Breakfast A Must

In the fast-paced world we are all growing accustomed to living; we are getting more and more used to the concept of “grab-and-go” meals-on-the-run. The traditional family breakfasts with a homemade spread around a fresh-pressed table cloth seem to be nearing extinction as we adapt to the hustle and bustle lifestyle of today’s working folk. The wise Josh Billing once said, “Never work before breakfast. If you have to work before breakfast, get your breakfast first”, which supported a piece of health advice we’ve received in America that has stood the test of time; breakfast, indeed, is the most important meal of the day.

How do we accommodate our lifestyles and make sure we fill our stomachs before the day begins? The NPD Group, Inc, a North-American marketing research firm, found that breakfast accounts for nearly 60% of U.S. restaurant industry growth since 2005. Many Americans make certain they schedule a daily stop to their local coffee shop to get their early morning caffeine fix, which is often accompanied by a warm, cheesy, breakfast sandwich – after all, we are taught to believe that not eating breakfast is worse than choosing a breakfast option that might be considered “the worst” option, correct? Partially. Yes, it is important to fill your stomachs and therefore ignite your brain before the day begins, and there are many health studies to attest this statement, however, we may be walking a thin line in the game of deciphering the “lesser of two evils” when we grab that sandwich versus skipping breakfast entirely.

Mostly all fast-food breakfast sandwiches are created with all processed foods, from the egg, to the meat, to the cheese, to the bread and all of these sandwiches are served with a hearty side of saturated and trans fats, loaded with calories and heavily sprinkled with sodium. Now, if you are a person looking to increase your risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity, etc, then definitely get one of these sandwiches, and try to make it a daily habit. If you interested in decreasing your risk for major health concerns, consider healthier options during breakfast. Try waking up just ten minutes earlier to cook a quick breakfast at home where you can monitor the ingredients you put in your meal and ensure their freshness. If cooking at home is not possible, then try finding a restaurant that is trying to meet you half-way on the mission of locating a healthy breakfast. Places like Starbucks and Subway are offering egg-white options, made fresh daily, which decreases the likelihood of the restaurant using processed foods and offers you the option to make the sandwich a bit healthier by opting out of ingredients, such as cheese. Nowadays, more and more restaurants are offering their nutritional information online, and rumor has it that one day ALL restaurants will be mandated to do this. Ignorance is not bliss when you avoid these facts, so take a quick glance at the websites and gain some insight into what you’re putting in your body, for example, a sausage, egg and cheese on a croissant from Dunkin Donuts has 710 calories, 20 grams of saturated fat, 1,370 milligrams of sodium, and 0.5 grams of trans fat. For some people, that’s MORE THAN HALF of what they should consume in calories, sodium and trans fat in A DAY let alone before the work day even begins! Dunkin Donuts recently began their “DD Smart” menu which has some healthier options, including an egg-white flatbread, which is an option I would urge one to try if they needed to try a fast-food breakfast.

The bottom line is simple; eat breakfast daily to kick-start your day, but don’t feed your body an automatic flat-tire by slowing it down and clobbering it with unhealthy products that are typically found in your routine fast-food chain restaurant breakfast sandwiches.