 Cereal for Breakfast
When considering which cereal to use you should focus on two criteria: fiber content and personal preference. Look for a cereal that provides at least 6 grams of fiber per portion; 10–12 grams would be even better, but you’ll still need lots of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds later in the day to meet your target of 25–30 grams.
Dietary fiber comes in two varieties, soluble and insoluble. Both are good for you. Most high-fiber cereals are made with wheat bran, which is rich in insoluble fiber. Oats are an excellent source of soluble fiber, but many popular dry oat cereals contain only a trace of the oat bran fiber that really counts.
Insoluble fiber draws water into the intestines, making stools bulkier, softer and easier to pass. That’s why people who consume lots of fiber enjoy a reduced risk of constipation, hemorrhoids, and hernias. And two important 2003 studies link dietary fiber to protection against intestinal polyps and colon cancers.
Soluble fiber delays the stomach’s emptying and keeps your blood sugar from rising too fast after a meal, so it lowers insulin levels. It also helps reduce blood levels of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol. A study of 11,864 American adults found that blood cholesterol levels are lowest in adults who eat cereal and highest in breakfast skippers.
It’s easy to understand how dietary fiber protects your intestinal tract, but can it actually help other parts of the body? Two Harvard studies say it really does protect the heart. The Health Professionals’ Follow-up Study reported that a high-fiber diet reduced the risk of heart attack by 41% over a six-year observation period. For each 10-gram increase in a man’s daily fiber intake, his risk of heart disease dropped by 19% — and just one bowl of high-fiber cereal can provide those 10 grams of protection. Similarly, the Nurses’ Health Study of more than 68,000 women linked a high intake of fiber to a 47% reduction in heart disease over a 10-year period. And when researchers compared various sources of fiber, they found that cereal was even more protective than fruits and vegetables.
Intestinal woes and heart disease should be enough to persuade you to choose a high-fiber cereal for breakfast — but there’s more. Harvard researchers report that whole grains are associated with a 38% lower risk of diabetes and a 31% reduction in strokes. And the Health Professionals Follow-up Study found that men who eat whole grain cereals regularly enjoyed a 17% lower death rate than those who ate them infrequently.
You don’t have to munch on bran fiber from dawn to dusk; men benefited from 29 grams a day, women from just 23 grams. Read the fine print on your cereal’s nutrition label and if there isn't enough fiber content find one you like with more fiber.
Many people assume that skipping meals will help them lose weight. It’s not true, particularly if the missed meal is breakfast.
For example, a study of 16,452 American adults found that breakfast eaters were leaner than breakfast skippers — and people who ate cereal for breakfast were leaner than those who ate meat or eggs.
A study of 2,831 young adults agreed, finding that people who ate breakfast regularly were only half as likely to be obese as those who usually skipped it.
And a smaller Massachusetts study reported that skipping breakfast was associated with a fourfold increase in the risk of obesity. Not surprisingly, eating breakfast at home was more beneficial than eating out.Labels: breakfast, cereal, fiber, fibre |
