by Adrian Harper
Breakfast cereals are to be found in most if not all Irish households but are they really as good for us as the t.v adverts suggest or are they hiding something? Most people I talk to who eat cereal also use skimmed milk, then ask why they cant loose fat. Eating this much sugar for breakfast might be(is!!) a reason why.
Most cereal brands have a glycemic index of between 60 to 110. The glycemic index is a measurement of the type or quality of carbohydrates in a particular food, and how fast 50 grams of this carbohydrate raises blood glucose levels, as you digest it. Glycemic load is also something we should look out for when choosing foods(I will talk more about this in future posts). It seems strange to think a doctor or health advisor will tell you not to use sugar in your tea or on things yet when you eat most cereals its like eating a few spoons of sugar!! Wheat influences blood sugar levels the same way table sugar does.
It is my belief that cereals are playing a big part in diabetes and obesity in Ireland. Might sound strange given that the cereal itself is so light but it’s the sugar content that is causing many health problems. Most cereals are high carb and high sugar foods which are digested extremely quick by the body. There is a lot of science behind this but in short this can have disatrous effects as the body has to release insulin(storage hormone) to maintain your blood sugar levels and will store the available energy. The body absorbs these refined carbohydrates very quickly which means it is forced to release a lot of insulin to transport this high amount of carbs. This continual spiking of insulin in many cases leads to a condition called insulin resistance(not good). As we are not a very active nation most of this energy in many cases will not be burned off and cause us to store fat around the belly and love handles.
The cereal industry is massive and you cannot avoid many of the advertisements. They can make a box of cereal that you see in your supermarket for little or nothing. They can do this because the grains are bought in bulk and undergo all sorts of high heat processing to make them into the flakes you see in your box. They are then coated in sugars/oils to make them taste so nice! (So nice I even eat them for cheat meals!!) You will see they are high in this that and the other vitamin and fibre etc but if you fall into the trap of believing you should eat cereals for vitamins and fibre then you are being mislead – just ask the rats! – ↓
CARDBOARD BOX MORE NUTRITIOUS THAN CEREAL, REALLY ?
Research carried out in Ann Arbor university tested a group of rats eating corn flakes while the other group eat only the cardboard box and lived LONGER than the rats eating corn flakes!!
http://editor.nourishedmagazine.com.au/articles/puffed-grains-should-we-eat-them
Our Personal Training Clients who are achieving incredible fat loss results all have one major thing in common and that is they dont eat cereals (I like to trust their word!!!). Everything improves, blood tests come back better, body fat drops and they have a far more productive and energetic day. If you would like to discuss todays blog with us and to see what personal training or a nutritional consultation can do for you then dont delay and start leading a healthier lifestyle today. I will follow up this blog in future posts about alternatives to cereals but if you would like to know more right away then get in touch here
Thanks for reading
Adrian Harper