{"id":221923,"date":"2026-01-05T16:52:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T16:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/221923\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T16:52:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T16:52:10","slug":"nhs-says-make-5-healthier-breakfast-swaps-its-bad-news-for-croissant-lovers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/221923\/","title":{"rendered":"NHS says make 5 healthier ‘breakfast swaps’ – it\u2019s bad news for croissant lovers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Swapping out certain foods at breakfast may benefit your health and well-being in the long-term\"Making certain food swaps could help you lead a healthier lifestyle (stock image)(Image: Mirjana Pusicic\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

If you’re keen to start 2026 with a healthier diet<\/a>, look no further. Official NHS<\/a> guidance suggests that simple breakfast ‘swaps’<\/a> can help you cut down on sugar, salt and fat, thereby improving overall well-being in the long run.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, it’s bad news for anyone who regularly indulges in sweet morning snacks<\/a>, such as sugar-coated flakes, chocolate cereal and even honey-flavoured varieties. These are among five foods encompassed in the NHS swap-out list,<\/a> which promotes choosing healthier alternatives instead.<\/p>\n

According to the NHS campaign Better Health<\/a>, it’s best to swap out:<\/p>\n

Chocolate cerealsSugar-coated\/glazed cerealsCroissantsCereal barsHoney-flavoured cereals\"Close-upCroissants are among the suggested food items for replacement(Image: Simple Images\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Instead, it’s best to eat:<\/p>\n

Wheat biscuit cerealsShredded wholegrain cerealNo-added-sugar muesliPorridgeWholemeal toastPlain natural yoghurt topped with chopped fruit<\/p>\n

Many foods on the NHS swap-out list are frequently classified as ultra-processed products. This generally refers to items that have undergone more processing than other foods.<\/p>\n

Although not all processed foods are unhealthy, many contain high levels of calories, saturated fat, salt, or sugar. This is especially true for sugar-coated flakes and chocolate granola, which the British Heart Foundation<\/a> lists as some of the unhealthiest cereals available.<\/p>\n

\"NaturalThe NHS suggests that plain yoghurt topped with fruit can be a healthy breakfast alternative(Image: Caterina Oltean\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Speaking specifically of sugar-coated flakes<\/a>, its experts explain: “Sugar-frosted cornflakes are high in sugar and low in fibre, as well as usually coming with added salt. Sugar-frosted flakes can be nutritionally similar to other sweetened cereals like chocolate rice cereals, or honey-nut coated cereals.<\/p>\n

“A healthier option is to switch to an unsweetened cereal, like cornflakes or puffed rice, and add some fruit for sweetness that counts towards your five-a-day.”<\/p>\n

While these foods are arguably fine in moderation, the NHS suggests<\/a> that most people could benefit from consuming fewer processed, high-fat, and high-sugar products. Diets high in unhealthy processed foods have been linked to an increased risk of health conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.<\/p>\n

However, it’s worth noting that foods such as wholemeal bread might technically be ultra-processed, but are often considerably healthier. Further NHS guidance adds: “Looking at food labels<\/a> can help you choose between processed foods and check the calorie, saturated fat, salt and sugar content (nutrition content). Most pre-packed foods have the nutrition information on the packaging.<\/p>\n

“Some food labels use colour-coding to show if the food is high or low in fat, saturated fat, salt or sugar.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Swapping out certain foods at breakfast may benefit your health and well-being in the long-termMaking certain food swaps…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":221924,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[166,1455,163,85,46,2662,543],"class_list":{"0":"post-221923","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-diet","9":"tag-food-and-drink","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-il","12":"tag-israel","13":"tag-nhs","14":"tag-nutrition"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}