Tips for Cooking Healthy Traditional Low Cholesterol Breakfasts

Breakfast is the first meal you eat every day, and also the most important. It helps set the pathway for the rest of your day, including your other meals. However, staying on a heart-healthy diet can be somewhat difficult, especially in the breakfast department. With the combination of bacon, eggs, cereal, milk, bagels, and pancakes, most of your cholesterol and saturated fats will stem from that first meal of the morning. While cholesterol in food is no longer considered detrimental to heart health, saturated fats should be limited. But, don’t despair! There’s still a way to keep your start up meal heart friendly without cutting out that delicious morning taste.

Eggs and Bacon

Eggs got a bad rap because wrongly accused to increase blood cholesterol levels due to a high content of dietary cholesterol. Now that latest studies concluded that dietary cholesterol has very little impact on heart health, you should no worry about eating eggs for breakfast. However, the way that you cook eggs will determine its positive or negative impact on health. The healthiest ways are boiled, scrambled and poached. Avoid using butter, lard, creamy sauces, and toppings.
As for bacon, it is high in saturated fats (70% of daily value of saturated fats for 100 grams of pan-fried bacon) and sodium (1717 mg for 100 grams of pan-fried bacon). Try Canadian bacon or turkey bacon as they feature less saturated fat (11% and 40% respectively). Additional instead of pan-frying your bacon, microwave it for less fat. Moreover, prefer your bacon super-crispy because most of the fat will be cooked out. Drain it with paper towels before eating and eat a little.

Pancakes and Bagels

Next, there are the usual breakfast follow-ups and extras: pancakes and bagels. These two are fine by themselves, however, most people choose to decorate them with loads of butter, syrup, and cream cheese. These various additives will pack on the unhealthy fats.

Try adding whole grains such as oatmeal to your pancake batter. Not only will this add to the flavor, it will also add fiber and bulk. Avoid butter and syrup on your pancakes at all cost: both are laden with fat. If you miss that sweet flavor, add a touch of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, or ginger to your pancake for that extra kick. On the bagels, use cream cheese sparingly. Or for a better alternative, try low-fat yogurt or a bagel spread.

Milk and cereals

Finally, the last culprit is also the quickest to make, and that’s cereal and milk. Although this easy breakfast food may save you time, it’ll make up for that in high cholesterol. Most cereals are high in sugar and fat, and the milk compounds the problem by adding even more fat.
To combat this cholesterol-raising combo, check the labels before you pour that bowl of Cap’n Crunch. Make sure the cereal is low fat and low sugar, if not, opt for a more natural cereal or use plain oatmeal. Also, use skim or low-fat milk to cut back on saturated fats, or substitute soy milk.
Following a heart-healthy diet should be easy and fun, not boring. By following these diet tips, you can rest assure that your next breakfast will be delicious while promoting your heart and overall health.