Did you hear about this? Last week a report came out about the sugar in cereal..."Some cereals are more than 50% sugar"...as much or more as a glazed donut! Luckily we haven't come to the cereal times with Sam...he's still happy with his oatmeal, cheese omelet, applesauce, and fruit breakfast every. morning. But, I know the cereal requests will come sooner or later.
Some U.S. Cereals More Than Half Sugar from ABC News
I wasn't surprised to hear that many cereals have a ton of sugar and aren't good for you, not to mention the amounts of food coloring added to them. But, I was very surprised to read that cereals for the U.S. are made with more sugar than those going to other countries. Huh? Why?
This reminded me of a conversation I overheard between a mom and her daughters when they were grocery shopping on the same aisle as me a few weeks ago...
"Can we get some cereal?"
"Yes, but just remember, the fiber has to be more than the sugar."
I filed that into my long-term memory so I can remember to teach my kids that too. I should mention that mom was in her workout clothes, probably a hundred pounds soaking wet, and very fit...a much better role model than I have been in that department!
And of course, you know I always like to offer alternatives and 'what-to-do' with such valuable information. (This is one of my pet peeves with the media...Okay! Great info, but what do I do about it!?!?) I found this article at Eco Child's Play (one of my favs)...
Real Food for High Fiber, Low Sugar Breakfasts
To summarize: (see article, linked above, for details)
-Fruit
-Fresh Fruit Smoothies
-Oatmeal
-Amaranth
-Farina (Cream of Wheat)
-Cornmeal Mush
-Homemade Granola
-Sunflower Milk
-Spouted Granola
Happy Eating!
3 comments:
Good tips...I know that a lot of cereals are not necessarily GOOD for you, but I forget that some are actually BAD for you.
We love Kashi things for breakfast...almost all of their products have lots of fiber and protein. Although I think some might be a little high on the sugar. Gabby often has a Kashi waffle with fruit before daycare (something Daddy can easily fix since he is on breakfast duty during the week).
Not sure if we will be trying the sunflower milk anytime soon...that might be pushing it even for me. :)
Ok. I just had to comment on this b/c we LOVE cereal, but I am very passionate about healthy food (as you know)! These are some guidelines I came across a long time ago for buying a "healthy" cereal....
1. no hydrogented oils
2. no artificial colors
3. the sugar content should be 1/3 (or less) of the total carbohydrate grams
4. whenever possible, add your own fruit since very often the fruit to grain ratio is high. i.e. raisin bran!
5. look for high fiber/ whole grain
Something I do with my kids occasionally is to buy a plain cereal (Kix or Bran Flakes) and use a "treat" cereal (Cinnamon Life or Honey Nut Cheerios) as a topper. They might have a higher sugar content, but when you just throw a handful in, it balances out. However my kids are generally happy with the healthy stuff b/c they don't know any different!
Rachel...I LOVE these tips! When I saw the report about this on GMA, the Dr. or nutritionist (whoever they were interviewing) said the same thing about throwing in a little "treat" cereal (as you call it). I can't believe I forgot to include the video from GMA in this post because they had some more practical tips.
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