and salt and if you add a soda or a huge juice, a lot of sugar. None of this is a healthy way to start the day, and if we make these choices early on, we are more likely to continue making them throughout the day. 

10. Sugary coffee drinks

If you need a coffee (or two) in the morning before you can function or even think about getting to work or talking to a colleague, you’re not alone. Millions of us turn to the coffee pot every morning, bleary-eyed and groggy. Then ping! We’re awake and ready to face the day.

There’s nothing inherently unhealthy about coffee. In fact, it’s rich in antioxidants that help keep the immune system healthy and can lift our spirits. But it all depends on how we choose to drink our coffee. If we drink large cups of coffee with fatty milks, caloric nut milk, sugar, and fancy syrups, we’re adding a whole lot of calories in the form of fat and sugar. If we have one of these fancy coffees along with another unhealthy breakfast, we may exceed our caloric intake for the day. Conversely, if we consume only black coffee for breakfast, we not only find ourselves in a caloric deficit and struggle to feel energized, but we also lose out on the beneficial nutrients, fiber, and protein of a healthy, balanced diet.