Breakfast Practices That Increase Inflammation, According To Dietitians

Autoimmune conditions, exposure to pollutants, obesity, and a sedentary lifestyle are causes of chronic inflammation. It also “plays a vital role” in conditions like diabetes, heart disease, several malignancies, and Alzheimer’s, according to  Harvard Health

We can eat certain foods and avoid others to help reduce our risk of long-term chronic inflammation because of the link between inflammation and weight, diet, and exercise. Making numerous adjustments all at once could seem overwhelming, but it might be best to start with your morning routine. Breakfast is a crucial meal that offers several chances to get adequate amounts of protein, fiber, and other beneficial nutrients. However, you can also be experiencing inflammation-related problems as a result of your breakfast habits that you aren’t even aware of.

Read on to discover some of the worst Breakfast Practices That Increase Inflammation.

Making sure you eat breakfast in general is a fantastic place to start when looking for breakfast behaviors that can help you minimize and manage inflammation. It can be tempting to miss breakfast in the midst of hectic mornings and packed schedules to just grab a coffee, but studies suggest there may be a link between inflammation and routinely skipping breakfast.

According to a study that was published in the journal Public Health Nutrition, skipping breakfast frequently can cause the body to produce more CRP, which is a typical sign of inflammation. In comparison to younger groups, elderly persons were more affected by these findings.

Those who had a lower-quality diet did not seem to be as affected by skipping breakfast as those who had a higher-quality diet. In other words, skipping breakfast may make your inflammation and health worse if you already consume an imbalanced diet and are lacking in many essential nutrients.

Refined carbohydrates and added sugar are some of the main causes of inflammation.

According to Amy Goodson, MS, RD, CSSD, LD, a member of our medical expert board and author of The Sports Nutrition Playbook, consuming packaged pastries, donuts, and baked goods that are rich in added sugar and processed carbohydrates is one of the worst morning habits for inflammation.

On our medical expert board and author of The First Time Mom’s Pregnancy Cookbook and Fueling Male Fertility, Lauren Manaker, MS, RDN, concurs.

It’s preferable to stay with whole grain options without problematic components rather than sugary and refined pastries like doughnuts and muffins because they might be packed with ingredients that can cause inflammation, advises Manaker.

Furthermore, according to Goodson, eating meals high in trans fats may increase inflammation as well as harm your cholesterol and heart health.

According to Goodson, you can spot these foods by looking for hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils on the ingredient list of items like fried fast food breakfast, snacks, pastries, baked goods produced with margarine or vegetable shortening, and some nondairy coffee creamers.

If you have a habit of adding a lot of sugar to your morning cup of coffee, it may still cause some unwelcome inflammation even if you aren’t rolling through the Starbucks drive-through for a PSL.

Depending on what you put in your cup of joe, coffee can be a nutritious addition to a breakfast plate, according to Manaker. While delightful, adding spoonfuls of sugar isn’t the greatest course of action when attempting to treat chronic inflammation.

Numerous studies confirm that sugar is a major factor in the development of unwelcome inflammation. According to a study that appeared in Frontiers of Nutrition, sugar is not only a significant contributor to chronic inflammation but is also associated with conditions including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic syndrome.

You don’t have to give up sugar forever if you enjoy it in your coffee. If inflammation is a worry for you, this is merely a reminder to pay attention to how much you’re consuming. If drinking sugary coffee is a habit you don’t want to break, look for other food groups throughout the day where you can cut back on sugar.

Drinking sugar-sweetened beverages in the morning, such as specialty coffee drinks or juices with additional sugar, may occasionally cause inflammation or other unfavorable health issues.

According to Goodson, “some evidence suggests that consuming too much sugar may promote the growth of inflammatory gut bacteria that can raise your risk of obesity and inflammatory bowel illness.” Additionally, simple carbohydrates can cause blood sugar spikes and decreases, causing energy and blood sugar levels to fluctuate throughout the course of the morning and potentially the entire day.

According to a meta-analysis that was published in Nutrients, higher sugar intake, especially when it came from sugary drinks, was associated with higher levels of C-reactive proteins, often known as inflammatory indicators, in the body. According to one study, those who consumed less sugar had lower levels of these inflammatory markers.

Manaker advises against regularly consuming processed breakfast meats like sausage or bacon because research suggests that doing so can increase levels of inflammatory markers like CRP.

And while occasionally consuming these items is probably acceptable, doing so daily isn’t the ideal habit to form.

The best course of action if you’re concerned about inflammation in your body is to discuss some of these daily activities with your doctor or dietician. We want you to have a road map for where to start when lowering inflammation in your body rather than feeling under pressure to get rid of every single one of these habits from your life.