Today, many people prefer to eat cornflakes or rice balls with milk in the morning. But are breakfast cereals really healthy, according to their manufacturers? This article will take a detailed look at breakfast cereals and their effects on human health.
What is a dry breakfast?
Such products are cereals made from processed grain. They are often eaten with milk, yogurt, fruits or nuts.
These cereal products are often enriched with vitamins and minerals. This means that nutrients are added to them to make the dish more healthy.
How is breakfast cereal produced?
As a rule, it includes the following stages:
Processing: grains are processed into flour and exposed to high temperatures.
Mixing: the resulting semi-finished product is then mixed with ingredients such as sugar, chocolate and water.
Extrusion: many breakfast cereals are produced by extrusion. This is a high temperature process that the machine uses to form flakes.
Drying: extraction of liquid under the influence of temperatures.
Molding: the product is formed into various shapes - balls, stars, figures or rectangles.
Breakfast cereals can also be airy - in the form of flakes or various geometric shapes. The snack can also be coated with chocolate or glaze before drying.
A breakfast cereal is made from refined grains, most often through a process called extrusion. This technology represents a high degree of product processing, during which many ingredients are added. Most of these foods ultimately contain a lot of sugar and fast carbohydrates.
Potential harm
The addition of sugar is the only, but very significant drawback in the production of dry cereal snacks. This can lead to the appearance of excess weight and other health problems if you use such products regularly in large quantities. The main difficulty is that many people try to follow the principles of a healthy diet, excluding sugar from their diet, but still get it from ready-made processed foods.
According to nutritionists, breakfast cereals are one of the most commonly consumed processed foods high in added sugars.
However, in most of these flakes, sugar is listed as the second or third ingredient, that is, with inattentive reading of the label may not be noticed.
How could this be fraught?
If you start the day with a high sugar breakfast, this will lead to a surge in its blood level and increase insulin production.
After a few hours, the blood glucose level will drop sharply, and the body will begin to require other foods with the same high carbohydrate content, thereby creating a vicious cycle of overeating.
Excessive sugar intake can also increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
What conclusion can be drawn from this?
Most breakfast cereals are high in sugar and are made from refined grains. Excessive consumption of this product may be harmful and may increase the risk of a number of diseases.
As a rule, on the front side of the box it is indicated that it is a healthy product enriched with vitamins. Often packaging includes misleading labels such as “low fat” and “whole grain”.
But if you look at the complete list of ingredients, you can make sure that most of the product is refined grain and sugar. Other useful components will be available, but their percentage is usually too small. This means that the benefits of breakfast cereals, which is promoted for a long time, are very doubtful.
They are over-processed foods that are made with added sugar. A small amount of whole grains in the composition does not negate the harmful effects of other ingredients.
Effects on children
A huge problem is that manufacturers of these foods carry out promotions aimed at children. Companies use vibrant colors, cartoon characters and various colorful figures to attract the attention of small consumers.
Not surprisingly, this leads to the fact that children begin to associate cereal breakfasts with entertainment and fun. A classic example is Nesquik breakfast cereals. Every child knows a fun rabbit from an ad offering chocolate flakes.
It also affects taste preferences. Studies show that children prefer exactly those products that have images of popular cartoon characters on the package.
Such intrusive advertising of some products is even considered a risk factor for the development of childhood obesity and other nutrition-related diseases.
In addition to attracting children's attention, these products are often misleading regarding their health benefits. For example, Nestle breakfast cereals are presented as a special children's breakfast rich in vitamins and microelements, which is doubly useful with milk. The claimed substances are indeed present in it, but the sugar and chocolate content significantly reduces the benefits.
Does this mean that you can’t eat breakfast cereal?
In fact, these snacks are not completely harmful. Sometimes they can be consumed without any concern. If you want to eat breakfast cereals daily, you must adhere to certain rules.
Ideally, you should choose flakes from crushed whole grains that contain less than 5 grams of sugar per serving. Read the contents of the labels to find out what substances and in what quantity are contained in the product.
Secondly, fiber content is important. Breakfast cereals that contain at least 3 grams of fiber per serving are really healthy. Eating enough of this substance has many health benefits.
Third, pay attention to the serving size. A breakfast cereal is usually crispy and tasty, and this is the reason why you can eat a lot of calories at a time. Measure how much you eat and be sure to use the serving size information on the package.
Final verdict
Read the list of ingredients very carefully. Ignore the listing of healthy arguments on the front of the box. Check out the complete list of ingredients. The first two or three components are the most important, since the product consists mainly of them.
However, food manufacturers can sometimes use tricks to hide the amount of sugar present in the snack. If it is listed several times under different names, it may not be in the first three paragraphs.
You can make breakfast more healthy by adding some protein. This will help to quickly achieve a feeling of satiety and reduce appetite. A tablespoon of nuts, seeds, or natural yogurt are a good choice for serving with cereal. You can also add some fresh berries or pieces of juicy fruit.