For Your Health — Can Your Breakfast Help Lower Cancer Risk?
By Dr. Graham A. Colditz
Siteman Cancer Center
Don’t sleep on the cancer prevention benefits of a healthy breakfast. Whether it’s oatmeal, whole-wheat toast, berries in Greek yogurt or other healthy combinations, starting the morning with simple, whole foods is a great way to help lower the risk of cancer while also energizing your day and boosting your overall health.
Try to steer away from refined and processed foods like pastries, white bread, sugary cereals, sausage and bacon. These are popular choices, but they can increase the risk of some serious diseases, including cancer. Other options that focus on low-fat dairy, whole grains, fruit and other healthy plant foods can be just as tasty, and are also rich in nutrients and other compounds that are quite good for us.
Here are some ways to get the most out of your mornings:
Enjoy your coffee. Coffee has over 1,000 compounds that could help improve health. And studies have linked moderate coffee drinking with a lower risk of stroke, heart disease, diabetes, gallstones, Parkinson’s disease and some cancers. If you like your morning coffee, keep enjoying it. But try to keep it simple and in moderation. Unsweetened black coffee, or with just a little milk and sugar, is the healthiest choice. Specialty coffee drinks are often more like desserts, high in sugar and extra calories.
Mix it up. Experiment with new breakfast options that break the usual mold but keep things healthy. Add fresh spinach to your fruit smoothie. Try a breakfast chicken salad made with olive oil and slices of apple and wrapped in a whole-grain tortilla. Or try a morning mixed green salad with vinaigrette along with your toast. Adding more healthy plant-based foods to your weekly meals is a great way to help lower the risk of many diseases.
Grab and go — but healthy. Life is busy and mornings can feel doubly so. But that doesn’t mean you need to skimp on, or skip, a healthy breakfast. Try quick, on-the-go options: a banana wrapped in a whole-wheat tortilla, whole-grain granola and berries added to a cup of Greek yogurt, or the ever-reliable peanut butter sandwich on whole-wheat.
Go ahead with eggs — but not too many. Eggs can be filling and really enjoyable, plus they’re a good source of protein and other important nutrients. It’s generally best to eat no more than one a day, and to pair them with healthy choices, like whole-wheat tortillas and avocado instead of foods like white-bread toast, bacon and cheese. Or try a healthier omelet with kale and turkey.
Make it whole grain. Whole grains and fiber lower the risk of cancer and other diseases, and can be as much a part of breakfast as your morning coffee. And only a surprisingly small number of us actually get the recommended amounts of whole grains each day. So, breakfast is a great opportunity to boost that number. Oatmeal, whole-grain dry cereal or whole-wheat toast can top the classic whole-grain breakfast list. You can also look for foods labelled “100% whole grain,” “100% whole wheat,” “100% whole-grain oats” or something very similar.
It’s said a lot, but a good breakfast really is an important way to start the day. And we don’t need to overthink it to get real health benefits. Many of the classic breakfast foods have healthy, easy options. At the same time, there’s a lot of room to be creative and explore new foods and new approaches if we’d like.
Find out what works best for you and your family. And turn a good morning into a healthy one as well.
Dr. Graham A. Colditz leads prevention research at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine in St. Louis. Much of his work focuses on translating research findings into tools and tips that help people lower their risk of disease and improve their health — including the 8IGHT WAYS® to Prevent Cancer series.
