Quebec City is a fortified city with a great wall, originally designed to protect its inhabitants from harm. That’s kind of how fortified foods are constructed these days.

For example, highly processed white bread is often fortified with added vitamins B1, 2, and 3, folic acid, iron, and calcium. That's supposed to protect you from the health risks of eating the nutrition-stripped, fiber-lacking concoction that passes for bread.

It doesn't. You're still eating food that boosts blood sugar and alters the healthy balance of your gut microbiome.

Doesn't it make more sense to eat 100% whole-grain bread that naturally delivers those health-boosting nutrients? Of course it does.

The same is true for eggs — despite recent headlines declaring that eggs may not be bad for your heart after all.

Those headlines referred to a study that found eating 12 eggs a week wasn't more likely to raise bad LDL cholesterol than eating two or fewer eggs weekly. But those eggs were super-fortified with iodine, vitamin D, selenium, vitamin B2, vitamin B5, and vitamin B12, as well as omega-3 fatty acids, with reduced saturated fat.

In addition, the researchers didn't evaluate the impact of egg yolks on inflammation, which is the primary risk of eating eggs.

Wouldn't it be healthier to have an egg white omelet or steel-cut oats, oat milk, and blackberries for breakfast? Those foods naturally deliver nutrients along with gut-friendly fiber and virtually no saturated fat.

Foods are fortified to compensate for some of their — or your own — nutritional deficiencies. A better idea is to get your nutrition from minimally processed, fiber-rich foods with no added sugars or unhealthy fats.