A top diet doctor has hit out against a social media trend for feeding children meat for breakfast — and issued a particularly warning against one British favourite.
Dr Federica Amati, head nutritionist of popular diet app Zoe, voiced concerns about parents who advocate a low-carb diet for their kids, swapping cereals for meat-heavy breakfasts.
Speaking on the Zoe podcast, she said ultra-processed meat like bacon could be particularly harmful, due to links to several types of cancer.
‘There are voices online that are telling people to not feed their children carbs in the morning and give them bacon,’ said Dr Amati.
‘Please don’t give your children processed meat.’
Ultra processed meat like bacon and sausages contain preservatives that interact with substances inside the gut to increase the risk of tumours developing.
Aside to sugary cereal, pastries and sweet yoghurts there is one food in particular Dr Amati stresses parents should not to give their children for breakfast — and that’s bacon
Speaking to Zoe co-founder Jonathan Wolf on a podcast episode about the difficulty of getting children out of the habit of eating ultra-processed food (UPF), Dr Amati warned parents about the dangers of certain breakfast foods
An easy sign a food could be a UPF is if it contains ingredients you wouldn’t find in your kitchen cupboard, such as unrecognisable colourings, sweeteners and preservatives. Another clue is the amount of fat, salt and sugar lurking inside each pack, with UPFs typically containing high amounts
Eating more than 70g of red meat a day increases your risk of bowel cancer by five per cent, according to a 2019 study by researchers at University of Oxford. This amount is the equivalent to two slices of bacon or half a burger.
The NHS recommends eating no more than two portions of processed red meat a week.
Dr Amati, who is also a scientist based at Imperial College London, has urged parents to not ‘fear carbs’.
She explains that it’s vital for children to have enough carbohydrate to ‘fuel their growth and their activity’, as the nutrient is quickly converted to energy by the body.
Fellow podcast guest Rhiannon Lambert, author of books including Sunday Times bestseller The Science of Plant-Based Nutrition, stressed that carbs are actually ‘our brain’s preferred source of fuel.’
She explained that it’s important to feed children ‘good quality’ carbohydrates such as low-sugar wholegrain cereal such as Weetabix and bread.
To cut down on added sugar swap sweet yoghurts to natural yoghurt with honey, fruit or dark chocolate to flavour it. Dr Amati suggests making a yogurt bowl with fruits, with nuts and seeds or even sprinkling some Cheerio’s as a topper for your child’s breakfast
One convenient breakfast food Dr Amati tells parents to avoid is flavoured yoghurts, as each tiny pot can contain a teaspoon of sugar
The experts warned parents against choosing products that feature claims such as ‘high in protein’, as many of these foods also contain added sugar and additives.
Dr Amati added that on average, UK children are exposed to 15 billion junk food adverts per year.
‘We’re living in a world right now where children are more used to opening a pouch or a packet of crisps than they are peeling a banana,’ she said.
Ultra processed foods (UPFs), which can also include the likes of biscuits, sausages, crisps and industrially made sliced bread, typically contain ingredients not used or very rarely used in home cooking such as colourings and sweeteners.
For example, about 95 per cent of baked goods, such as processed white bread and pastries contain at least one emulsifier.
These are mixed into food to help bind fats and water, helping enhance the texture, appearance and shelf-life of food.
But according to Dr Amati they can disrupt microbiome — the microbes in your gut that help you digest food— and cause inflammation in the gut.
She explains inflammation contributes to a ‘higher risk in being unwell’, adding it can trigger irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and indigestion.
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But increased inflammation in the gut for a long time can also increase the risk of ‘developing obesity, type 2 diabetes, and of developing autoimmune conditions,’ she said.
As for the breakfasts the experts do recommend, they suggest sticking to Weetabix, Shredded Wheat and Bran Flakes.
While Dr Amati confesses that they are more ‘boring’, she explains they are less calorific and sugary than Honey Loops, Fruit Loops and Frosties.
Other breakfast foods she suggests include eggs, chopped up apples, adding an avocado to a smoothie and — surprisingly — pancakes.
Pancakes can be ‘absolute nutritional powerhouses’, she said, and suggests making them using a banana, oats and some eggs for a nutritious breakfast.
