7 Things You Should Eat For Breakfast And 7 You Should Always Avoid

Eat low-fat; wait, no, eat low-carb. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day; wait, no, skip breakfast — intermittent fasting is the only way to go. Butter is awful for your heart; eat margarine instead. Wait, no! Margarine is even worse for you. Is green juice healthy or horrible? Can you have coffee or not?

Keeping up with current food trends can be exhausting and overwhelming, especially first thing in the morning. But don't despair! At the end of the day, no matter what the trends say, the tenets of food science are the best way to guide your choices for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So stop following the trends, and focus on the research. (It's easier than you think!)

We've done the dirty work for you and scoured studies and expert recommendations. The result? We've hand-selected the very best (and very worst) ways to start your day. Have a look to discover our favorite healthy breakfast ideas (and the worst unhealthy breakfast offenders) to pick the one that you most want to wake up to.

Rich in fiber and beta-glucans, whole grain oatmeal has long been a breakfast favorite, clinically proven to lower cholesterol and improve weight management in people with type-2 diabetes. But you can actually push the power of oatmeal to the next level by pairing it with other foods, like antioxidant-rich berries and healthy fat-rich nuts or nut butter, making oatmeal a complete and balanced meal.

Fat and protein, according to Eat This, Not That!, are two macronutrients that keep you full long after you've eaten — and two macronutrients that oatmeal is unfortunately quite poor in all on its own. The addition of nut butter keeps you fuller longer, and adding sweetness in the form of fiber-rich fruit will keep your blood sugar from spiking as much as it would if you were adding a purer sugar source like maple syrup or honey.

A salad ... for breakfast? Admittedly, this might sound like a weird one, but hear us out! There's no real reason why we can conceive of some foods — like bacon, eggs, and sausage — as breakfast foods but others — like salad — as a strange choice for the morning meal. And the Whole30 Program, an on-trend anti-inflammatory protocol similar to the paleo diet, is all about the breakfast salad.

Since Whole30ers a) have to eat breakfast, as part of the program, and b) due to the limited foods allowed on the program are pretty much stuck with eggs for 30 days straight, a salad, particularly one that's easy to make, thanks to its use of leftovers, starts to look like a lovely way to start the day. A simple Cobb salad feels a bit more familiar, thanks to the presence of both bacon and eggs, while a tomato and cucumber salad is super refreshing on a hot day. Avocado and corn join tomatoes in this fresh salad made with loads of summer produce.

More adventurous breakfasters might like an omega-3 rich tuna-based Niçoise salad or a sweet-and-savory salad made with fresh strawberries.

According to Healthline, natto is a dish of fermented soybeans that might be hard to stomach for some who've never tried it, but the Japanese breakfast fave is an incredible source of a healthy bacteria B. subtilis; this microbe helps create the ideal conditions for the growth of probiotics to improve digestion, brain function, and even immune response. It's also rich in protein and minerals like manganese, iron, copper, vitamin K, and magnesium. So look past the slightly slimy texture and funky aroma, and give natto a try.

Traditionally, natto is served with white rice and topped with chopped scallions. It also goes nicely with a topping of poached or fried egg. But once you get the hang of serving natto, you can also add other ingredients to the mix, like toasted sesame seeds for nutty crunch or even diced creamy avocado, which adds loads of fiber and healthy fats to your morning routine.

Some intermittent fasters interpret their fast a bit differently and allow certain foods or drinks to be enjoyed even when fasting. These exceptions to the fast include water, black coffee, plain tea or herbal infusions, and a concoction known as Bulletproof coffee. 

Bulletproof coffee is a combination of black coffee with healthy fats like ghee (aka clarified butter, with all of the milk solids removed) and brain octane MCT oil, which is made up of easily digestible medium-chain fats. The mixture is whipped until the fat molecules are suspended in the coffee, making it light and frothy. Most importantly, the combination does not take the body out of ketosis, the sought-after state of burning fat for fuel, which means that intermittent fasters who pair the practice with the keto diet and lifestyle can indulge in the beverage first thing in the morning — even during a fast.

Croissants, scones, muffins, even the humble Pop-Tart ... these pastries and more are definitely associated with breakfast, but they're far from the best choices out there. Breakfast baked goods like muffins are usually packed with added fat and sugar, causing the same blood sugar spikes as sugary cereal. And what's more, food "science" myths aren't helping people get a handle on whether having what is essentially cake for breakfast is a good idea or not.

While Israeli researchers did indeed publish work in 2012 seeming to indicate that people could eat chocolate cake for breakfast and still lose weight, the interpretation of the study was widely overgeneralized and misconstrued. "If you go back and look at the details of the original study, the researchers found that eating a larger breakfast, including some desserts if desired, is better than eating larger meals throughout the day," dietitian Melanie McGrice told Honey Coach. "That doesn't mean that you can just replace your whole breakfast with chocolate cake!"

The same holds for breakfast pastries, which despite having breakfast in the name are far from the best morning choices.

Green juice was all the rage a few years ago, but its popularity has petered, and for good reason. Juicing vegetables — and especially fruits — removes their fiber and thus makes them more likely to spike your blood sugar, as noted by Baptist Health.

Fiber is an essential macronutrient that aids in the promotion of good gut health, which has been linked to improved brain health, too! And as Vox pointed out, 95% of Americans don't get enough of it. Eating whole fruits and veggies is the smarter decision, then, for more reasons than one.

The only time experts say juicing may be beneficial? If you wouldn't eat the fruits and veggies on their own, says the Mayo Clinic. But make an effort — there are so many delicious ways to eat (not drink!) your five a day from air-fried zucchini chips to roasted Brussels sprouts to honey-glazed carrots. Enjoy some fruit as a snack, and there's your produce for the day done!

The granola bar industry is perhaps the world's most talented at framing something that is essentially a candy bar as a healthy breakfast or trail snack. While the idea of granola — a combo of whole grains like oats or buckwheat combined with protein-dense nuts and antioxidant-rich dried fruit — is indeed healthy, the reality is that most granola bar brands contain far more sugar than a healthy breakfast really needs, often in the form of cane sugar or high-fructose corn syrup instead of fiber-rich fruit. For example, Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Harvest granola bars can contain up to 15 grams of sugar per serving, with just one to two grams of fiber to balance it out. (As a point of comparison, Health Warrior Chia Bars contain just three grams of sugar per serving and five grams of fiber, making them a far healthier option.)

The bottom line? If you're opting for a granola bar for breakfast, do your research to find one that uses whole ingredients and keeps added sugar to a minimum.

Many of the problems that plague the breakfast choice of white toast with margarine and jam are also problematic in the case of a Sunday morning fave: pancakes topped with maple syrup. Pancakes are calorie-dense and nutrient poor, thanks to the presence of white flour and white sugar, so there's not much there to make them a nutritious breakfast (per Livestrong). Topping them with maple syrup takes them from bad to worse, thanks to the added sugar. 

Real maple syrup does indeed contain some trace minerals, like manganese, as noted by Healthline. But let's be real: despite the minerals, maple syrup really is pretty much just ... pure sugar. At least it's better than that fake "maple" syrup, made not from maple sap but high-fructose corn syrup, which research has shown is even worse than sugar alone!

No matter how you approach it, though, this classic may be a nostalgic breakfast treat, but it's far from the healthiest choice.