A doctor ’s recipe for a healthy breakfast

When I look at the typical breakfast food offerings at many restaurants, supermarkets, and food trucks, and I think about the health of our nation, I want to cry. Muffins, bagels, donuts, pancakes, waffles, French toast sticks… Want some bacon, sausage, or fried potatoes with that, ma’am? Then there’s what marketing tells you is a “well-balanced breakfast”: the image of a big bowl of cereal and a few decorative strawberries on top, with a tall glass of orange juice. You get the idea that you need the calcium in that milk, that vitamin C in that orange juice, and the carbs in that cereal for energy. But do you? Eating like this may be okay once in a while, but if you do so often, I guarantee these foods will make you sick, one way or another. Why are familiar breakfast foods not great for you? Simply put, to the cells in your body, a bowl of cereal, or a bagel, or a piece of toast, or a muffin are all no different than a dessert. Processed carbohydrates and sugars cause blood sugar and insulin levels to rise. The insulin easily ushers all that sugar into your fat cells, where it becomes stored energy, also known as body fat. The animal fats in bacon, sausage, and butter can glom up arteries and lead to heart attacks and strokes. The salt in cured meats and other processed foods causes us to retain water and pushes the blood pressure up. This is all a recipe for weight gain, obesity, high blood pressure and cholesterol… and eventually, heart disease. So… what shou...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health Healthy Eating nutrition Source Type: blogs