Why are some breakfast options ones for watching?
Breakfast is often hailed as the most important meal of the day, but unfortunately many of us tend to hit the mark and do it all wrong! Recently, popular breakfast options have come under fire and for good reason – they are often packed full of hidden sugar which isn’t always obvious at first glance to us as consumers.
Popular choices to start the day include breakfast cereals and yoghurts – and although these sound healthy enough, they can be misleading.
Many breakfast cereal options are carbohydrate heavy and worse still, contain large proportions of sugar in comparison to complex carbohydrates and fibre. It’s also been shown time and time again that people don’t often stick to the recommended portion sizes when it comes to cereal, and therefore the calorie, carbohydrate and sugar content can soon soar.
Next, when it comes to yoghurts, people are often tempted by fruity flavours (naively assuming that they’ll tick off 1 of their 5 a day), which in reality often means the sugar content goes through the roof and the nutritional content doesn’t quite match up. Another common trap when it comes to dairy is to opt for yoghurts which are labelled ‘low fat’. By removing the fat, it means that something else has been added in its place, often a source of carbohydrate or sugar. This means that some yoghurts end up with a crazy sugar content, some even comparable to chocolate bars or fizzy drinks – yikes!
Even worse, could certain junk foods prove more favourable?
So, it seems that the sugar content and calorie count of some popular breakfast options could give some junk food options a run for their money, but is there something else going on that could actually mean junk food comes up trumps when compared to breakfast choices? Surely not!
Well, not only are certain breakfast options high in calories, carbs and sugar, but actually they are lower in protein and fat too, which can actually result in junk food options such as pizza coming off as more ‘balanced’ – madness!
Although saturated fats or processed protein options often appear as toppings on pizza, the balance of macronutrients is actually more in line with what we’d want to see in healthy, balanced breakfast.
Top tips for approaching breakfast going forward
So, I’m certainly not saying to start upping the junk food at breakfast time, but instead it may help to be more aware of what you are eating and how to make some positive changes going forward, when it comes to your first meal of the day. Some tips from me as are follows:
Read labels
Firstly, it helps to get in the habit of reading labels – if you opt for cereal in the morning it might just give you a bit of a fright! Looking at the quantity of sugars per 100g gives you a clear percentage. Anything over 5g/100g, or 5% means it contains a medium sugar content and anything over 15g/100g or 15% is considered high.
Instead, look out for a decent content of carbohydrates which aren’t sugar (which suggests they are a source of complex carbohydrates instead), fibre, protein and fats for a more well-rounded option. A good content of these different macronutrients will be much more likely to help keep you feeling satisfied for longer.
Try something new
Too many of us drag ourselves out of bed in the morning and go into autopilot mode. It’s the same regime every morning and you might not even think twice about it!
As above, it can be useful to check labels initially to give you an idea of what your usual breakfast option is made up of. But actually, many packaged goods are highly processed and aren’t necessarily great options anyway, so it can help to mix things up a little and combine different fresh ingredients to make your very own, homemade nutritious breakfast. This way you can be sure to add in some fibre, protein and healthy fat-rich components yourself! See my recipes picks below for some inspiration!
Make more time
I’m the first to admit that mornings can be a bit hectic – especially if you have a commute to work or a family to usher out of the door. However, if you eat badly it will only affect your energy levels or appetite later in the day and it can be a horrible vicious cycle – so there are ways around this.
You might find you have a little more time come the weekend which is ideal, but for midweek mornings you may need to think a little outside the box – why not prepare things the night before? Whilst dinner is cooking on the stove or after you’ve put your feet up and recuperated a little, venture back into the kitchen and mix up some muesli, layer up some overnight oats or whizz up your favourite smoothie and stick them in the fridge so that they’re ready to grab come the morning.
Many years ago people generally devoted more of their time to cooking their meals and this rationale has been lost, but if you can spend just a little more time in the kitchen it means you will most likely be fuelling your body much more efficiently.
Some of my favourite recipe picks to get you started...
If you’ve not given breakfast a second thought up until now, you might not know where to start. Here are some of my favourite options to have a try of:
Overnight Passion Fruit Chia Pudding
Healthy Banana Oat Cookies
Creamy Almond Butter Acai Bowl
Savoury Egg Muffins
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