How to choose a good cereal

A better cereal choice will have

At least 4 g Total Fibre per 30 g serving.

Less than 1-3 g fat per serving - some granola-type cereals* can have up to 5 g per serving!

Less than 10g sugar per serving.

Moreover,

The first ingredient should NOT be sugar.

The first ingredient should be a "whole grain"- the word "whole" should be present.

*A better granola-type cereal will have fruit and nuts listed on the ingredient list before sugar and oil.

Let's look at a few examples:

SPECIAL K

Ingredients

Rice, wheat gluten, sugar/glucose-fructose,defatted wheat germ, salt, malt (corn flour, malted barley), vitamins (thiamine hydrochloride, niacinamide, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, d-calcium pantothenate), iron. BHT added to package material to maintain product freshness.

Ok... Special K's Ingredient list: sugar is not the first ingredient which is good, but the first ingredient is not a whole grain, not so good.

A look at the label, and although there is no fat, there is also no fibre... no good.

All in all, not the best choice- not horrible, since there are only has 2g sugar per serving, but definitely not the best.

SHREDDED WHEAT (original)

Ingredients: Whole grain wheat, BHT is added to packaging material to preserve product freshness.

Shredded Wheat:
Whole grain is the first (and only!) ingredient on the ingredient list- great!!

The label shows that, per serving, there is only 1g fat, 0g sugar and a great 6g total fibre!!

Excellent choice.

CASCADIAN FARM- Organic Oats & Honey Granola

Ingredients (all organic): Whole grain oats, sugar, crisp rice (rice, sugar, sea salt, malt), sunflower oil, whole grain oat flour, molasses, maltodextrin, honey, sea salt, vanilla extract.

So... First ingredient is a whole grain, which is good. However, a look at the label and there are 6g fat and 14 grams sugar per sugar- too much- and only 3 g fibre- not enough.

Not a good choice!

Diet Myth #2: Eating at night results in weight gain

No!

A review of the research indicates that eating late dinners or snacking at night will not lead you to gain weight faster. Rather, it's the total number of calories you eat in a day that matters... it makes no difference when those calories are eaten.

A 2006 study published in Obesity Research observed rhesus monkeys (supposedly an excellent model for humans) fed a typical North American diet for a year. The monkeys' eating patterns varied greatly- they ate between 6-64% of their calories at night. The monkeys that ate the majority of their calories at night did not gain more weight than those that ate more during the day.
Human studies have found the same thing.

That said, we do recommend you spread your calories throughout the day:
Eat breakfast to rev up your metabolism and break that fast and eat every 4-6 hours to keep your body and brain fueled and to regulate your appetite. If you do get hungry at night, stick with portion-controlled snacks of less than 200 calories- ie. small bowl of cereal, fruit, air-popped popcorn, yogourt, whole grain toast with peanut butter etc.

If you find yourself restricting your food intake all day and eating the majority of your calories at night, talk to your doctor. Night-Eating Syndrome, although not officially defined as an eating disorder yet, is a form of binge eating and is becoming more understood by the medical community.
Symptoms include:

• Little or no appetite for breakfast.
• Eating more than half of one's daily food intake after dinner. This behaviour continues over a period of at least three months.
• Feeling tense, anxious, upset or guilty while eating.
• Having difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep.
• Eating continually in the evening rather than bingeing in relatively short episodes.
• Experiencing guilt and shame from eating rather than enjoyment.

Does sugar make us fat?

Sugars are simple carbohydrates composed of a single sugar (ie. glucose, fructose) or 2 sugars together (table sugar, sucrose, is made of glucose linked to fructose).
In comparison, starch is a complex carbohydrate- made of lots of glucose molecules linked together in very long chains.
The long chains can't be absorbed by the intestine but have to be broken down to single units of glucose to be useable. Simple carbohydrates, though, are readily useable. But do they make us fat?

We know that a calorie is a calorie. Excess calories from sugar will lead to weight gain, just like extra calories from protein or fat. However, when you eat too much glucose at a time, the body can't handle it. What happens is that your pancreas makes too much insulin. Insulin is supposed to take the glucose and put it in your body tissues so it can be used. When there's too much insulin though, it grabs all your available glucose, including the little bit that's supposed to stay in your blood. The result is that your blood sugar drops and you feel hungry. You then eat more and those extra calories will lead to weight gain.
Moreover, your muscles cells start to resist taking in the excess glucose resulting in that excess getting stored as fat.
So yes. Eating too much simple sugars does put you at risk for weight gain.
Fibre slows down the absorption of glucose which is why a high fibre diet- a diet rich in vegetables, fruit and whole grains- prevents heath problems.

