Beverages
You need milk on your cereal, and a glass of low- or nonfat milk is also fine for breakfast. Citrus fruits and juices will add vitamin C and other nutrients. Men who take certain medications, including some cholesterol-lowering statins and various antihypertensives, should choose orange juice rather than grapefruit juice, which can boost the blood levels of some drugs.
Coffee or tea? Your preference rules. Caffeinated beverages are perfectly okay unless you experience unpleasant side effects such as heartburn, palpitations or headaches.
Other Grains
Bread and toast are American breakfast traditions. If you like them, choose whole wheat or pumpernickel bread, which have a low glycemic index. Bran muffins are tricky; some are high in fat, and most provide only a few grams of fiber. Bagels are low in fat (unless you cover them with cream cheese) but very low in fiber. All in all, there's nothing wrong with any of these baked goods -- unless they displace your breakfast cereal.
Spreads
Breakfast spreads present opportunities as well as perils. Avoid the regular use of butter (saturated fat) and stick margarine (trans fat). Honey and jam have no fat but are too sugary for daily use in large amounts. Soft margarine from a tub is acceptable, but plant stanol margarines such as Benecol and Take Control are even better, since regular use will help lower LDL cholesterol levels.
Fruit
The best diets include at least two to four portions of fruit a day. Breakfast presents a great opportunity to take the first step toward that goal. Pick the fruits you like best; there are no bad choices.
Eggs
It's enough to make the average guy's blood boil. Conflicting messages have scrambled the traditional wisdom about eggs, and modern nutritional science has not yet cracked the problem.
An average egg contains 213 mg of cholesterol and 5 grams of fat, virtually all in the yolk. Even though dietary cholesterol won't raise blood cholesterol levels nearly as much as saturated fats, it does contribute to the total. That's why the American Heart Association (AHA) recommends a daily consumption of just 300 mg or less of cholesterol, or 200 mg for people with high blood cholesterols. It's a sound recommendation and it's taken eggs off the heart-healthy breakfast table. Fortunately, egg substitutes can be used to make fine baked goods and even omelets and scrambled "eggs."
But that's not the end of the story. In 1999, the news media triggered a massive backlash when they announced that a Harvard study found that eggs did not contribute to cardiovascular disease.
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