Breads and Cereals

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Tips on How to Prevent Breakfast Cereals Kick-Starting Your Fat Storing Mechanism

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The nations favourite and most popular breakfast foods are breakfast cereals. The problem with breakfast cereals is that they are high in carbohydrates. Carbohydrates have an insulin provoking effect that can cause weight gain. To stabilise blood sugar levels protein and good fats need to be consumed alongside carbohydrates. Following are tips on how to add protein and good fats to your favourite breakfast cereal. This will not only give you a balanced diet with less of an insulin response but will also satisfy you for longer between meals.

The minimum you need to do is make sure you are not eating sugarcoated cereals with hydrogenated oil. Hydrogenated oil is used as a preservative to save the food company money by giving the cereal a longer shelf life. They are very unhealthy for your arteries and increase the size of your fat cells.

The next best thing is to eat gluten free cereals for easier digestion. Wheat and foods containing gluten can be very hard to digest and intolerance to these foods can cause gut inflammation as well as other allergies. Try eliminating gluten for 30 days to see if it makes a difference to the way you look and feel.

The easiest ways to add protein to cereals is to mix 1-2 scoops of whey protein powder to natural yoghurt and a little water. This is your milk substitute. Including a tbsp of flaxseed oil or flaxseed powder will add some good fat to the meal.

When eating breakfast cereals I prefer wholegrain puffed rice cereals, these are gluten free and sugar free with no nasty artificial ingredients. I mix whey protein with natural yoghurt; I use different flavoured yoghurts for variety. I then add a little water to make the yoghurt a little runny. You could use Greek yoghurt for a creamier taste. I always add flaxseed oil; I use organic oil for premium quality. This is the best way I have found to eat breakfast cereals for a more satisfying feeling and a much healthier way than the traditional method of adding pasteurised milk.

The pasteurisation process kills the important enzymes as well as destroying vitamins and amino acids. Commercial milk contains antibiotics and growth hormones. Lactose intolerance, which is common food intolerance, prevents the body from digesting milk sugars. Milk causes an estimated 50% of the adult population's bloating, gas, cramping and diarrhea. What about getting calcium in the diet? It is possible to obtain all your calcium from dark green vegetables, where do you think the cow gets theirs from? Yoghurt contains more calcium than milk and is easier to assimilate.

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Food - Cereals

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They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Well, if that's true, some of these breakfast cereal manufacturers need to get on the stick, at least according to most nutritionists. We'll take a look at some of what's available to a typical family.

The sad truth is, most breakfast cereals are pretty much empty calories, at least the ones you buy in a box. Oh, there are exceptions but you really have to look for them as the most common breakfast cereals are pretty much marketed for children. To see how true this is, one only needs to walk down the cereal aisle in your local supermarket and take a look at some of the more popular titles.

If you've been watching TV since the 1960s you have certainly heard Tony The Tiger scream, "They're Great!" He is of course talking about Kellogg's Sugar Frosted Flakes. This is one cereal that could send a child into a sugar stroke without even blinking an eye. It's no wonder kids are hyper in school all day. And of course the list of these kids cereals goes on forever with titles like "Sugar Pops", "Sugar Smacks", "Corn Pops", "Count Chocula", "Frankenberry", "Booberry", "Cocoa Pebbles", "Captain Crunch", "Cheerios", "Honey Nut Cheerios", "Trix", "Lucky Charms" and on and on and on. It's like an army invasion just checking out each box, one with more sugar than the other.

Fortunately, there are some decent cereals out there. For the health nut there are some fairly nutritious titles like "Golean", "Golean Crunch", "Wheaties", "Cream Of Wheat", "Farina" and other similar types. These cereals don't have nearly as much sugar as the kid tested variety and many of them are even high in fiber like Kashi's Golean and Golean Crunch which have ten and eight grams of fiber respectively. They still have a small amount of sugar but in comparison to the kid cereals, they're much better.