The Glycemic Index ranks foods according to how quickly they break down to glucose. Click here to read more about Glycemic Index from a previous blog entry.
In general, highly processed starchy foods- crackers, pretzels, cookies- and sugary foods- sodas, candies, desserts, sugary cereals- have no fiber and will cause havoc for your metabolism, providing a huge influx of glucose.

How much sugar is too much sugar?

Per day, it's recommended that less than 10% of your total calories come from added sugars (this doesn't include sugar found naturally in fruits and plain milk). In a 2000 calorie diet, that means you should be aiming for less than 50 grams (about 10 teaspoons) of added sugar a day. The average American eats double that a day.

Sweet tips to limiting your sugar intake

Avoid or cut back on non-diet soft drinks. A 12 oz can of Coke has practically your daily limit of added sugars, 40 grams!!

Watch out for fruit 'drinks', 'beverages', and 'cocktails'- they contain very little real fruit juice and a lot of sugar.

Limit candy, cookies, cakes, pies, doughnuts, granola bars, pastries and other sweet baked goods- eat fruit instead. Desserts in restaurants, with their huge portion sizes, have a large amount of added sugar. A medium chocolate milkshake at McDonald's has a whopping 111g sugar!

Remember that 'fat-free' does not mean 'sugar-free' or 'calorie-free' .

Look for breakfast cereals with less than 10 grams (ideally less than 8 grams) of sugar per serving- read the label!

I found this cool site, sugarstacks.com , that shows us how much sugar there are in some foods. Pretty eye-opening!
They use sugar cubes- 1 cube is equivalent to 1tsp or 4grams.

What's a Whole Grain?

We know that the grains we eat should be "Whole Grains"... and i've blogged about Whole Grains in the past. The topic can be a bit confusing though so I'm going to review.

First, a little quiz:

1. Which bread is usually all or mostly whole grain?
a. Whole Wheat
b. Multi Grain
c. Rye
d. Pumpernickel

2. Which of the following (could be more than one) are whole grains?
a. Bulgur
b. Quinoa
c. Couscous
d. Oatmeal

3. Which cereals are whole grains?
a. Shredded Wheat
b. Total
c. All Bran
d. Corn Flakes
e. Special K


1. Bread

In theory, Multi Grain, Rye and Pumpernickel could all be whole grain... but not always.
The answer is a) Whole Wheat bread... but only in the US.

In Canada and the US, read the ingredient list. If the first ingredient starts with "whole", it's a whole grain. For example, if the first ingredient is "Wheat Flour", it's not a whole grain. If it's "Whole Wheat Flour", it is.

Products labeled with words like "made with whole wheat", "multigrain," "stone ground," "whole wheat (in Canada*)," "seven-grain," or "bran" may actually contain little or no whole grain!

*In Canada, it's legal to advertise any food product as "whole wheat" with up to 70% of the germ removed! A label must state '100% Whole Grain Whole Wheat' for a Canadian consumer to know they're getting a whole grain product.

Don't rely on the colour of the bread- lots of products add molasses to get that brown colour.
Don't rely on fiber amount either since products may add processed fiber from peas or other food that can help prevent constipation and diverticulosis but doesn't offer the antioxidants and phytochemicals whole grains do.

When shopping for bread:

Choose ones that are whole grains AND high in fiber:
-Read the ingredient list and choose a bread that has a whole grain as the first ingredient- in most cases, starting with the word "whole".
-Choose a whole grain bread that contains 2-3 or more grams of fiber per slice.

2. Other Whole Grains

b) Quinoa and d) Oatmeal are whole grains.
Bulgur and Couscous are not always (whole grain bulgur and whole wheat couscous are).

Other whole grains include:
Barley ( but not pearl barley), buckwheat, kamut, millet, brown and wild rice and spelt.


3. Cereal

a) Shredded Wheat and b) Total are whole grains. All Brans, Corn Flakes and Special K are not.

The first ingredient in a whole grain cereal is a whole grain- usually starts with the word "Whole".
For example, the first ingredient in the cereal Grape Nuts is "Whole Grain Wheat Flour" therefore, it's a whole grain.
The first ingredient in the cereal Kellogg's Multi-Grain Rice Krispies is "Rice" therefore it's not a whole grain.

Cereal can be confusing when it comes to choosing a whole grain, partly because of fiber content. For example, Shredded Wheat (a whole grain) has less fiber than All Bran (bran isn't technically a whole grain).

Secondly, sugar added to cereal decreases the amount of fiber. Honey Nut Cheerios (a whole grain) has only 1g fiber per serving. That's because the added sugar takes the place of the whole grain, therefore there's less fiber.

