I know someone who came to my office this weekend with his son. This man wants to lose weight and he wants his children to lose weight too. He says he is watching what they eat, and they were late to my office that morning and came in with “breakfast drinks.” What were they drinking that was “good” for them, as he put it?

Nestle Strawberry flavored milk (30g of sugar) and Naked Juice (38g of carbs). There are approximately 4g of sugar per sugar cube. So, I pulled out my sugar cube box and I showed him 7.5 sugar cubes and asked him if he would give them to his son. Of course, he declined, but I told him he was with the chocolate milk–as that is how many sugar cubes are in his drink. And there were about 9 in Dad’s drink.

But, milk and juice is healthy!? Not so much. A balanced amount of milk as a protein, each day, is good for you. However, flavored milk AKA SUGAR milk is not good for you. And, the juice is overkill. FRUIT is good, the pulp and the fiber is needed and NOT in that juice. So, in his juice is 1/2 a banana, 1/3 of a mango and 21/2 apples. If you had to eat that many pieces of fruit in one sitting, you could not really do it. So, EAT fruit, don’t drink it. It is less fiber and too much sugar. Plus, both the milk and the juice were in huge containers and they were both trying to drink the whole thing. They should have just had a little bit of it.

So, what should dad have fed himself and his kid for breakfast? Sure, they were in a hurry that day and they wanted something easy and quick. So, what could Dad have done instead?

Parents need to educate themselves. No wonder there is a problem with a large amount of childhood obesity, and more adults are obese now than ever in the history of the United States. So, here are some ideas!

Quick Low-Sugar Breakfast Ideas:

1. Hard-boiled eggs (pre-made) or just scramble some eggs–quickly.
2. Microwaveable STEEL cut oatmeal (there is some at Trader Joes and at Costco) and put some blueberries in it.
3. A low-carb protein bar.
4. Low-fat string cheese or mini baby bells.
5. Worse case scenario–fast food place, just order scrambled eggs and bacon.
6. Turkey or chicken slices with low-fat cheese or microwaveable turkey bacon or sausage
7. A low-carb protein drink.
8. Put ONE piece of fruit in a blender with some ice and some veggies (there are recipes online) and make a small smoothie.
9. A glass of low-fat milk, low-carb Greek yogurt.
10. Low-carb pancake mix and syrup.

(yes, some of that is processed meat, and nothing is perfect, but it won’t add to your waistline like sugar drinks will.)