Of course there are your hot and cold cereals. Most of the ones mentioned above are your out of the box, throw on a little milk and some fruit cold variety. But on a cold winter day there is nothing like a nice hot bowl of cream of wheat or farina. If you want something really fast there is the whole Quaker Oats line of oatmeal cereals. All of these come with a different kind of flavoring added like maple brown sugar, apples, peaches and cream and others. These are easy to make. Just open the package, throw it in a cup or bowl, add some water and pop it in the microwave. In about one minute you've got yourself a hot cup of oatmeal. The packages are small and don't really make a lot so if you have a big appetite you may want to make a couple of these.

Eventually, breakfast cereal manufacturers are going to realize that breakfast really is the most important meal of the day and they're going to start making cereals that you won't mind your kid eating first thing in the morning.

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The Truth About Cereals

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It can start from a very early age and we are taken in by the 'good advice' of the supposed experts that we take at face value.

Most health visitors will tell you to wean your breast-fed baby on baby rice, which comes out of a cardboard box. This usually is a smooth mush of almost pure white starch and most of the grain's nutrients were removed by the processing.

This is an easy route for many tired, busy, harassed mums and I can see the temptation, but babies retain a liking for the foods / tastes they are weaned on. In fact they keep their liking for foods that the mother ate while pregnant. Breast milk (unlike formula) exposes them to all the different flavours of the mother's diet and thus makes them more likely to try different flavours as they get older. Encouraging them to sample different tastes and textures from an early age is key to developing a healthy attitude to food in later life.

But, for the food industry, it is much better to train the baby's palate on cereal from a packet and progress to jars of baby foods, then onwards and upwards to the processed crap that most of the population now eats!

There is a natural progression from boxed baby rice to packaged breakfast cereals, with 97% of British homes having at least one box of cereal in the cupboard.

Cereals are one of the earliest forms of convenience foods, representing a triumph in packaging, marketing and foreign policy.

Unlike most of Europe, the UK has succumbed to the American cereal invention almost completely. Approx 100 years ago, simple grains, ie porridge or bread were the staple breakfast seen around the world. Today, however the British and Irish are the largest consumers of puffed, flaked, sugared, salted and extruded cereals in the world! The Mediterraneans, who we credit with a healthy diet, have not gone down this route.

Cornflakes (originally manufactured by John Harvey Kellogg as a cure for constipation and masturbation!) are made by breaking the kernel into smaller grits and steam cooking under pressure. The nutritious germ, containing the essential fats is thrown away as it goes rancid over time and disrupts the products shelf life. Flavourings, vitamins (to replace those taken out!) and sugar are added. They are then rolled into flakes and toasted before being dried for packaging.

Frosted versions have sugar / corn syrup and vitamins sprayed on to the finished product. If you buy the economy version of cornflakes, you are actually buying the fine dust left from the milling process, which are turned into pellets and shaped into flakes!

These same processes and techniques apply to all cereals in one way or another.

Cereal shapes are made from flours, which are mixed with water and heated. They are then extruded through small holes, which allow them to expand into the final shape. This heating and processing breaks down the cell structure of the starch leading to a high GI value (some are in fact worse than sugar). Vitamins, having been destroyed in the heating process are added back into the flour mixture along with sugar salt and flavourings.

Most of the health benefits claimed for breakfast cereals come from added fortification rather than micronutrients from the raw ingredients, which are usually destroyed in the processing or removed beforehand.

Kellog's have consistently been the largest advertiser of cereals in this country, spending approx 50 million a year. Without advertising we would never have known that we 'needed' processed cereal and stayed with bread and porridge of the past.The industry is adamant that its products are a healthy way to start the day and are backed by the head of nutrition at King's College, London, but an independent Which? Survey found that 75% of UK cereals had high levels of sugar, and one fifth had high levels of salt. Nearly 90% of those advertised directly to children were high in sugar, 13% were high in salt and 10% were high in saturated fat! Even those market as healthy got a warning light as All Bran was found to be high in salt and Special K (yes the slimmer's friend) was high in both sugar and salt! Some high fibre bran cereals contained more salt per serving than a bag of crisps, although some have now been reformulated.

