Breakfast is far from the most creative meal of the day. And the normal thing is to eat the same thing over and over again, a trend that is partly explained by the little time we invest in it: 55% of Spaniards spend less than 10 minutes on it and 60.2% have breakfast while carries out other activities, according to a survey by the Spanish Nutrition Foundation (FEN). Experts point out that this monotony may also be due to a lack of ideas or because "not varying them offers us a mental break, not thinking, and does not cause us exhaustion," explains Núria Mallen, dietician-nutritionist and spokesperson for the College of Dietitians-Nutritionists. of Catalonia (CoDiNuCat).
But is it a problem not to vary breakfasts? Although it is true that the more different foods, the more likely it is that some will be healthy, repeating does not have to be bad. "As long as the breakfast is healthy. Another very different thing is if it is made up of pastries and juices. So, yes, I would advise against them," says dietitian-nutritionist Laura Jorge. According to this specialist, cookies, buns and sugary cereals should be avoided as a recurring breakfast, as they include many sugars and poor quality fats.
In the case of juice, especially orange juice, "it seems that it should always be in the first meal of the day, when it is not. Advertising is to blame: we have mythologized certain products so much that it would seem that they cannot be missing, "but it is something social. If we look at what other countries have for breakfast, we will see that the scheme is different," says dietitian-nutritionist Antonio Gómez, from the Aleris Nutrition Center.
The juice is also not as healthy as it seems. Even if it is prepared at home, it has many free sugars. These are released when the fruit is handled to extract the juice, which is why eating it whole is considered a healthier option. Also because it provides more fiber and when we chew it, it satisfies us more. "A juice can be made with three oranges, so it will provide the sugars of three pieces of fruit, while we will hardly eat three whole oranges at once," explains Jorge.
Dietitian-nutritionist Julia Farré, however, points out that drinking juice from time to time does not have to harm your health as long as the rest of your diet is healthy. "What is not recommended is taking it every day, because it is more likely that you are replacing a whole piece of fruit", an opinion with which the rest of the experts agree.
Furthermore, it has been observed that becoming obsessed with always eating healthy is counterproductive. When this effort becomes pathological and irrational, it is called orthorexia and affects mental health. "Prohibiting foods is not the solution, because it increases anxiety and desire, causing a bad relationship with food," says Mallén, who adds that these less healthy products can be taken occasionally. "There are no poisonous foods," she insists.
Another belief that must be banished is that there is an ideal breakfast. This is not the case, because this meal of the day (like the rest) must be adapted to the needs of each person and cannot be generalized. According to the nutritionists interviewed, it is not even necessary to have breakfast if it does not fit us due to our personal circumstances. "If you have a job that requires a lot of physical effort or you usually eat late, it makes sense for breakfast to be more complete, but it's okay to skip it or eat softer," says Mallén, who insists that there is no scientific evidence that This food is essential.
On the contrary, if we want to have breakfast and not go hungry until lunchtime, healthy fats (such as olive oil or avocado) and protein (tuna or hummus) will help us stay full for longer, says Jorge. To make a more complete breakfast, we can also add a whole grain cereal or oatmeal, a dairy product that is not sugary and, to provide a sweet touch, Gómez explains, a piece of fruit.
For those who prefer to have examples on hand, these are the most common breakfasts of the nutritionists interviewed:
