A breakfast energizes you after overnight fasting period by restoring your glycogen stores.
Besides boosting up your energy levels for the day a healthy breakfast provides you essential fiber, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients required to increase metabolism and fight diseases.
However, all breakfast foods are not healthy. There are few worst breakfast foods that can affect your metabolism badly, promote diseases and cause weight gain. Skipping breakfast altogether is not the right option, but you can avoid certain foods to remain safe.
Mentioned below are the 10 worst breakfast foods to start your day.
- Doughnut and Pastries may Cause Excessive Weight Gain, High Blood Sugar and other Heart Problems
Doughnuts and pastries each have good amount of sugar, lots of saturated and trans fat, white flour with no fiber.
When you eat them in breakfast your body receives a huge amount of sugar. To accommodate this excessive sugar your body pumps a lot of insulin. These increasing and decreasing levels of blood sugar may leave you hungry soon. This way you’ll crave for more refined carbs that could lead to excessive weight gain, high blood cholesterol levels and various heart problems.
- Sausage Biscuits may Lead to Heart Diseases
The sausage biscuit is rich in saturated fat and sodium.
Eating too much saturated fats can increase the risk of heart diseases by raising your blood cholesterol. It may also cause weight gain by providing excess calories.
Since highly processed sausage is high in sodium, it can increase your blood pressure. If you already have high blood pressure or hypertension it can increase your risk for stroke.
- Flavored non-dairy creamer can Increase the Risk of Heart Attack
Many flavored non-dairy creamers you use to make your coffee tasty are actually harmful for your health. They are high in hydrogenated oils such as trans fat, sugar and artificial sweeteners.
Trans fat increases the risk of stroke and heart attack by increasing LDL cholesterol.
Instead you should use unsweetened vanilla almond milk, coconut milk or low-fat milk to enhance the taste of your coffee.
- Colorful Sugary Cereals and Milk can cause Hyperactivity in Children
Cereals are rich in carbohydrates and sugar which is a bad combination for a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
A high-sugar, high-carbohydrate breakfast releases high amount of insulin which makes body’s other cells to pull glucose from the bloodstream. It reduces blood-sugar levels and the glucose-deprived brain asks for more sugary foods, which quickly raises blood sugar again. This vicious cycle of high blood sugar after a reduced blood sugar is extremely harmful to the brain that requires a constant supply of glucose.
On the other hand, eating a high-protein breakfast combined with low carbohydrates produces glucagon. On entering the bloodstream, glucagon releases glucose from the liver which raises blood-sugar levels. This is exactly what an active child needs.
The food dyes present in the colored cereals may also contribute to hyperactivity in children with ADHD.
All these factors suggest that you should not eat colored cereals and milk in the morning as breakfast.
- Bagel with Cream Cheese or Butter may Lead to Diabetes, and Cardio Vascular diseases
Bagel loaded with cream cheese or butter might seem a healthy morning choice to you, but they are high in empty calories and unhealthy saturated fats.
Your body needs carbohydrates to break down into glucose that gives you energy. Eating more carbohydrates than you burn, may deposit extra glucose as fat in your body. It causes obesity and being overweight may be an invitation to the onset of diabetes and various cardiovascular diseases.
So avoid using calories rich bagel in breakfast. However, you should eat fiber rich whole-grain cereals in breakfast which are healthier sources of carbohydrates.
- Bacon may Cause Heart Diseases and Cancer
Starting your day with Bacon may increase the risk of heart diseases and cancer as they contain saturated fats, sodium, nitrates and nitrites.
According to American Heart Association, when you eat foods with saturated fats it raises your blood cholesterol levels which may increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.
According to fabhow, eating red meats have links with colorectal, pancreatic and prostate cancers.
A 2005 study published in Journal of the National Cancer Institute suggests an association of high intakes of red meat and processed meat with an increased risk for pancreatic cancer.
When sodium nitrites of certain processed meats combine with naturally present amines, it forms carcinogenic N-nitroso compounds. When ingested, these compounds can cause cancer.
In this study 190,000 people between the age of 45 and 75, were followed for 7 years and it was found that people eating more processed meats had a 67% more risk of pancreatic cancer than those people who ate the least amount of processed meat.
- Processed Fruit Juice can Lead to Various Health Problems
When you consume sugar (fructose) obtained from processed fruit juices (not from whole food sources) it lacks fibers, enzymes, minerals, antioxidants and vitamins that help the body to properly assimilate the fructose.
This high consumption of sugar obtained from highly processed food sources can lead to
obesity, hypertension, kidney problems, weakened immune system, hyperactivity (mostly in children), certain mineral deficiencies and other health issues.
A 2013 study published in American Diabetes Association suggests that added sugars and high-fructose foods can promote obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes.
A 2009 study published in The Journal of Pediatrics suggests that fructose consumption is associated with increased uric acid levels and systolic blood pressure that may cause cardiovascular disease.
- Margarine can Contribute to Heart Diseases, Stroke and Diabetes
Though margarine is made from vegetable oils containing polyunsaturated and monounsaturated “good” fats, some may have trans fat not good for your heart health.
A 1993 study published in Lancet Journal suggests that the use of partially hydrogenated vegetable oils can contribute to the risk of coronary heart disease by increasing levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or “bad” cholesterol).
A 2004 study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that trans fatty acids promotes inflammation, obesity and is positively associated with heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and other chronic conditions.
When you can’t avoid foods with partially hydrogenated oils, choose liquid vegetable oils, or prefer soft tub margarine with little or no trans fats.
- Muffins can Support Weight Gain
Muffins are high in added sugar, sodium and fats.
When you eat muffins in breakfast probably you are starting your system with a large dose of sugar. It can cause a sudden energy spike followed by a crash.
The store bought muffins are big in size so they are packed with a lot of calories and have high quantity of fats not good for your waistline and heart health. So avoid muffins in breakfast entirely, or try to make them at home with ingredients that negate sugars and fats.
- High Consumption of Coffee Can Increase Cholesterol Levels
Another popular choice you might be enjoying in the morning is coffee. Many add-ons like non-dairy creamers can add excessive carbohydrates or sugar content in your body. The situation can worsen when you drink coffee with added syrups that can add calories without protein or fiber.
The caffeine present in coffee may energize you instantly but it won’t offer all-morning nourishment. Also, in the morning hours your body is naturally producing cortisol, a hormone that naturally makes you alert. When you drink coffee in the morning, it won’t be effective as you’re already more alert.
A 1993 study published in The Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics suggests that consuming a lot of unfiltered coffee (boiled) can elevate the cholesterol levels.
Although coffee in breakfast may not harm your health so badly, adding cream and sugar to it means you are adding more fat and calories. These ingredients together can be bad for your heart health.
