Sugar, Sugar, Meat, & Fat - America's Breakfast

"You've got sugar, sugar, meat, and fat."

Those words from vegan chef Alex Jamison to her boyfriend Morgan Spurlock in the game-changing documentary film Super-size Me still resonate with me all these years later. In the scene Alex is somewhat mocking Morgan while clarifying the "food groups" represented in his McDonalds breakfast of hot cakes and sausage - there may have been some scrambled eggs on the plate as well. That simple explanation of standard American breakfast fare recently came back to me while on vacation.

Enjoying a fabulous summer in Summit County, Colorado at the very nice Keystone Resort and Spa, I walked past a group of people eating breakfast at an outdoor cafe - nothing but "white foods."  Pancakes and waffles and biscuits & gravy and white toast and hash browns and ... nothing of any significant nutritional value. Granted, a few people were eating eggs - which is a good protein, though I doubt this is an organic free range egg with good omega fats. And, there was one bowl of oatmeal - certainly a "white"-looking food, which could have been easily amped up in nutrition and flavor with some fresh berries and nuts and cinnamon.

We've all been guilty of the doughnuts-for-breakfast moment, and there is certainly something positive to be said about pancakes and waffles and hash browns. That is without doubt. And maybe what I was seeing is simply splurging for vacation. But American has a problem with its mindless fixation on "white" starchy foods that are seriously lacking in nutrition and sustenance. It's been years since I've started a day without some fruit and nuts, and I switched to whole grains years ago. Eggs are a staple, as are hummus and nut butters - the sort of foods that provide fuel the body needs. And they also lack the empty, starchy, sugars that are the key to America's busting waistlines.

Enough with the white foods for breakfast.