Are you sure of exactly WHAT you are consuming in a morning? For most of us with tight schedules, the easiest and fastest meal for breakfast is cereal. Served hot or cold, breakfast cereal is our go-to alternative. We can eat it with milk, as a light snack in between meals or as an actual 'meal' at any time of day. But a trip down the cereal aisle nowadays is no easy task.With a bombardment of colour, wacky cartoon characters and cereals of all shapes and sizes, the decision to choose this or that becomes a taxing process. With all its sugary goodness innocuously hidden behind promises of great nutrition especially for the kids, sometimes it seems like breakfast cereals have turned into confectionary in a box!Experts conclude that choosing a breakfast cereal should all be based on consuming as many whole grains as possible. "Consumers should aim to select cereals that are high in fiber, ones that are made with whole grains," says Sandra Affenito, PhD, RD, CDN, an associate professor in the department of nutrition at Saint Joseph College. The consumption of high fiber and whole grains helps to lower cholesterol and heart disease in the long term.
It is often common to see the term "Refined Grain" when looking at ingredients in cereal. This refers to grain products consisting of grains or grain flours that have been significantly modified from their natural composition with the mechanical removal of bran and germ. If you see milled corn, corn meal, wheat flour or rice in the list of ingredients, you're getting a mixture of whole and refined grains. Refined grains are not generally harmful but do not pose any benefits to the body the way whole grains do.Persons, who arbitrarily choose the most attractive cereal packaging, need to start scanning the ingredients more closely before dumping the box in their grocery cart. One should avoid cereals with lots of sugar and hydrogenated fats (trans fats). It is a fact that these trans fats especially help to increase the risk of coronary heart disease by raising levels of LDL cholesterol and lowering levels of "good" HDL cholesterol."On a per-calorie basis, trans fats appear to increase the risk of CHD more than any other macronutrient, conferring a substantially increased risk at low levels of consumption (1 to 3% of total energy intake). Studies estimate that between 30,000 and 100,000 cardiac deaths per year in the United States are attributable to the consumption of trans fats. (New England Journal of Medicine, 2006).
In cereals which are commonly marketed to children, therein lie tons of sugars and artificial flavours. Natural sugars from fruits such as raisins in cereal are also added to the list of 'sugars', which of course, are healthier, thus one must be cognizant when reading the list for "bad sugars". Consume hot cooked cereal of whole grains, such as oatmeal; or barley, brown rice or wheat berries cooked and served like oatmeal.Flavor your hot cereal with raisins or other dried fruits, cinnamon, and perhaps a handful of nuts such as pine nuts.Release information: N/A Benefits of adding dried fruit - A quarter of a cup of raisins, for example, has about 1 1/2 grams of fiber plus 4% of the Recommended Daily Value for vitamin E and about 6% each of the Daily Value for vitamins B-1, B-6, and iron, magnesium, and selenium. (These are added to the 'sugars' in the list of ingredients)Ensure your cereal flakes are whole grain that should be the FIRST ingredient- you may have to sacrifice some level of taste for more nutrition.
Sources:http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/choosing-healthy-breakfast-cereal.http://www.drmirkin.com/nutrition/N180.htm.www.wikipedia.com
