So, I’m sure that most of us enjoy a nice bowl of cereal in the morning; it’s quick, simple and full of delicious flavors. Whether you are one to enjoy a bowl of Coco Pops or Special K, I’m afraid to break it to you, but none of these options are at all healthy. Obviously some are slightly better than others but unfortunately, cereal is not a great start to the day and especially not if you’re trying to be good!
Cereals are one of the earliest convenience foods and they represent a triumph of marketing, packaging and eye catching products that we just can’t resist when out for our weekly food shop. The Guardian stated that “they are the epitome of cheap commodity converted by manufacturing to higher value goods; of agricultural surplus turned into profitable export.” Many people perceive cereal to be intrinsically healthy when by and large they are degraded foods that have to have any goodness artificially restored.
The first National Food Survey was conducted in 1863, where 370 families were questioned about their normal breakfast consumption and routine. The outcome demonstrated that breakfast consisted mainly of tea kettle broth (bread soaked in hot milk and salt), bread and butter, bread and cheese and milk gruel. This may be incomprehensible to us now, however what is equally shocking is that the British and the Irish are the largest eaters of puffed, flaked, flavoured, shaped, sugared and salted cereals in the world. Statistics have revealed that we consume an average of 6.7kg of the dehydrated “breakfast cereal” per person in the UK and 8.4kg each in Ireland.
The “cornflake” was first invented in 1906 by the Kellog brothers and were actually made by accident since they had left some cooked wheat out. When they returned, they found that the wheat had gone stale, but being on a strict budget, they decided to continue to process it by forcing it through rollers, hoping to obtain long sheets of the dough. To their surprise, what they got instead was flakes, which they toasted and served to their patients.
Cornflakes are generally made by breaking corn kernels into smaller grits which are then steam cooked in batches of up to a tonne under vast amounts of pressure. The nutritious germ with its essential fats is first removed because, as the Kellogg brothers discovered in 1906, it goes rancid over time and gets in the way of long shelf life. Flavourings, vitamins to replace those lost in processing and sugar are often added at this stage. It then takes four hours and vast amounts of energy to drive the steam out of the cooked grits before they can be rolled by giant rollers into flakes and then packaged for us to consume. Not so natural and healthy, hey?
So, if the idea of cereal in the morning is still appealing then here are a few of the more healthier options which you could choose from; Alpen No Added Sugar, Rude Health and Moma! Bircher Muesli. Moma! is one of the latest additions to the vast array of cereals we are faced with in the cereal aisle, but definitely one of the best options. It combines oats with yoghurt to ensure a slow release of energy instead of an unhealthy sugar kick!
In conclusion, try to avoid the sugary, commercialized breakfast cereals and stick with porridge, fruit or any sort of egg. They will keep you going for much longer and will provide a much healthier start to the day!
Image Credits: sheknows.com