MW The secret to wellness is simple: Eat this breakfast and work out at the right time

By Ezekiel J. Emanuel & Vitor B. de Souza

Forget the complicated health hacks. What the science behind managing diabetes can teach all Americans about a healthy life.

Skip processed meats for breakfast. They might smell wonderful and taste delicious, but eating them regularly can increase the risk of cancer and heart disease.

The U.S. and Europe once went through a health and wellness craze much like today's. In 1863, a physician who advocated vegetarianism and hydrotherapy produced the first breakfast cereal to counter the meat-focused breakfasts of the day. Composed of bran flour pieces, it was hard and virtually inedible.

Then, in 1894, the Kellogg brothers - also advocates of vegetarianism, exercise, abstinence from meat and alcohol, and other principles of that "clean living movement" - accidentally developed Corn Flakes. The palatable breakfast cereal was born and has since morphed into a $40 billion a year market.

Much like in the late 1800s, Americans today are searching for ways to be healthier. The wellness industry has provided a seemingly endless supply of products and increasingly complex advice to help achieve that goal. Yet most of it has little to show in long-term outcomes or scientific backing, and frustrated consumers shift from one fad to the next, without moving the needle on their weight. About 75% of Americans were overweight or obese in 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Most of us would like to live longer, healthier lives. We've found that wellness really boils down to six behaviors: having social relationships, staying sharp mentally, avoiding unnecessary risks, getting good sleep, exercising, and, yes, eating well.

A healthier breakfast is a small, evidence-based habit with outsize health impact. The key to a healthy breakfast is less about when you eat breakfast and more about what you eat.

While some breakfast cereals are healthy, that is the exception. Most cereals are loaded with sugars and use white flour from refined grains, which strips them of high-quality fiber. Moreover, following the vegetarianism of the Kellogg brothers, they contain little protein. Adding synthetic minerals and vitamins does not make them nutritious.

Similarly, packaged pancakes and waffles are filled with sugars and are often ultraprocessed, loaded with harmful additives. A breakfast of power bars or muffins and a coffee with milk and sugar is also high in calories and low in nutrients. Orange juice delivers roughly the same sugar as a can of soda, stripped of the fiber found in whole fruit that slows absorption and increases gut motility. Same goes for sugar-loaded yogurts. These breakfasts produce a rapid glucose spike and an insulin response early in the day. Not only do sugar spikes contribute to the long-term development of metabolic disease, it can also leave you hungrier by midmorning than if you had eaten nothing at all.

It turns out the best general advice for a nutritious and healthy start to the day is the guidance developed initially for people with Type 2 diabetes. Unfortunately, it has long been dismissed as overly restrictive for the general population. We disagree. Not only is this breakfast nutritious, it also tastes great. The general approach is to minimize processed carbohydrates, prioritize fiber-rich foods, and anchor meals in high-quality proteins.

In practice, a better breakfast looks quite different than a bowl of cereal, and two of the best options are backed by science. Plain Greek yogurt has been found to reduce risk of Type 2 diabetes and improve cardiometabolic markers, in addition to delivering protein and probiotics. It was the single best food for weight loss in a 2011 study conducted by Harvard University researchers. But keep away from artificially flavored yogurts with added sugars. And certainly don't feed them to your children or grandchildren. Instead, add a handful of berries, kiwis, or other fruits rich in fiber and antioxidants. You can also add granola with oats and nuts that contribute healthy fats that slow glucose absorption.

Eggs are already an American breakfast staple. They provide complete protein and rich nutrients with essentially no spike in your glucose. Adding a slice of a fiber-rich whole wheat bread won't kill you. Skip processed meats such as bacon, ham, or sausages. They might smell wonderful and taste delicious, but they are literally deadly. They contain nitrates, high levels of sodium and saturated fats, and aromatic hydrocarbons that increase the risk of cancer, hypertension, and heart disease.

These aren't difficult or unpalatable breakfasts, but simply different - and nutritious - ones.

There's another small behavior change that produces an outsize impact. It's about your exercise habits. The science is clear: the most important exercise change anyone can make is moving from being a horizontal couch potato to being vertical and doing 150 minutes a week - that's only 20 minutes a day - of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes a week of vigorous aerobic activity, as recommended by the American Heart Association.

For those seeking additional, evidence-backed tweaks, a surprising finding is that when you exercise also matters. The American College of Sports Medicine's position is that exercising after meals and in the afternoon outperforms fasting and morning exercise sessions for glycemic control. This may reduce the risks of metabolic diseases.

The Look AHEAD trial, which is one of the largest and longest studies of lifestyle intervention in Type 2 diabetes, found that afternoon exercise was associated with a 30% to 50% improvement in blood glucose control than exercise at other times of day. And people with diabetes who exercised in the afternoon doubled their odds of being able to discontinue glucose-lowering medications altogether.

This is not trivial, and although it certainly benefits the one in three Americans with pre-diabetes or diabetes, it is likely to benefit all of us. For most people, this benefit requires no changes to their workout schedule. A walk after dinner, meaning 10 to 20 minutes of light movement, already consistently blunts unhealthy post-meal glucose spikes. The bar is low, but the effect is real.

A century after Corn Flakes arrived on American tables, the search for a healthy breakfast continues. In the 1800s, the Kellogg brothers had good intentions but almost no evidence. We have the opposite problem - mountains of rigorous scientific evidence, drowned out by noisy advice, marketing, and fads. Medical research has spent decades identifying the levers to regulate metabolism for people with diabetes, and most of these hacks work for everyone. The recommendations aren't complex or new. Replace ultraprocessed foods, sugars, and refined flour with whole foods rich in protein and fiber, and move more often.

Small changes in eating and exercise habits compound over time, and tomorrow morning is a good time to start.

Ezekiel J. Emanuel is an oncologist, bioethicist and health-policy expert. He is also the vice provost for global initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania and the author or editor of 16 books, most recently "Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life."

Vitor B. de Souza is a medical student at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

-Ezekiel J. Emanuel & Vitor B. de Souza

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June 22, 2026 08:16 ET (12:16 GMT)

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