5 Food That Were Not Meant For Breakfast

A healthy breakfast can set the tone for nutritious choices all day long. Consider these not-so-healthy breakfast foods sabotage. Breakfast is a storied meal, but for most of us on a day-to-day basis, it’s probably some iteration of eggs, bacon, and toast, or (no judgement) a stale Pop-Tart and some flat soda. Oh, and don’t forget a giant glass of orange juice and coffee. But, it turns out, many of the things we thought were staples of breakfast weren’t always the de facto morning fuel of choice. Thanks to clever marketing campaigns, cultural changes, and some pretty nifty developments in technology and food preservation, we can all enjoy the bounties of the modern breakfast table.

# Yogurt

Many foods have an origin story wrapped up in a happy accident, and yogurt is no different. Historians agree that yogurt was likely discovered after milk was left out in warm climates and fermented into a thick, nutrient-packed bundle of tastiness.

# Orange Juice

For one, orange juice would have been boiled and canned, and another, it would have tasted, well, not so great. Even though orange juice has been warring against other healthy beverage choices in the past few years, you can pretty much agree that there are few things more satisfying than having fresh-squeezed orange juice (with or without pulp) with your pancakes.

# Baked Beans

Even among breakfast foods (and yes, baked beans count as a breakfast food as well as a barbecue staple), the humble baked bean has a fascinating history.

# Coffee

Back in the dark ages (and by dark ages, we mean a time when you couldn’t get a latte at your corner cafe), coffee was a curiosity for wealthy aristocrats, and served as a marker of class status. In ancient times, workers usually subsisted on wine-soaked bread to stave off hunger (and maybe get a different kind of buzz).

# Avocados

Based on your Instagram feed, it might seem absurd to think that life existed before the advent of avocado toast. But it turns out this delicious Central American fruit didn’t make it to the breakfast table for a good long while, instead garnering names like “alligator pear” and “midshipman’s butter.”