Ready-to-Eat Cereals Can Help You Meet Your Nutrition Needs
Ready-to-eat breakfast cereals can fit the criteria for a healthy breakfast if you select them wisely. However, some cereals are loaded with refined grains and added sugar. When you’re faced with row upon row of choices at your supermarket, how do you decide which cereals are the healthiest?
Valuable Nutrients
Cold cereals made with whole grains are a good source of complex carbohydrates, which provide your body with a steady supply of energy over the course of a morning. Whole-grain cereals contain fiber, which helps control blood glucose (sugar) levels, lowers cholesterol, and promotes good bowel function. In addition, many cereals have less sugar and fewer calories per serving than other breakfast choices, like toaster pastries and bakery muffins. Most cereals also provide essential nutrients such as B vitamins (including niacin and folate), vitamin E, iron, magnesium, and protein.
Waist Watchers
Eating a nutrient-filled bowl of cereal can provide benefits beyond just satisfying your morning hunger. When you skip breakfast or eat something low in nutrients, such as sugary pastries, you are more inclined to overeat later in the day, due to spikes and crashes in blood glucose. Studies have shown that people who regularly eat breakfast are less likely to be overweight or obese compared to breakfast skippers.
Pay attention to portion size—just because many cereals are good for you doesn’t mean more is better. Standard serving sizes for most cereals range between three-quarters of a cup and one cup, though some puffed-air cereals call for as much as one-and-one-half cups, and some denser varieties are closer to one-half cup. Check the Nutrition Facts label for the suggested serving size.
Look Past the Hype
Cereal boxes are notorious for being covered in health claims, such as “low in sugar,” “made with whole grains,” and “excellent source of fiber.” Sometimes the claims are accurate, but in some cases, they are misleading. A cereal claiming to be a source of whole grains may indeed contain whole grains—but it may contain a much higher percentage of refined grains than whole grains. When choosing cereal, check the Nutrition Facts panel and follow these tips:
- Fiber. Look for cereal that contains at least 3 grams of fiber per serving.
- Sugar. Choose cereal that’s low in sugar—around 6 grams or less per serving. Avoid cereals in which sugar, or terms for added sugar (such as high fructose corn syrup, any kind of syrup, or glucose), are one of the first three ingredients. Some cereals contain 12 or more grams of added sugar per serving, which is equivalent to three or more teaspoons of table sugar.
- Whole grains. Look for whole grains, such as oats, whole oat flour, whole grain corn, and whole wheat, to be listed first in the ingredients list. Enriched flour is not a whole grain.
- Extras. Some cereals contain added ingredients, such as flaxseed, nuts, or dried fruit. These can help boost the nutritional benefits but also may contribute more fat or natural sugar. Keep that in mind when reading the Nutrition Facts label. Enjoy cold cereal with reduced-fat milk or plain soymilk, which will help boost the protein and calcium content of your breakfast.
The post Ready-to-Eat Cereals Can Help You Meet Your Nutrition Needs appeared first on University Health News.
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