Poor eggs.  I feel the need to defend this nutrient dense food.  They have had a bad wrap for years only to be topped by the recent Salmonella contamination – they just can’t catch a break!

I am a big fan of eggs.  Reason number one – they are a high biological value protein which means we can absorb and use it’s protein very well.  And then there’s the lutein, choline, Vitamin B12, selenium, and vitamin D they contain.  That’s just to name a few of their many nutrients.   These nutrients from eggs protect your heart, brain function and eyes!  And yes, you heard me right, I did say heart health.  For years, putting eating eggs in the same sentence as heart health was taboo.  Seems we lost sight of the big picture when we were even counting how many eggs we ate in products? 

So I say go for it!  Eat an egg a day if you would like - yolks and all!   Research has shown that eating eggs for breakfast might even help you lose weight, with it’s powerful protein to keep you full.  Eggs – one of nature’s wholesome foods.

Please keep in mind with the recent Salmonella threat to handle eggs with care, avoid cross-contamination and cook thoroughly.

As a nutrition professional, I receive many promotional items in the mail wanting me to support their products.  My most recent being a publication from a prominent cereal company with 13 pages on the Benefits of Cereal. On the first page, it states “cereal is one of the healthiest breakfast choices you can make.  Ready-to-eat cereal has fewer calories than almost any other common breakfast option.”

To this I say, ”Really?  There can be 13 pages of why cereal is the best thing?”  I beg to differ.  This company heavily advertises its cereal as the one to choose if trying to lower your cholesterol and has recently taken some heat for their advertising related to this.  As some of you know, most of my last 10 years has been dedicated to researching and fighting heart disease with nutrition.  Through this time, I have been working against these excellent marketing people, trying to tell the public that their cereal is not the best choice to lower their risk of heart disease.  And let me tell you that’s a challenge.  After requesting further research and documentation on their studies,  3 cups of their cereal daily (wow that’s a lot) has the potential to lower cholesterol slightly for a few people.  However what about those people who have the tendency to have more belly fat, higher triglycerides and are at risk for, or already have diabetes?  Definitely not the best choice for them.  And we know that heart disease isn’t just about cholesterol, we need to remember inflammation plays a part also.  Most cereals do nothing to lower inflammation and may actually be promoting it.

As for me and my family, we are not eating cereal for breakfast.   Give me a couple eggs, some natural peanut butter or a protein shake anyday.  They can keep their lil’ O’s – no 13 pages is going to convince me otherwise.

Typical cooler Sunday morning.  I wake up wanting a nice steaming cup of cappuccino.  Not a real cappuccino, but the “add the powder to hot water” type that you can get from a gas station.  And lucky me, I found a  mix in the grocery store that was SO good and I could have it at home to enjoy a cup whenever I wanted.  Which soon became a daily occurrence.

Enter in client who was also a lover of this cheap cappuccino.  Our mission - lowering her cholesterol.  After reviewing her excellent diet history, her 4 “from the powder” cappucino a day habit stuck out like a sore thumb.  She agreed to wean off these to see what difference it would make.   After 3 months of no capp, her cholesterol was down 40 points!!!!  We were thrilled. 

So was this enough for me to stop my once daily habit?  Not quite, but thought I would try watering it down some and now – no more in the house!  I’ve switched to green tea and have at least one daily.  Packing in those cancer and heart disease fighting anti-oxidants instead of the refined sugars and shelf stable fats.

But I must tell you it still calls my name…and I am trying not to listen.

As manufacturers and consumers battle it out while trying to unravel the mystery of “what to buy” , there have been different labeling programs that have developed.  As a Dietitian, I get fairly frustrated with the added confusion this brings.  Ultimately it is designed to help the consumer (You) have an easier time picking out healthful choices in the store.   But does it make it easier or more complicated?  It seems, more complicated.

I am sure you have seen these labels on foods you would never think would be a healthy choice, like sugared breakfast cereal that is about 40% sugar?  Seems like something is mixed up.  Per the package – one cereal is supposed to “improve immunity” and another “lowers your cholesterol 4 points if you eat 3 cups of it a day”.  My question is 4 points?  What good is that.  And really is breakfast cereal the best choice to get you started in the day?  And 3 cups of it every day?   

Well, it is being noticed.  And I think it needs to be.  But where do we go from here? 

I think we need to find an answer to this and quickly. 

But wait – we have one.  Rely less on what the food labels says and eat foods that don’t come with a standard food label.  Natural, wholesome foods that have not been altered by food manufacturers. 

This remains our best choice. 

See more about this….http://bit.ly/1BjVWd

This month is the beginning of your big campaign, your mission to protect yourself and fight for your life.  

Let’s start with how you begin your day – breakfast.  Are you taking time to eat a wholesome breakfast?  If you don’t eat breakfast, is it because you get hungrier when you do eat?  I hear that many times.  Mainly because many people eat cereal and that’s it…. just cereal. 

The missing breakfast ingredient is protein!  Eggs, peanut butter, nuts, yogurt or whey protein.  And honestly, most of us would be better off picking something besides cereal.  This cereal just barely gets you started in your day and then BOOM, you are hungry again.

Some better ideas….

- Peanut Butter Whole Wheat Toast with Fruit - and I mean 1 peice of 100% whole wheat toast or New England Brown Bread and about 2 Tbsp of PB. 

- Yogurt, Fruit and Granola Parfait – love the Dannon All Natural Vanilla Yogurt

- Whey Protein Shake – see recipe on my site under Power Up Cancer Fighter Package

- Steel Cut oats with Berries and Almonds

Take the first step, on this first day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.