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Beware
the minefield of restaurant breakfasts
April 12, 2007
Suzanne Havala Hobbs
Eating
breakfast out can be hazardous to your health.
Most Americans eat breakfast, and one-fourth eat that meal
away from home.
What we choose is the subject of a new report, “Breakfast
in America, 2001-2002,” part of “What We Eat in
America,” a segment of the National Health and Nutrition
Examination Survey, an ongoing government study that monitors
what we eat.
The results may surprise you.
The study found that when people eat breakfast out, their
diets suffer. Away from home, we are more likely to choose
soft drinks over milk and less likely to eat fruit. We eat
more eggs, bacon, sausage, Danish pastries, sweet rolls and
fried potatoes – leading sources of sodium and artery-clogging
saturated fat and trans fat.
The result is that breakfast out most often means too much
of the substances that undermine health and too little of
those that support it.
Breakfast eaters do far better when we eat at home. At home,
one-third have a bowl of cold cereal as compared to only 9
percent of those who eat out. In last week’s column,
I wrote about the best breakfast cereals. Cereal eaters tend
to get fewer calories, less fat and more fiber in their meals.
But what are the options for those of us who eat out, aside
from the obvious: cereal. The answer may have as much to do
with attitude as it does with menu choices.
If you’re like me, you feel an urge when you eat breakfast
out to order something that you ordinarily don’t fix
for yourself at home. Pancakes, waffles and omelets come to
mind. Let’s face it: Most of us eat cereal or breads
if we eat breakfast at home. They’re quick and easy.
We save the hot foods for weekends, when we have more time
to cook and clean up.
Or we order them when we eat out.
If it were truly once in a while, what you ordered might not
matter in the grand scheme. If you eat breakfast out once
a week or more often, though, it’s likely that the nutritional
value – or excess – of what you eat will have
an impact on your health.
So part of the trick to choosing better food is changing the
way you view breakfast when you eat out. It’s within
your control to do. Just being aware of why you choose certain
foods is a start.
Focus on other aspects of meals out that make them special.
Chunky white coffee mugs, conversation with family and friends,
a sunny window and the newspaper, and somebody cutting up
the grapefruit for you are a few examples.
Whole wheat toast and jelly, fresh fruit, hot oatmeal with
raisins and brown sugar, cereal and milk, or an English muffin
and honey are all good choices that taste better away from
home. If you must order an omelet, have it made with egg whites
or an egg substitute such as Eggbeaters, and split it with
a companion.
Of course, you have more choices at family restaurants than
you do at fast-food restaurants. If you’re eating at
a fast-food restaurant, it’s probably not the ambiance
that drew you there. In fact, you may be driving through.
Best choices at fast food restaurants include English muffins
with jelly (hold the butter and margarine), fruit salad, yogurt
parfaits, lowfat muffins, juice and coffee. Resist the biscuits,
soft drinks and breakfast sandwiches.
Eat breakfast out the same way most people eat breakfast in,
and you’ll help ensure yourself the healthiest start
to the day.
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