The #1 Worst Breakfast for Abdominal Fat, Says Dietitian

When you are focusing on ways to shrink your abdominal fat, there are a lot of factors to consider. Focusing on exercise, drinking more water and less sugar, or generally changing your eating habits all add up when trying to shrink belly fat. In particular, choosing a quality, nutritious breakfast is important for abdominal health—while limiting the foods that don't benefit your health at all.

According to our medical expert Laura Burak MS, RD, founder of GetNaked® Nutrition and Slimdown with Smoothies, one of the worst breakfast foods you can eat for abdominal fat is donuts.

"Just as you shouldn't single out any one food as a contributor to weight gain or certain health conditions, you shouldn't single out one breakfast as a culprit in increasing belly fat," says Burak. "However, high sugar options like donuts stand out as a classic breakfast food that simply contains added sugar and not much else."

In fact, a study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology recently stated that eating too much sugar is associated with larger fat deposits both around the heart and in the abdomen causing visceral fat, which is risky for your health.

"A food that is mostly made up of sugar eaten first thing in the morning can affect your blood sugar, hunger, and cravings for the rest of the day," says Burak. "A diet full of added sugar and excess calories, which is the typical American diet, can lead to weight gain anywhere on your body, but can settle in your abdominal area too."

What Burak recommends instead is to make sure to include protein in your breakfast, such as eggs or nut butter. Adding proteins helps stabilize your blood sugar until your next meal and sets you up for a more balanced day, unlike sugary foods that will make you hungry quicker.

However, if you can't escape reaching for a donut in the morning, there is a slight loophole. Serving some protein with the donut rounds out the meal and helps prevent excess weight gain. That way, the worst breakfast for your abdominal fat will come with some sort of balance.

"As always, look at the big picture when it comes to your health and nutrition and begin to make adjustments in your overall habits that can improve your body from the inside out—and sure, maybe even decrease that belly area that we love to focus on," says Burak.

Want to focus on a more healthy breakfast? Here are 91+ Best Healthy Breakfast Recipes for Weight Loss.