When shopping for cereal:

- Choose a whole grain cereal that is ALSO high in fiber. A whole grain cereal has a whole grain as the first ingredient, usually starting with the word "whole". A high fiber cereal contains more than 5 grams fiber per serving.

- Even though bran isn't technically a whole grain, think of it as a whole grain because the high fiber in the bran has loads of benefits.

- Choose a cereal with less sugar- less than 10g sugar per serving. Sugar replaces some of the whole grain you should be eating.

- Make sure your granola is low fat.

Here's a list of some of the popular breakfast cereals and whether they're whole grains or not:

COLD CEREAL

Whole Grain:
Cheerios
Granola or muesli
Grape Nuts
Raisin Bran
Shredded Wheat
Total
Wheaties

NOT Whole Grain:
Corn Flakes
Frosted Flakes
Just Right
Corn Pops
Puffed Wheat
Rice Krispies
Special K

HOT CEREAL

Whole Grain:
Oatmeal
Oat Bran
Quaker Multigrain
Wheatena

NOT Whole Grain:
Cream of rice
Cream of Wheat
Grits

What's for breakfast?

We've all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Studies have shown that this is probably true for kids. Children that skip breakfast have lower attention spans and don't do as well in school. Of course, many of these studies are funded by cereal companies. Moreover studies have also found that kids that skip breakfast are more likely to be from a lower socioeconomic class than breakfast eaters. So, is it the breakfast eating that affects their learning or is it more the markers of their economic status- wealth, education, physical activity? Regardless, kids should be eating a healthy breakfast in the morning.

It's another matter for adults. A study found that when breakfast skippers ate breakfast regularly, they ate less during the day and lost weight as a result. However, the same study found that when regular breakfast eaters skipped breakfast, they also lost weight! It seems that it wasn't the breakfast, but the change in routine that affected weight. Most dietitians, including myself, would recommend you eat breakfast. However, what you eat is more important than just eating something. If you're like the 15% of Americans that eat pastries and coffee or soda for breakfast, you'd be healthier, and probably thinner, if you had a bowl of whole grain cereal or fruit.

The October issue of Saveur magazine went around the world to find ou what people eat for breakfast:

Spain: Mostly coffee and bread but a decadent morning option is churros- curved batons of deep-fried sugar-dusted cruller dough- dunked in a cup of thick hot chocolate (pictured left)

Japan: Natto, a pungent soybean condiment, often served with rice with chopped scallions, raw quail eggs and hot mustard or soy sauce.

Germany: Germans and Austrians eat 2 breakfasts! Their later-morning meal, is known as zweites Frühstück, or second breakfast, in Germany and Gabelfrühstück, or fork breakfast, in Austria. Traditonally it was the meal farmers had after worked in the field, but it now serves a more social function. A typical second breakfast in a German beer hall includes weisswurst, a mild white sausage made from ground veal, pork and spices, ususlly eaten with sweet mustard, soft pretzels and washed down with beer.

India: Chai tea, tea mixed with milk and spices like cardamon and cinnamon, is a staple in India and often accompanies idlis (lentil-flour cakes) or uppuma (semolina porridge).

Indonesia: Sweet jasmine tea served with a plate of chile-and-garlic fried rice, a slice of buttered white bread topped with milk chocolate sprinkles called meises, papaya and/or leftover curries.

Vietnam: Aromatic noodle soup called pho is a very popular breakfast (pictured left).

Australia: Vegemite, a sticky dark brown yeast extract, spread on toast, on cheese biscuits or on eggs.

Venezuela: Small, round cornmeal pancakes called arepas, often stuffed with cream cheese or butter and honey.

Somalia: Laxoox, a sourdough flatbreadm traditionally eaten with honey, butter, or beans.

Russia: Kasha, a porridge made from grains such as buckwheat, oats and wheat is a traditional Russian breakfast.

USA: The flaky Southern-style quick breads known as biscuitsis a favourite in the deep South, often accompanied with flour-thickened white sausage gravy. However, a 2005 poll found that 40% of Americans have consumed cold leftver pizza.

Egypt: Ful medames, which consists of fava beans simmered with garlic (pictured left).

Dominican Republic: Mangu, a mashed boiled plantains with milk and butter, usually served with eggs and sausage.

Jamaica: The national dish is a favourite breakfast- ackee and saltfish. Chewy rehydrated salt cod is sauteed with onions, peppers. tomatoes and ackee, a bright yellow fruit from West African evergreen trees.

What do you have for breakfast?