Why do we eat garbage for breakfast?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, don't French eat pastry for breakfast? And many Europeans have bread with butter and jam on for breakfast too?

Again, where's the nutrition? Carbs, fat, sugar...no vitamin A? no c? very low fiber? antioxidants? phytonutrients? any unsaturated fats??? pretty much a zero for a meal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you think about it, typical food here in the US that gets pushed for breakfast is garbage. It's often like eating nothing more than dessert for an entire meal in the day. Waffles, pancake, crepes....? What is this trash? They're basically nothing more than rudimentary cake like batters that after cooked, you add a whole bunch of fat and sugar to - they're pretty much deficient of almost any nutritional value. Cereals? Highly processed trash that often contain tons of sugar. Bacon, sausages, biscuits and gravy, etc. combined with eggs.....cholesterol and fat bombs. Hash browns and home fries....mostly empty calories loaded often times with salt and cooked in tons of oil. You often feel very nasty after eating 'traditional' American/western breakfast foods. Why is it that we evolved to eat what are essentially desserts for breakfasts? No nutrition, high in calorie, high in fat/cholesterol/sodium meals. I remember going to Japan where they served traditional breakfasts consisting of a small piece of broiled fish, a little bit of rice, maybe some fruit, some kind of veggie, and a little bit of soup. So many other places in the world just treat breakfast almost like any other meal where you'd consume foods with actual nutrition.

We eat these things because they are completely delicious and life is meant to be enjoyed. Next question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Processed foods are easy for manufacturers to sell, and all humans like sweet things. You still have the ability to choose for yourself when it comes time to eat, though.

Most foods are processed.

Pasta is processes. Bread is processed. Butter is processed. Yogurt is processed. Orange juice is processed -- even fresh squeezed involves a process to get it into juice form. I don't understand the handwringing about processed foods.

[Anonymous]

I usually just have coffee first thing and then eat an early lunch. I'm not opposed to a sugar bomb, it's just not what I want first thing in the morning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you think about it, typical food here in the US that gets pushed for breakfast is garbage. It's often like eating nothing more than dessert for an entire meal in the day. Waffles, pancake, crepes....? What is this trash? They're basically nothing more than rudimentary cake like batters that after cooked, you add a whole bunch of fat and sugar to - they're pretty much deficient of almost any nutritional value. Cereals? Highly processed trash that often contain tons of sugar. Bacon, sausages, biscuits and gravy, etc. combined with eggs.....cholesterol and fat bombs. Hash browns and home fries....mostly empty calories loaded often times with salt and cooked in tons of oil. You often feel very nasty after eating 'traditional' American/western breakfast foods. Why is it that we evolved to eat what are essentially desserts for breakfasts? No nutrition, high in calorie, high in fat/cholesterol/sodium meals. I remember going to Japan where they served traditional breakfasts consisting of a small piece of broiled fish, a little bit of rice, maybe some fruit, some kind of veggie, and a little bit of soup. So many other places in the world just treat breakfast almost like any other meal where you'd consume foods with actual nutrition.

We eat these things because they are completely delicious and life is meant to be enjoyed. Next question.

Diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and reduced lifespan aren't enjoyable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t eat breakfast.

That's even less healthy than some of the dietary choices OP is criticizing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you think about it, typical food here in the US that gets pushed for breakfast is garbage. It's often like eating nothing more than dessert for an entire meal in the day. Waffles, pancake, crepes....? What is this trash? They're basically nothing more than rudimentary cake like batters that after cooked, you add a whole bunch of fat and sugar to - they're pretty much deficient of almost any nutritional value. Cereals? Highly processed trash that often contain tons of sugar. Bacon, sausages, biscuits and gravy, etc. combined with eggs.....cholesterol and fat bombs. Hash browns and home fries....mostly empty calories loaded often times with salt and cooked in tons of oil. You often feel very nasty after eating 'traditional' American/western breakfast foods. Why is it that we evolved to eat what are essentially desserts for breakfasts? No nutrition, high in calorie, high in fat/cholesterol/sodium meals. I remember going to Japan where they served traditional breakfasts consisting of a small piece of broiled fish, a little bit of rice, maybe some fruit, some kind of veggie, and a little bit of soup. So many other places in the world just treat breakfast almost like any other meal where you'd consume foods with actual nutrition.

