In a previous blog, I have discussed the problems with just counting calories in foods, particularly fast foods. This was illustrated recently in Canada where the CBC has a programme called Marketplace that criticizes various aspects of the food, goods and service industries. On Friday January 16th, the co-host, Erica Johnston, offered breakfast sandwiches from Tim Horton’s, McDonalds and Starbucks to passengers on a Toronto tram car. After each one had chosen their sandwich, she regaled them with the calories, sodium and fat each contained. It was obvious that she, supported by a nutritionist, thought they were very unsuitable breakfast fare. But, is she correct?
There is an old British saying that states, “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper”. In other words, the main meal,of the day should be breakfast. This makes sense as it stacks the body up with nutrients to be used during the stress of the day. There is little point in eating a large meal at night when all the effort one expends will be sitting on a sofa watching TV and sleeping.
According to Canada’s Food Guide, an average adult male requires approximately 2,500 to 3,000 calories a day depending on his age and activity. An average adult female requires between 1,800 and 2,250. Erica told the people who accepted her offer of a breakfast sandwich that it contained between 500 to 600 calories. This was greeted with shock and horror by everyone, but this is just about one fifth of the day’s requirements. If breakfast should be the most important meal of the day, surely it should supply more calories than even these breakfast sandwiches.
The sandwiches were also criticized for containing fat, but nowadays fat is considered a necessary component of one’s diet, in contrast to the recent past when fat free diets were all the rage. It is carbohydrate that makes one fat, not ingested fat. The fat and high protein of these sandwiches will provide energy over extended periods and the carbohydrate from the bun instant energy. The protein also provides amino acids required for regeneration of cells, for example in the intestine, and for the synthesis of red blood cells. The 500 calories present in a bun that contains an egg and meat cannot be compared with 500 calories from an icing covered donut.
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The other concern was the level of salt or more precisely sodium, which is an essential component of one’s diet. The level in some of these sandwiches was about half the daily requirement. Even if you make breakfast your main meal it may still be high.
If you do not have time or inclination to make a complete breakfast at home, which is by far the best option, these breakfast sandwiches, although not ideal, may be a way to get the day started, since they contain not just carbohydrate but also protein and fat. They also provide some vitamins, especially if they contain whole eggs. I have talked about the problems of sugar many times. Although hardly a breakfast of kings, breakfast sandwiches are far better than sugar coated cereals, toast or a donut.
The problem of only counting calories was described in an earlier blog “Mandatory listing of calories in fast foods”. I have also described the problems of eating too much sucrose in earlier blogs.
