Whether you’re getting ready for work, wrangling the kids into the car or just trying to beat the peak-hour traffic, there’s not always time to make a healthy breakfast. We get it!
Unfortunately, so do Big Food manufacturers. They’re constantly rolling out new, on-the-go breakfast options touted as quick and easy alternatives. But the catch is (of course) they’re often loaded with sugar.
We’ve rounded up some of the major culprits that are best given a wide berth at breakfast time. But don’t worry, we’ve got plenty of simple, fast and healthy alternatives for you to try out!
The breakfast bar.
CHOICE recently confirmed the truth we always knew about “healthy” bars – most of them are chockers with sugar, some up to 50 per cent. Unsurprisingly, the ones marketed as “on the go” breakfasts don’t rank highly in our books!
- Kellogg’s Nutri Grain Original Bar (24g): There are eight types of sugar in this bar, from molasses to barley malt extract. That brings the total sugar tally to more than two teaspoons.
- Celebrity Slim Apricot, Almond and Yoghurt Breakfast Bar (55g): With 2.8 teaspoons of sugar, we definitely don’t condone this as a meal replacement.
Raise the bar: We don’t think breakfast bars are the best (or most filling) option. But, if you’re really strapped for time, try making our healthy breakfast bars on the weekend to freeze for the week ahead.
The breakfast biscuit.
Biscuits… for breakfast? Not only will you probably be ravenous by 10am, but you’re really going start your day on the wrong foot with all that extra sugar.
- belVita Honey & Nut with Chop Chip Breakfast Biscuits: The packaging boasts five whole grains, but we’re more interested in the sugar content: 3.1 teaspoons.
- 247 Cranberry, Dark Cherry, Vanilla Bean & Quinoa Breakfast Biscuits: Quinoa breakfast biscuits sounded healthy… until we read honey, brown sugar, castor sugar, beet sugar, dried fruit AND juice concentrate. All up, that’s 3.1 teaspoons of sugar!
Smart(er) cookies: Again, we’d rather have a nice spinach scramble, but these Apple Bircher Breakfast Cookies are as healthy as a breakfast biscuit can get. We also encourage you to reduce the sweetener depending on your tastes.
The breakfast bevvy.
We’ve spoken before about how liquid sugar is the most dangerous – it’s rapidly absorbed by the body and hits the liver hard. That’s why we’re definitely steering clear of these “meal in a drinks”!
- Devondale Fast Start Liquid Breakfast Vanilla: The packaging says “less than two per cent added sugar”, but it’s still nearly two teaspoons. While some of that may be coming from the milk, that doesn’t change the fact that sugar is the third ingredient.
- UP&GO Energize Liquid Breakfast Choc Flavour: Despite having a 250ml serving size, this drink contains 9.4 teaspoons of sugar. That’s more than any adult should have in a day! Contrary to logic, it also has a 4.5 Health Star Rating. We kid you not.
Knock it back: Homemade smoothies are a brilliant brekkie – they have fibre to fill you up and soften the sugar hit. Our Cacao and Coconut Smoothie is a great option.
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