Breakfast cereals are often lifesavers or timesavers for mornings when you do not have the time to cook a proper meal. Knowing how important breakfast is, you try your best to avoid leaving the house with an empty stomach. But, is stuffing your belly with whatever instant meal within your reach doing your body any good? Are cereals, one of the most popular breakfasts in the world, healthy or unhealthy?
Let’s see what some nutritionists and health practitioners have said about breakfast cereals.
Added Sugar And Refined Carbs
According to Healthline, most breakfast cereals are filled with sugar and refined carbs. Like processed foods, they have a high amount of added sugar. And if you check the ingredient list on the product, you may discover that sugar comes within the first four lists—meaning the product contains a lot of sugar. Ingredients usually appear in descending order by amount. If you can’t find sugar, check for other variations, like glucose, evaporated cane juice and high-fructose corn syrup. These are tactics that some food manufacturers employ to disguise the sugar content in a product.
When the first thing you take in the morning is a high-sugar breakfast cereal, your insulin and blood sugar levels will accelerate. And soon enough, you’d start craving for another high-carb snack when your blood sugar collapses. This puts you at risk of developing various sugar-related diseases like diabetes.
Misleading Health Claims: Not As Nutritious
In the process of manufacturing these cereals, healthy grains are stripped of all nutrients due to the high pressure and high temperature they are repeatedly subjected to. Not all of the nutritional claims that marketers of these products make are true. Take with a pinch of salt some claims like no added sugar, low-fat, whole grain, provides essential vitamins and heart healthy.
When the first thing you take in the morning is a high-sugar breakfast cereal, your insulin and blood sugar levels will accelerate. And soon enough, you’d start craving for another high-carb snack when your blood sugar collapses. This puts you at risk of developing various sugar-related diseases like diabetes.
Be Mindful Of Portions
The delicious taste and crunchy feel of cereals can make you overeat. You don’t want to have all these massive calories pumping up your body and making you fat. Use the serving size information on the package to measure the number of calories you are consuming.
And Add Protein To The Mix
Adding a protein like Greek yogurt or nuts to your breakfast cereals is a good way to enrich your cereal. Protein has a way of reducing hunger cravings: it reduces appetite and increases fullness.
However, try as much as possible to opt for unprocessed breakfasts and healthier cereals.
