Cereal is Good For You?

[amerpie]

Late last year the cereal companies slashed prices by over a dollar a box on most brands. Suddenly, the lie I had been telling my children since their birth became obvious. I said, "We don't eat Captain Crunch. All that sugar is bad for you." I meant, "We don't buy Captain Crunch. It costs four dollars a box." Now that the generic box of corn flakes (white box, black letters, CORN FLAKES) and the multi-media hyped Puffed Toast Cinnamon Crunch Smacky Flake Treats cost roughly the same amount, a new cereal culture is evolving at my house.

Any boxes of "sticks and grass" cereal purchased mistakenly or with an eye towards incipient diabetes are ignored or converted to bird food. After 2.5 children ate 4 (yes 4) boxes of cereal in one weekend, I had to lay down the one bowl per child per day rule. How did this go over, you ask. I can tell you in two words, Jethro Bodine. Yes, I caught my oldest daughter with the mixing bowl normally used to make brownies for the church youth group (11 high school kids). She hoped that a quart of milk and half a box of Frosted Mini Wheats could forestall starvation one more day.

Some of the trends from the good old days are still with us for nostalgia's sake. No one will eat the last half bowl of cereal left in the box. I usually discover this when I venture into the kitchen after midnight looking for a satisfyingly quick snack. In quick succession I grab one and then another box of sugar coated vapor in an abortive attempt to find an entire bowl of cereal all for myself. I'm usually left with a mongrelized mix of stale Fruit Loops and Grape Nuts. There is always plenty of milk though. I buy milk two gallons at the time to lessen the number of trips I have to make to the grocery store. You may not know it but children cannot tolerate a closed milk jug in the fridge. Both jugs must be opened and it normally makes the most sense to the juvenile mind to use the jug that expires last----first. It is also a kid's rule to always, always, always leave on the counter the little locking strips that come on the caps of milk jugs. If a counter top is unavailable, the strip may be left on the floor or under the counter beside (NOT IN!) the trashcan.

[oxologic]

Breakfast usually can't do without cereals for me. However, I don't usually take cereals. The problem is to find the milk and the cereals. My family, usually only me and my brother, finishes the cereal a bit too quickly.

Cereal has high sugar content, I won't deny. Sugar is still a source of carbohydrates and if you wanna feel energised early in the day and better for the rest of the day, get your cereals. It works for me, probably for you as well.

[RWTD]

You might check my reply to nathank when he recently asked a similar question but I would suggest going with a whole grain sugarless cereal ,adding fruit to sweeten and almonds or similar nuts to provide essential fats and you basically have a balanced meal.Highly refined carbs (though milk will temper the effect somewhat)will cause swings in energy levels not sustained energy unless eaten immediately before,during or after intense exercise.

[nathank]

well, yes i have been eating cereal 1 or more times a day since i can remember. i think it's reasonably healthy and sugar is the main thing to watch... defintely better than pop-tarts or donuts or many other options for kids these days...

my mom had a rule for cereal that i think helped me from REALLY eating too much sugar (i was a super-sweet-tooth)... i could buy any cereal i wanted as long as sugar wasn't the first ingredient... actually i might even change this to exclude the first AND 2nd cereals as i think most of the companies got wise to this and there are basically NONE with sugar as the first ingredient (not that kids wouldn't want it).

as to the other fun "habits"... i think i did all of them too! actually my sister was worse about leaving the last bit there - i always ate almost all except the dust! i pretty much quit most of them except i still drink directly out of the bottle from the fridge... (hey, i'm 32 i can do what i want!)

[kewlrunningz]

I eat ALOT of cereal. This is what I eat for snacks. I'm not big into the whole junk food stuff, kinda tired of it by now (go figure!). I eat cheerios, crispex, cornflakes, and rice krispies. The cheerios and crispex I eat dry and actually several boxes per week. I love em! Sugar coated cereal is the BEST though. But I try to contain myself by not having "too many" boxes in the house (But it's so good!) ;).

[Veloci*Rapture]

Originally posted by amerpie
Late last year the cereal companies slashed prices by over a dollar a box on most brands.

