Already we’re told through naming and marketing when we should eat these things, already marketing alarm bells should ring.
When you go down an aisle in the supermarket there’s a whole length of coloured boxes, adverts on tv, plenty aimed at children who will in turn badger parents to get the latest sugar coated cereal, or free toy in the box (they seem to have stopped this though since I was a kid??!)
Further warning signs should be signs popping up saying “enjoy as part of a balanced diet” (if anyone knows what a balanced diet is, please email me the criteria – it seems to be one of those banded around statements that no one really understands?!) so it’s showing it’s not a great source of nutrition.
The second main thing is that it’s “fortified with vitamins and minerals” – so basically what we;re saying is they are so heavily processed during manufacturing, there’s actually sod all of benefit in them, so they have to add vitamins to them. Also vitamins and minerals come in all sorts of format/type, some aren’t readily digested by the body, but can still be labelled as vitamin B, Zinc etc etc – again cheap products don’t mean health benefits – when you look at them they are something like 15% of your RDA!!
You’re RDA as mentioned in the last article I posted is Recommended Daily Allowance, a number that was decided upon when the Romans invaded, is enough for you to function with – not necessarily enough to give any health benefits or for the more active person – yep, just enough for everyone!!! More government rubbish!
They then add another cheap product sugar, to make the breakfast cereal taste of something – a sugar hit first thing in the morning is like throwing petrol onto a fire….you blood sugar and energy levels sore, but equally so will your waistline as our bodies don’t function well with high and low sugar bursts. Ever wondered why you’re hungry after a bowl of cereal or toast? Because there are no nutrients the body can use, and the blood sugar crash leaves you wanting more carbs or caffeine. This included the magnificently lorded “includes wholegrain” phrase of cereals that are not much better than the others.
The final thing is people consume too much wheat – wheat in cereal, bread, toast, sandwiches, cakes, biscuits, pasta – far too many people have digestives issues with wheat causing bloating, stomach cramps, tiredness, and expanding waist lines. Wheat is far too processed and manufactured for our bodies to use.
Personally, I’d limit cereals, and go for eggs on toast (added protein), omelettes, greek yoghurt nuts and berries, occasional bowls of porridge or my legendary protein pancakes, these will all shrink your waist line, boost your energy levels and feed your body