48-Year-Old Woman Dies Unexpectedly After Eating the Same Breakfast for Years: 3 Breakfast Foods People With Diabetes Should Think Twice About

For many people, breakfast is the most predictable meal of the day. A bowl of cereal, a few slices of toast, a sweetened drink, or a pastry can become part of a routine that lasts for years.

But for someone living with diabetes, what appears to be a harmless daily habit can have a significant effect on blood sugar control.

A viral image claims that a 48-year-old woman with diabetes died unexpectedly after eating the same breakfast for years and suggests that doctors identified three foods people with diabetes should avoid. Stories like this can be frightening, but there is an important distinction to make: there is no universal evidence that eating one particular breakfast every day will suddenly cause a person with diabetes to die.

Serious complications usually develop through a combination of factors, including blood glucose control, cardiovascular health, medications, kidney function, lifestyle, and other medical conditions.

Still, some breakfast foods can make blood sugar management considerably more difficult.

Here are three categories worth paying attention to.

1. Sugary Cereals and Sweetened Breakfast Foods

Many breakfast cereals are marketed as healthy because they contain grains, vitamins, or added fiber.

However, some varieties contain substantial amounts of added sugar and refined carbohydrates.

When a person eats a carbohydrate-rich food, the digestive system breaks carbohydrates down into glucose. For someone with diabetes, the body may not produce enough insulin or may not respond effectively to insulin.

As a result, blood glucose can rise higher and remain elevated for longer.

Sweetened cereals can be particularly problematic when combined with other sugary breakfast foods, such as:

• Sweetened yogurt
• Syrups
• Pastries
• Flavored coffee drinks
• Fruit juice
• Sweetened milk

The problem isn't that people with diabetes can never eat carbohydrates.

Instead, portion size, carbohydrate quality, fiber, and the overall meal composition matter.

A higher-fiber cereal with little or no added sugar may be a very different choice from a heavily sweetened cereal.

A better approach

Check the nutrition label.

Look at:

Total carbohydrate

Added sugar

Dietary fiber

And serving size.