So, the next time you stand in front of the shelves, stacked high with all manner of 'healthy nutritious, vitamin added' breakfast cereals, think long and hard. What would our fore fathers have eaten, what do the French and Italians eat? Then step away and visit the fruit/ veg and produce shelves instead!

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Breakfast Cereals 1985

A selection of sugary breakfast cereal commercials which aired on WUTV Buffalo 29 in late 1985/early 1986. Amazing that 80s kids didn't have the same obesity problem which plagues todays kids.... I wonder what that is? Included here are: * Cocoa Puffs * Lucky Charms * Honey Nut Cheerios * Cheerios * Circus Fun * S'Mores Crunch * Frosted Flakes * Cocoa Krispies * Cookie Crisp * Rocky Road * Cinnamon Toast Crunch * Golden Grahams * Apple Jacks All part of a complete balanced breakfast!



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4 Food Groups - Bread, Cereals, and Other Grains

For all throughout most of the world, the foods in this group are actually the staff of life. They are the staples in the diet; everything else revolves around them.

In Canada, except for breakfast cereal, bad for you foods are often passed by and even purposely avoided under the misguided concept that they're fattening. Actually, breads and cereals contain no more cals each gram than meats and far a less important number of than fats. They grant complex carbohydrates, a amount of incomplete protein, B vitamins, iron, magnesium, traces of other minerals, folacin, and all-important fiber. The protein in breads, cereals, and other grains is converted into complete when they are eaten with foods containing the missing amino acids, for example legumes or milk. Foods from this bunch can substitute the cals you might otherwise be putting from sweets and fats and will greater satisfy your hunger.

Whole particles versus cultivated products. At the moment when whole wheat is refined into white flour, it loses much of its bran and germ, the most nutritious areas. What remains is the white, starchy endosperm. However, all cultivated white flour (and the bread designed with it) is augmented with thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and iron. Moreover most cultured cereals are enriched with these nutrients as well. It's a excellent idea to take account of in the diet a amount of of each, whole granules and enhanced, cultured grain products. Parboiled rice undergoes a matching transformation, however to a less important range. Parboiled white rice is nutritionally close to brown rice but lacks much of the fiber. Hence, converted (parboiled) rice is a second most excellent judgment once brown. Enriched white rice is a third best selection.

Grains are the seeds of food grasses. An exception is buckwheat, the seed of a different family of herbaceous plants. Between all the grains, buckwheat has the greatest grade protein, for it holds lysine, an essential amino acid found only in low sums in other grains. Oats too are high in protein as well as iron, calcium, and phosphorus. Rye flour and whole-wheat products go after strongly in nutritional significance. Rice is fewer nutritious, and corn still less.

What's a serving? If you don't ordinarily include many foods in this bunch in your diet, four or more helpings perhaps sounds like a lot. On the other hand the size of the rations is truly rather modest: Think of this, one serving is a slice of bread. But another example, is half a cup of cooked cereal, rice, or pasta.

At least one serving should most likely be a whole-grain pro­duct, and at least one a cereal. If no cereal is eaten, it is superior to have five servings from the cluster. That's not hard if you have a slice of bread with every meal, rice, and two whole-grain crackers.

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Making Hot Cereals & Whole Grains : Cooking Brown Rice

Cooking brown rice made easy in a pressure cooker;explore hot cereals and healthy alternatives to oatmeal in this free video on whole grain cereal tips. Expert: Sheryl McGlochlin Contact: www.crazysherl.com Bio: Sheryl McGlochlin loves spending time with her family and extended family. She have completed over 500 hikes in various terrain. Filmmaker: joseph wilkins



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Best Breakfast Cereals For Healthy Weight Loss

Eating breakfast helps you lose weight. But not just any breakfast. A healthy, high fiber breakfast with plenty of fruit and whole grains is best. Choosing the best breakfast cereal can jump start your weight loss and provide the whole grain component of your healthy breakfast.

One side note before we get to the list of best cereals. What you put on your cereal is crucial too. You will get the fastest weight loss and most profound health benefits by following a no meat, no dairy, no eggs diet. Plant foods only. I recommend pouring soy milk or rice milk on your cereal. Read labels and choose one with little or no sugar, and organic if possible.