We eat these things because they are completely delicious and life is meant to be enjoyed. Next question.

Diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and reduced lifespan aren't enjoyable.

Diabetes is manageable. Obesity can be uncomfortable but hardly the end of the world. HBP is easily treated. High cholesterol is too. Reduced life span -- what's the point of living long time if you're miserable with the food choices you have and do things like eating fish and rice for breakfast? Maybe this is why the suicide rate is so high in Japan.

You're missing the point in your bizarre stereotyping, OP. You're obsessed with foods that Americans do consume, but they're not really dietary staples. As most people are pointing out to you, these are occasional foods.

I mean, my God, if you eat fish every day, you should be tested for mercury poisoning. That stuff will kill you faster than diabetes or hypertension.

[Anonymous]

Marketinf has been great for all these items. I eat oatmeal (raisins no sugar) or eggs and fruit. My kids eat same or w ricottw pancae which at least has protein from the ricotta.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t eat breakfast.

That's even less healthy than some of the dietary choices OP is criticizing.

There's nothing inherently unhealthy about not eating breakfast. Bodies are different. Some don't want food until a little later in the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am part Japanese, and love the traditional Japanese breakfast. I also eat crepes, full British breakfasts, continental European breakfasts, etc...

It's all fun in moderation, OP.

Food production and transport is one of the main drivers of rapid climate change, so I agree with you that we have to rethink how we produce food, particularly meat.

What’s the traditional Japanese breakfast?

Something along these lines:

But the white rice. So many empty calories! /s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am part Japanese, and love the traditional Japanese breakfast. I also eat crepes, full British breakfasts, continental European breakfasts, etc...

It's all fun in moderation, OP.

Food production and transport is one of the main drivers of rapid climate change, so I agree with you that we have to rethink how we produce food, particularly meat.

What’s the traditional Japanese breakfast?

Something along these lines:

DP. That looks delicious, but I assume this is more dishes than most people prepare in their homes in the morning. Just seems like a lot of work for before school/work!

[Anonymous]

The issue with Americans and food, regardless of the meal, is that you have to always go to the extremes! Either you only drink coffee and think people that eat pancakes are gluttons, or you want to have the unlimited pancakes and bacon etc.
It is not really about the food choices, but about the quantity, it is either eat nothing or eat till you become Baron Harkonnen from Dune.
I am not certain what it is about the U.S. mind set that makes people so incapable to eat in moderation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am part Japanese, and love the traditional Japanese breakfast. I also eat crepes, full British breakfasts, continental European breakfasts, etc...

It's all fun in moderation, OP.

Food production and transport is one of the main drivers of rapid climate change, so I agree with you that we have to rethink how we produce food, particularly meat.

What’s the traditional Japanese breakfast?

Something along these lines:

DP. That looks delicious, but I assume this is more dishes than most people prepare in their homes in the morning. Just seems like a lot of work for before school/work!

Not really, not much work. It all looks like leftovers.

[Anonymous]

I usually eat either a protein bar or a skyr. Pancakes or waffles, maybe twice a year. Cereal one day on a weekend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The issue with Americans and food, regardless of the meal, is that you have to always go to the extremes! Either you only drink coffee and think people that eat pancakes are gluttons, or you want to have the unlimited pancakes and bacon etc.
It is not really about the food choices, but about the quantity, it is either eat nothing or eat till you become Baron Harkonnen from Dune.
I am not certain what it is about the U.S. mind set that makes people so incapable to eat in moderation.

There's a lot of truth to this. I don't know that the problem with American diets is so much quality as it is quantity. Serving sizes in restaurants are insanely huge. And then a lot of us end up replicating that at home.