5 Unhealthy Breakfast Menu That Should Be Avoided

Unhealthy Breakfast (Luna Lovegood / Pexels)

JAKARTA - Breakfast is an important activity for the body. A healthy breakfast should contain fiber, protein and healthy fats that provide energy and make you full.

But often people choose the wrong menu for breakfast. Moreover, there are many contemporary foods that are often thought to be healthy for breakfast.

An unhealthy breakfast can make you sluggish, lead to weight gain and increase your risk of chronic disease.

Reporting from Healthline, Thursday, February 4, the following is a menu of unhealthy foods for breakfast:

Cereals

Cereals (Figure: Isak Fransson / Pexels)

Many people think cereal is a nutritious breakfast for children and adults. Cereal packages often include health claims, such as containing whole grains. In fact, cereals contain very few whole grains. The nutritional content is also processed artificially or fortified.

One study found that children who often eat cereal for breakfast often get sick, just like children who don't eat cereal. In fact, contemporary nutritious cereals, such as granola, which contain oats, also contain sugar.

High sugar intake can increase the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other health problems.

Pancakes and Waffles

Pancakes and waffles are a mainstay of the weekend breakfast menu at home. Pancakes and waffles contain flour, eggs, sugar and milk. Although these two foods have more protein than other breakfast menus, pancakes and waffles contain wheat flour which can lead to obesity.

In addition, if pancakes and waffles are often consumed with the addition of corn syrup topping, this habit could cause health problems such as inflammation to type 2 diabetes.

Toast with Margarine

Toast with margarine looks like a healthy breakfast option, as it doesn't contain saturated fat or sugar. However, this is actually an unhealthy breakfast menu.

Bread flour provides you with a small number of nutrients and fiber. High carbohydrate content but low in fiber can increase blood sugar levels quickly. Increased blood sugar can lead to hunger, which leads you to eat more at the next meal and can lead to weight gain.

Bread with Margarine (Image: Polina Tankilevitch / Pexels)

Also, most margarine contains trans fat, which is the least healthy type of fat. Food manufacturers make trans fats by adding hydrogen to vegetable oils to make them appear more like saturated fats.

If the body consumes too much trans fat, then be prepared to receive high cholesterol which can lead to heart disease.

Granola Bar

Granola bars are often chosen as a contemporary breakfast menu. Apparently, this food is no better than candy. Although whole grains are claimed to be high in fiber, in fact, granola bars only provide an average of 1-3 grams of fiber.

Also, granola bars contain a combination of sugar and corn syrup. This large dose of sugar can increase blood sugar, insulin levels, and inflammation. The protein content in granola bars also tends to be low, which further emphasizes that food is an unhealthy choice for breakfast.

Gluten-Free Processed Breakfasts

Gluten-free diets have become popular in recent years. This is because of concerns about the negative health effects of gluten. Although there is nothing wrong with avoiding gluten, unfortunately, many gluten-free processed foods available can actually cause health problems.

For example, a combination of rice flour, potato, and tapioca replaces wheat flour in gluten-free bread and baked goods. This flour has a high glycemic index, so it raises blood sugar quickly.

This increase causes high insulin levels, which increases hunger and triggers weight gain. For that reason, gluten-free processed breakfast foods include unhealthy foods for breakfast.