Balkan breakfast TikTok trend: Reason doctors are advising against the viral way to start your day
Date: 2024-10-21THE Balkan breakfast trend is the latest fad to take TikTok by storm.
The trend encourages users to embrace tradition in their breakfasts and sees them eating raw ingredients.
The breakfast trend has divided opinions on the social media platform, with some users saying that they are eating more veg than ever and others calling it the worst breakfast ever.
Here’s everything you need to know about TikTok’s favourite breakfast.
The worst breakfast ever?
The Balkan Breakfast trend borrows a lot from the “girl dinner” trend, which sees users share their own unique, guilty-pleasure meals.
Where Balkan breakfasts from girl dinners, though, is that they focus on health and tradition.
Balkan breakfast ingredients include root vegetables, loaves of bread, kefir, cheese and cured meats.
Users often have their own take on the trend too, with some opting to add scrambled egg or sausage.
Others have taken their breakfast a step further, by ditching plates and eating straight off the table.
As a result, some TikTokers have branded it the “worst breakfast ever” but health advocates have a slightly different view.
Health benefits
Kristina Vavura, a Bulgarian dietitian, told Today.com: “Generally speaking, it’s a healthy trend.”
However, much of the benefits from the breakfast come simply from the fact that users are eating in the morning.
Kristina said that “starting the day off with something to eat can really help support healthier relationships with food”.
The focus on vegetables in the Balkan breakfast is also something that Kristina thinks will benefit TikTokers.
Foods like cereal and toast are not very nutritious, so the Balkan breakfast can encourage these important carbs to be eaten with fruit and vegetables.
Health concerns
The proportions of the Balkan breakfast can be over-the-top though, according to Kristina.
Some videos show social media users tucking into a pound-size slab of cheese, which is not a healthy way to start the day.
Kristina also warned against eating more cured meat, which is a big part of the Balkan breakfast trend.
She said that cured meats are considered to be a carcinogen by the World Health Organisation.
The meal is also extremely dense in fibre, which may cause problems with those who suffer with bloating and stomach discomfort.
How traditional is the Balkan breakfast?
The Balkans is a region in Europe which encompasses:
- Albania
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Greece
- Kosovo
- Montenegro
- North Macedonia
- European Turkey
- The Romanian coast
- Serbia
- Croatia
- Slovenia.
The Balkan breakfast trend does have some basis in reality, as raw vegetables, bread, cheese and cured meats are popular ingredients in the region.
However, the titanic proportions shown on TikTok are very exaggerated.
Also, according to Kristina, the trend takes a lot of inspiration from the Bulgarian breakfast known as banitsa.
Kristina, who is from Bulgaria herself, shared that the meal is a pastry paired with eggs, cheese and yogurt.
