Think Again About Eating Breakfast Cereal

Consider the ingredient list for a popular breakfast cereal that is a "lightly sweetened cereal ... baked with a touch of honey." The box bears the green label boasting it is a Sensible Solution. It is even approved as a healthy choice by WIC (federal program for feeding Women, Infants and Children).

Corn, whole grain wheat, sugar, whole grain rolled oats, brown sugar, almonds, vegetable oil, rice flour, wheat flour, rice, malted barley flour, salt, corn syrup, whey, malted corn and barley syrup, honey, cinnamon, artificial flavor, natural flavor, caramel color, annatto extract.

Out of the 22 ingredients listed, 4 are identifiable as nuts or grains and 6 are sweeteners. Those grains have been ground and mixed into slurry and then extruded into flakes or puffs. This process is done at such a high temperature that the nutritive value of the grains is greatly diminished and the cereal is difficult for the body to digest. Then the final four ingredients are vaguely described additives that make the cereal look and taste palatable. Finally, vitamins and minerals are added to the cereal to redeem it as a health food.

Begin looking past the grams of fiber and the grams of sugar when selecting a breakfast cereal. Look beyond the nutrition facts to the ingredients. Is cereal really a healthy choice?

As an alternative, buy true whole grains such as cracked, steel cut, or rolled grains. Try oatmeal, wheat, spelt, and others. Sweeten with natural sweeteners like maple syrup, stevia, sucanat, or honey. Know what it is that you are putting into your body and that every component of it is healthy and beneficial for the body.

Before you pick up another box of cereal, consider the results of the flowing study. Sally Fallon's book Nourishing Traditions (p 468, second ed.) tells of an interesting experiment concerning the health benefits of boxed cereal.

"In 1960, researchers at Ann Arbor University performed an interesting experiment on laboratory rats. Eighteen rats were divided into three groups. One group received cornflakes and water; a second group was given the cardboard box that the cornflakes came in and water; and the control group received rat chow and water. The rats in the control group remained in good health throughout the experiment. The rats receiving the box became lethargic and eventually died of malnutrition. But the rats receiving corn flakes and water died before the rats who were given the box-the last cornflake rat died on the day they first box rat died.
Before death the cornflake rats developed schizophrenic behavior, threw fits, bit each other and finally went into convulsions. Autopsy revealed dysfunction of the pancreas, liver and kidneys and degeneration of the nerves in the spine-all signs of "insulin shock." The startling conclusion of this study is that there is more nourishment in the box that cold breakfast cereals come in than in the cereals themselves."

Loren Zanier, designer of the experiment, actually proposed the protocol as a joke. But the results are far from funny. They were never published and similar studies have not been repeated. If consumers knew the truth about breakfast cereals, vast fortunes would be jeopardized.

Work Cited

Fallon, Sally. and Mary Enig, Ph. D. Norishing Traditions, Second Edition, (p 468). New Trends Publishing, Washington D.C. 2001.
Honey Bunches of Oats Breakfast Cereal Box 2007.