Is your 'healthy breakfast' killing your diet?

You may think a smoothie is a great start to the day. Not quite, according to a nutritionist. Photo / Getty

Do you consider a smoothie, Marmite on toast, or a trim latte a healthy breakfast? Well your opinion may change after reading this.

Sydney-based dietician, Susie Burrell, spoke to the Daily Mail to explain why your so called "healthy breakfast" could in fact be doing you a lot of harm.

Burrell believes the biggest mistakes people are making come down to three very simple things: eating breakfast too late, not counting coffee in their calorie intake and eating high carb breakfasts that don't keep them full.

To curb the carb binge Burrell recommends increasing protein to keep "insulin and glucose levels controlled."

She told the Daily Mail Australia you can get this from "two eggs, baked beans and cheese or Greek yoghurt or a protein shake".

Among the unhealthy choices, she listed Turkish toast and marmite, which is too high in carbs.

"It's packed full of refined carbs - the same amount of carbs as between six to eight slices of bread!"

Smoothies can also be a culprit, containing far more calories than people may think.

"Jumbo-sized smoothies can contain as much as 60-80 grams or 12-16 teaspoons of sugar," said Burrell.

In order to make sure your breakfast is both nutritious and filling, Burrell recommends planning ahead and ensuring you always eat your breakfast before 8am.

"Try to plan your breakfast the night before, make sure it contains protein and make it in advance so you can grab it on the way out of the door."

Most importantly she stated that having breakfast is the key to getting your metabolism started for the day.

"Breakfast gets the metabolism moving after the night's fast.

"While this is why you tend to feel hungrier on days you have eaten breakfast, it also means you consume more calories in the first half of the day rather than getting hungrier as the day goes on."