Even after dropping the price by a dollar, breakfast cereals are still way overpriced considering what it takes to produce them. Something that is marginally a vegetable shouldn't rival meat in cost. I've compared the price per ounce of a lot of cereals and most of them cost the same or more per once than finer chocolate... that's not right! It's probably all that marketing that adds to the price of cereal. This is a case where it is an advantage to not being 'choosy' eater, so I just buy whatever is on sale.

As for the sugar... well, there is a range from 'sticks and grass' (rabbit food) to 'chocolate frosted sugar bombs' (where the cereal is the only thing holding the sugar together). Can you find a happy medium by reading the labels?

Personally, I worry more about the trans-fatty acids found in most cereal than the sugar. I have no rational reason for this... just the fact that most things that are 'unnatural' are usually not digested due to the fact that enzymes tend to be specific to their intended substrate (e.g. synthetics like 'splenda' or 'olean'), but trans-fatty acids are digested... I can only wonder which metabolic pathway they are taking.

[roadbuzz]

Originally posted by amerpie
...
:roflmao:
Just had to comment. Entertaining post...

[RiPHRaPH]

armerpie: dude, my wife leaves the ring from the milk gallon on the counter. drives me crazy. cereal is cheap food. we count how many servings we get from packages. it turns out to be 0.18 cents a serving. it is the raman noodles of breakfast.

mark with a magic marker how many bowls you get from a box. mark the cost on the box. this is cheap and quick eats...which is just as vital to me at 38 as it was at 18.

and you can read the side and back of the package to entertain yourself while eating... getting tony the tiger through the maze and safely home beats reading the nutritional content on kashii any day.

[MoonBear]

Originally posted by RiPHRaPH
armerpie: dude, my wife leaves the ring from the milk gallon on the counter. drives me crazy.

Is this a wife thing? Mine does the same thing. At first I just thought she forgot, but it happens too often. How far away is that garbage can? ;)

[shokhead]

Read some labels,its not all C Crunch.Lots without high sugar.

[RWTD]

What some may not be taking into account is that refined cereals with key nutrients,fiber etc. stripped out will be high glycemic similar to sugar meaning it will affect your blood sugar similar to sugar though it will be listed on the label as carbs and not sugar.You can check a glycemic index table off the internet (and I suggest everyone do)but generally refined cereals/carbs will be high while whole unrefined carbs will be lower. FYI here is a table I found with a quick search http://www.diabetesnet.com/diabetes_food_diet/glycemic_index.php

[antonius]

Well, my wife and I are in the habit now of cooking oatmeal, not the Quick Quaker kind, but using regular rolled oats. Works well for us. We add raisins, banana and I add ground flax and wheat germ to my serving. Makes a great pre-ride food especially for my commute to work in the morning. :)

[RWTD]

Good choices.I find once you get off refined carbs(except during intense exercise) and eat mostly whole foods you develop a taste for them and appreciate how unsatisfying refined carbs really are if you stray.

[aerobat]

Originally posted by antonius
Well, my wife and I are in the habit now of cooking oatmeal, not the Quick Quaker kind, but using regular rolled oats. Works well for us. We add raisins, banana and I add ground flax and wheat germ to my serving. Makes a great pre-ride food especially for my commute to work in the morning. :)

You can make home made granola bars with it, too, and avoid all the sugar of store bought ones.

RWTD - Thanks for the link!

[Gordon P]

Well, my wife and I are in the habit now of cooking oatmeal, not the Quick Quaker kind, but using regular rolled oats. Works well for us. We add raisins, banana and I add ground flax and wheat germ to my serving. Makes a great pre-ride food especially for my commute to work in the morning.

My family likes the fine Quick Quaker stuff, but I prefer the regular large rolled oats as well. I used to buy rolled rye, can't find it where I am living now, it has a stronger taste and chewier texture. Red River Cereal/12-grain is great for camping or while on a cycling tour it stays in your belly for hours! Oh yeah, dates are great with warm cereal. :)