There are thousands of breakfast cereals. All the featured cereals below are high in fiber, have no hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup, and are low in fat. Here are the best choices for healthy weight loss:

Oatmeal - Choose plain oatmeal and add your own toppings. For the best of the best, opt for organic oatmeal. Supercharge your oatmeal with sliced bananas, blueberries, cinnamon, strawberries, nuts, and a little stevia for sweetness.

Kashi Nuggets - A blend of seven whole grains, malted barley, and sesame. This cereal is really crunchy and satisfying. It's also very low in sugar with only 3 grams per serving. Jazz it up with your favorite berries. It can even be heated in the microwave on cold mornings.

Barbara's Shredded Oats - Main ingredients are whole grain oats and whole wheat. A little high in sugar at 12 grams per serving, but a nice treat once in a while.

Cascadian Farm Multi-grain Squares - Like Wheat Chex, only better because they're organic and contain no preservatives or other chemicals. Low in sugar at 4 grams per serving and they taste great.

Nature's Path Pumpkin Flax Granola - Flaxseed is the only plant source of Omega-3's, clinically proven to help prevent heart disease. This granola's main ingredients are a mixture of organic whole grains including oats, wheat, and brown rice. Unlike most granolas, it's not high in fat.

Nature's Path Organic Multigrain Flakes - Very low fat and low sugar. Crunchy and satisfying, holds up well with the soy or rice milk.

What about more commonly available cereals from the big names like Kellogg, Quaker, and Post? Some of them are tolerable, but all have something to avoid like trans-fats, too much sugar, chemical preservatives, or not enough whole grains. If you can't find the brands featured above, at least read labels carefully and choose the highest amounts of fiber, lowest fat, and lowest sugar varieties. You can always order on-line if necessary.

What about added vitamins? A total gimmick! Adding poor quality vitamins to breakfast cereal has no nutritional value. You body only absorbs vitamins and minerals in their naturally occurring states from pure food sources like vegetables and fruit. Don't fall for this advertising baloney. Follow a whole foods, plant-based diet including a variety of fruits and vegetables each day and you will get all the vitamins and minerals your body needs.

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The Total Truth About Breakfast Cereals

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I saw a commercial the other day for Total cereal. They were showing the Nutrition Facts panel, listing all the vitamins that had 100% contained within the product. The announcer stated at the end of the commercial: "Kashi cereal doesn't have 100% of the daily value for all of these vitamins".

I take issue with this advertisement: They were definitely implying that Total cereal is more healthy than other cereals--Kashi in this case--because it has 100% of so many vitamins and minerals. And that's just not true.

True, Total does have more vitamins in a serving than other cereals. But this is not because Total is some fantastic and unique grain that is so packed with vitamins and minerals that it naturally contains all you need for the entire day! It is because the manufacturers added vitamins to the cereal. In other words, you can eat a bowl of Frosted Flakes for breakfast, take a multivitamin, and end up with the same nutrition intake at that meal as a bowl of Total. Okay, maybe not Frosted Flakes, because at least Total has a few grams of fiber... maybe Frosted Mini Wheats, or Grape Nuts, or Post Raisin Bran, or Kashi.

Nutrition isn't just about getting enough vitamins and minerals. It's about eating a variety of foods to get a variety of nutrients (while you keep your intake reasonable enough to maintain your ideal weight). Eating a bowl of Total is not a healthier option than eating a different brand of cereal and popping a multivitamin. It's not better than having a hot breakfast of eggs and toast, and then taking a multivitamin. It is, in fact, the same, because the makers of Total have added the equivalent of a multivitamin to their cereal.

Taking a multivitamin isn't a bad idea, especially if you know you fail to get enough fruits, vegetables, dairy, or whole grains on a regular basis. But it doesn't guarantee that you will be well-nourished: Only that you are less likely to get a vitamin or mineral deficiency.

