Have you seen the many TV commercials from Jimmy Dean, advertising their line of Delights Breakfast Sandwiches? The dude in the sun costume quickly pulls away granola or other cereals and quickly replaces them with a frozen sandwich “fresh” from the microwave — all the while touting that it contains less than 300 calories. But after taking a look at the incredibly long ingredients lists of these various breakfast “Delights”, one has to wonder if the makers of these types of frozen breakfast sandwiches really have our health in mind.

For example, Wegmens lists the following as ingredients for Jimmy Dean Delights Breakfast Sandwich, Turkey Sausage Reduced Fat Croissant: Croissant: Enriched Bleached Flour(Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Four, Niacin, Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Water, Margarine (Palm Oil, Water, Salt, Mono- and Diglycerides, Soy Lecithin, Sodium Benzoate [Preservative], Artificial Flavor, Beta-Carotene [Color], Vitamin A Palmitate), High Fructose Corn Syrup, Yeast, Oat Fiber, Contains 2% or Less of: Vegetable Oil (Soybean and/or Cottonseed Oils), Salt, Eggs, Mono- and Diglycerides, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Sugar, Calcium Propionate and Potassium Sorbate (Preservatives), Cellulose Gum, Soy Lecithin, Soy Flour. Fried Egg White Patty: Egg Whites, Modified Tapioca Starch, Carrageenan Gum, Salt, Natural Flavors. Cooked Turkey Sausage Patty: Turkey, Water, Contains 2% or Less of: Salt, Dextrose, Sugar, Spices, Sodium Phosphate, BHT, Citric Acid, Caramel Color. Pasteurized Process American Cheese: American Cheese (Cultured Milk, Salt, Enzymes, Artificial Color), Water, Cream, Sodium Citrate, Salt, Sodium Phosphate, Sorbic Acid (Preservative), Lactic Acid, Artificial Color, Enzymes, Soy Lecithin.

(Are we still reading?)

Personally, these kinds of foods are questionable when it comes to making meal choices for a healthy breakfast. You’d be better off having that bowl of lowfat granola that the “sun” takes away. Or even toasting some wholegrain bread, adding a minimal amount of natural peanut butter and topping it off with a small banana, sliced.

All natural. Great tasting. And honestly takes about as much time to prepare as the complicated process required for preparing the frozen breakfast sandwich (“1. Remove from wrapper. Wrap in paper towel. 2. Microwave on Defrost (30% power) for 1 minute 30 seconds or until thawed. 3. Turn sandwich over. Microwave an additional 50 seconds on High or until hot. (For compact or microwave ovens Lower than 850 watts add 25-35 seconds, if needed.). 4. Let stand in microwave 1-1/2 to 2 minutes before serving” — huh? What’s convenient about that?!).

We’ve never been fatter as a nation — and yet we’ve never been able to find more “Reduced Fat” or “Low Calorie” options at the grocery store. Could it be that our bodies can’t properly metabolize what we’re eating? Or that our brain and satisfaction sensors don’t take any real pleasure from over processed foods? Interesting food for thought, no? Key word… Food.

Join me in having real food for breakfast instead of frozen curiosities with ingredient lists (and incredibly high sodium contents) that really have no place at the breakfast (or any) table of the healthy-minded.

For some healthier (and super easy) breakfast ideas from WebMD, click here (or share your own, below!).

http://youtu.be/HjmYuigd2Jo

Photo Source: Wegmans