Eat This, Not That’: 4 worst breakfast foods at the supermarket

WORST FROZEN BREAKFASTJimmy Dean Breakfast Bowls: Pancakes and Syrup and Sausage Links (1 bowl)
710 calories
34 g fat (12 g saturated)
1,000 mg sodium
35 g sugars

Calorie equivalent: 12 Dunkin’ Donuts Sugared Munchkins

Pancakes and sausage are the dastardly duo of the breakfast table. One loads you down with saturated fat, and the other is a sponge for the liquid sugar we know as syrup. Eat this thing for breakfast and you’re taking in more sugar than a Snickers bar and a paltry 12 grams of protein. Or you can switch to the bowl below. It has a third as many calories, a quarter as much saturated fat, and nearly twice as much protein. That means it will fight hunger even better than the pancakes and sausage, but it will eliminate 480 calories from your morning routine. Do that every day and you’ll lose nearly a pound a week.

Eat This Instead!Jimmy Dean D-lights Turkey Sausage Bowl (1 bowl)
230 calories
7 g fat (3 g saturated)
700 mg sodium
1 g sugars

WORST CEREALKashi Summer Berry Granola (1 cup with ½ cup 2% milk)
505 calories
14.5 g fat (3.5 g saturated)
24 g sugars
14 g fiber

Calorie equivalent: 17 Nabisco Ginger Snap Cookies
Kashi’s Summer Berry Granola has 18 grams of sugar per cup, which — unless it’s coming from fruit — is more than you should ever see on your breakfast table. The company’s GoLean, on the other hand, is one of the best cereals in the supermarket, boasting nearly twice as much fiber as sugar. Plus it has 13 grams of protein, whereas the granola blend has only 6. More fiber plus more protein equals less hunger and a smaller belly. That’s simple nutritional arithmetic.

Eat This Instead!Kashi GoLean Original (1 cup with ½ cup 2% milk)
205 calories
3.5 g fat (1.5 g saturated)
12 g sugars
10 g fiber

WORST BAKED GOODEntenmanns’s Single Serve Iced Honey Bun (1 bun)
660 calories
38 g fat (22 g saturated)
34 g sugars

Saturated fat equivalent: 22 strips of bacon

Take a second look at that saturated fat count. 22 grams. That’s absurd. What’s equally egregious is the fact that this pastry has more sugar than two full-size Klondike Bars. You couldn’t design a worst breakfast. If you absolutely must have a sweet pastry to jumpstart your morning, then go with a plain doughnut. Not only do you save 470 calories, but you also cut your fat by more than two-thirds, your saturated fat by more than three-fourths, and your sugar by nearly 80 percent. It’s not exactly nutritious, but thanks to a modest serving size, the damage is minimal. Wash it down with a glass of milk and you’ve just earned a few grams of protein to boot.

Eat This Instead!Entenmann’s Plain Donut (1 donut)
190 Calories
11 g fat (5 g saturated)
7 g sugar

WORST TOASTER FOODThomas’ Blueberry Bagel (1 bagel with 2 oz cream cheese)
465 calories
21 g fat (11.5 g saturated)
620 mg sodium
56 g carbohydrates
13 g sugars

Calorie equivalent: 5.5 (1-cup) bowls of HoneyComb cereal

The bagel is a nutritional zero. Even if it were loaded with blueberries, it would still be a waste of calories, but as it is, blueberries are merely there to make you feel better about starting your day with a glorified pastry. Scan the ingredient list and you’ll find blueberries near the bottom, beneath 15 other ingredients like sugar, corn syrup, preservatives, and modified food starch. Instead, look to Thomas’ English muffins. They’re portioned perfectly to rope healthier foods into your morning routine without strapping a bagel belt around your belly. You can stuff them with ham and eggs for a quick, protein-packed breakfast, or you can swipe on some peanut butter for a quick boost of fiber, protein, and healthy fat.

Eat This Instead!Thomas’ English Muffins, Original made with Whole Grains (1 muffin with 2 Tbsps peanut butter)
320 calories
17 g fat (3 g saturated)
355 mg sodium
32 g carbohydrates
4 g sugars

Source: Dave Zinczenko, author of "Eat This, Not That!