Breakfast has long been considered an essential component of weight loss success. Research suggests that eating breakfast:
- Burns Fat – Without breakfast, the body fasts for between 15 to 20 hours on average before eating again. This means you won’t produce the enzymes necessary to metabolise fat and lose weight.
- Stabilises Blood Sugar – Glycogen stores drop dramatically as you sleep, meaning you need to eat in the morning to replenish and stabilise blood sugar. As your blood sugar drops, you’ll get hungry, which can complicate any diet.
- Keeps You Feeling Satisfied – If you feel hungry and deprived, you may feel tempted by cravings. Eating a healthy breakfast will reduce cravings and keep you on track.
5 Worst breakfast foods you should avoid
You’ll only enjoy these benefits if you consume the right foods. To know what’s right, it’s also important to understand what’s wrong. Below, we list the 5 worst breakfast foods so you know what to steer clear of on your journey to a healthier you.
1. Cereal
Cereals are often marketed as “healthy,” but they aren’t. Nutrients in cereal, such as vitamin A and iron, are artificially added through fortification. In this form, nutrients aren’t healthy and cereal is little more than empty calories that will leave you feeling hungry just hours later.
Filled with refined grains and sugar, it’s best to reach for something else in the morning.
2. Muffins, Doughnuts, and Other Pastries
Pastries are for dessert, not breakfast. Not only has the size of these breakfast items grown over the past few decades, but they are packed with unhealthy ingredients like flour, vegetable oil, and sugar.
Any of these options will lead to massive spikes in blood sugar that will leave you feeling hungry just hours later. Due to the high calorie and fat content in these options as well, they do little more than add to your waistline.
3. Fruit Juice
Juice may seem like a healthy choice because it’s made of fruit. Though fruit is nutritious, the additives in juice can contribute to disease and, at the very best, add calories to your day while offering little to no nutritional value.
Most juices contain little to no fruit and are sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup or plain sugar. With too much sugar and little to no fiber, your insulin will spike and you may feel hungrier than you did before.
4. Non-Fat Yogurt
Non-fat yogurt and even low-fat options are often loaded with sugar for flavor. Today, many sweetened yogurts contain as much sugar as ice cream.
Yogurt with natural fat will keep you feeling satiated and stimulate the release of cholecystokinin (CCK), which keeps you feeling full.
5. Granola Bars
Like many cereals, granola bars are packed with added sugar, corn syrup, chocolate chips, or other unhealthy additives. Like consuming sugary cereal or fruit juice, this will raise blood sugar, spike insulin, and trigger inflammation throughout the body.
With nutritional profiles mirroring some aspects of candy bars, it’s best to leave the granola bar at home.
Related: Healthy Breakfast Ideas
Cure Yourself of These 5 Deadly Breakfast Sins…
…by consuming healthy options like whole grains, fruit, protein, and other healthy, filling sources of nutrients.
Doing so, and using a supplement like PhenQ to control your appetite and burn fat, is the best way to lose weight and start every day right!
