A Healthy Breakfast Cereal?

Veganicsproutedbrownricecacaocrispsusa_web_prod_l

I know I bitch about breakfast cereal a lot, but I do think it is a very poor food choice. High in carbs and sugar, and generally low in protein, even with milk, it doesn't sustain you for long. Sugar high. Sugar crash. Extreme hunger for the rest of the day. Overeat. Wake up. Repeat.

At least this is the story for many North Americans.

Unfortunately, the stuff is like crack. I think Adam would divorce me rather than have to give up cereal. But he knows its not a great choice, so he limits himself to eating it only on Sundays as his weekly treat. The girls love cereal too, however, (especially Big A, who has a serious sweet tooth), and they would be happy to eat it anytime. Of course, none of them go for whole grain, organic unsweetened cereals. We certainly don't buy Fruit Loops or that kind of crap, but even their favorite cereal, Special K Protein, is nothing to write home about nutritionally. Like look at the ingredients:

Whole grain wheat, wheat gluten, sugar, rice, soy protein isolate, wheat bran, defatted soy grits, contains 2% or less of salt, cinnamon, malt flavor, L-lysine monohydrochloride, sucralose, BHT for freshness. Vitamins and minerals:Reduced iron, vitamin E (d-alpha tocopherol), niacinamide, vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin A palmitate, vitamin B1 (thiamin hydrochloride), folic acid, vitamin B12.

Sugar is the third ingredient, it uses soy protein isolate, the most processed and least healthy form of soy, BHT, which is a potential carcinogen, and the rice is most definitely refined white rice. Gross!

I had pretty much given up on the idea of ever finding a breakfast cereal that I approve of, that they would eat until I discovered One Degree (A company whose organic grains and flours I've raved about before) now makes cereals. At Fiesta Farms last week, I stuffed my cart with several types to try.

We've just opened one box so far, but Little A went cuckoo for the Cacao Crisps! I think Big A will like the Honey Os because she is a honey nut. The ingredient lists are awesome. Organic, whole grains, no toxic preservatives, and sweetened with coconut sugar!

Now, I still think there are better breakfast options, but if you must have cereal, check these out folks.

Comments

Book Review: The A to Z of Children's Health

Hey there, welcome to Monday! We had a delightful, relatively quiet weekend. How was yours? Hopefully no one in your home was sick...there is a lot of nasty stuff going around these days. If you're a parent, than you have probably spent far more time that you would like to desperately searching Google and/or parenting books trying to figure out if your child's rash, cough or fever warrants a trip to the doctor or if there is something that can be done to treat it. It's hard not to worry that it could be something more ominous that just an every day infection and while you'd make yourself (and everyone around you) nuts if you panicked every time your kid has the sniffles, as a parent, you naturally want to do everything in your power to prevent your child from harm. Recently I was sent The A to Z of Children's Health , written by doctors Jeremy Friedman, Natasha Saunders, and Norman Saunders, of Toronto's very own Hospital for Sick Children . One of th

How to Look Like a Celebrity

Okay, I know you're going to be interested in this post! I am sure virtually every woman in North America has wondered how Hollywood celebrities achieve such 'perfect' bodies. Well, at CAN FIT PRO last week, one of Hollywood's top fitness trainers, Eric the Trainer , was there to tell us fitness professionals the secrets! Eric the Trainer, gave several presentations, and I caught the one on Celebrity Secrets, and it was most interesting!!! I also found some of what he said rather disturbing. First off, he was very upfront about the fact that celebrities come to him for improve their appearance. Not to improve their health or athletic performance. To look their best. He admitted that his approach then, is entirely dedicated to that end. Male and female celebrities are trained in completely different ways because Hollywood wants women to be lithe and thin and in his words, "look like they dropped out of heaven looking this way without every having ste

Blackfly Coolers: Product Review

Summer is over! Well, at least if you're a student. Officially it doesn't end for a few weeks, and it certainly still feels like summer. Yeah, I hate it. This f*cking hot, humid weather needs to end NOW! We made the most of our last weekend of the summer with our annual trip to the CNE on Friday, with a crowd of friends. It wasn't unbearably lot, thank goodness, and the girls and their friends had a blast on the rides. Saturday I had to work, and Sunday was errand day. Monday we took the girls berry/apple/pear picking but didn't last long due to the heat. I organized the house to prepare for the construction workers starting back up yesterday, while Adam took the girls for a swim in our neighbourhood pool. Yesterday was the first day of school. Grade 2 and Grade 5. Yep, the girls are growing up. We are fortunate that the girls don't have much anxiety about school, they are so much more confident than I ever was as a kid! But now, in the midst of our reno ch

Healthy Life Lessons

Search This Blog