There can also be a downside to eating highly fortified foods. How many people do you think limit their cereal intake to the recommended serving size? Most of the people I know include at least two or three 'serving sizes' from the label on the box, as one of their servings in the bowl! This means people who eat a big bowl of total may be getting 300% of the daily value for many of these vitamins. Then, of course, they are taking in vitamins naturally contained in the foods they eat during the rest of the day. Most of the time, getting 200%--or even 500%--of the daily value of a nutrient isn't harmful, but there are cases where getting "too much of a good thing" can lead to problems: especially with fat soluble vitamins; folic acid (in people with an undiscovered vitamin B12 deficiency); and some minerals. People rarely 'overdose' on vitamins from natural food sources, but taking extra vitamins in the form of a tablet (or as an added ingredient in food fortification, such as the case with Total) could result in quite large amounts being taken consistently over a period of time.

The best way to get your vitamins and minerals, of course, is by eating a balanced diet and including good food sources of these nutrients--what we call 'nutrient dense' foods. Fortified foods can mislead the consumer when it is implied that the food is a superior source of nutrition.

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Most Popular Cereals Make a Poor Choice For Breakfast

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Most common and popular breakfast foods are not good for you. In particular, cold cereal with skim milk is not a good choice to start the day. I know it is frustrating when you've given up the bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches or corn muffins for cold cereal and still aren't losing weight or feeling well.

There is a big misconception in America about what is healthy to eat for breakfast. The food companies have created this association that cold cereal that is low in fat and cholesterol is really good for you. They even put skim milk on the box to suggest that that is the best choice for the cereal.

Let me explain why most common breakfast cereals are just empty calories, full of sugar and sodium, with a multivitamin sprinkled on top. Even the ones you think are healthy, most likely are not.

Without mentioning names, let's look at one serving size of a popular and considered healthy brand of cereal (it's name starts with a C). One cup has 100 calories, 15 calories from fat, and 190mg of sodium, 3 grams of fiber, 3 grams of protein and 20 grams of carbohydrates. Let's assume you eat this with the suggested 1/2 cup of skim milk, which has 40 calories, 60mg of sodium, 4 grams of protein, 6 grams of carbohydrates and no fat. Total- 140 calories 104 calories of carbohydrates - 74% 28 calories of protein- 20% 15 calories of fat - 10% 250mg sodium 3 grams fiber

First of all, the calories are too low. One hundred and forty calories is good for a small child. Let's assume a woman will double the serving to 240 calories and a man will triple it to 420 calories. The best thing about this cereal is the fiber, 3 grams per 140 calories. This quantity of fiber is ok but not great. My recommendation for cereal is at least 4 grams of fiber per 100 calories. One of the worst parts of this breakfast is that the sodium is way too high. I recommend limiting your sodium intake to no more then 1500mg (1.5 grams) per day. Eating this cereal a man would be consuming ½ his sodium allowance in this one meal. Another problem with this breakfast is that the carbohydrates are mostly empty calories. The vitamins that are listed on the box mostly come from a multivitamin sprinkled on top of the cereal. In addition, this cereal is too low in protein and healthy fats. Most people would get a sugar rush and then crash with low blood sugar and be hungry shortly after. A better ratio for breakfast would be 50% carbohydrates, 25% protein and 25% healthy fat. That would make a lot more sense for holding off hunger, promoting protein synthesis and reducing body fat.

Keep in mind I picked one of the better cereals to evaluate. If I had picked one of the sweeter varieties that are popular with children, the numbers and adverse effects would be much worse. Here's an example of a healthy breakfast I recommend to my clients.

- 1/2 cup 5 grain slow cook oatmeal
- 1 to 1.5 cups water
- 1 cup blue berries
- 1 scoop whey protein powder (not just for body builders)
- 2 table spoons ground flaxseeds
- 1/2 oz pumpkin seeds

Total - 444 calories
- 26% protein
- 23% healthy fats
- 48% carbohydrates
- 14 grams fiber
- 70mg sodium

Don't do what everyone else is doing if it is not working for you. Try this approach to breakfast. I know it will work for you. Good luck and stay healthy.

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