Wednesday, October 29: Cheerios, the toasted oatmeal cereal from General Mills, has captured 11 percent of the breakfast cereal market, according to A.C. Nielsen—nearly three times the second-best selling cereal in America: Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes.

 

 

Well, maybe not that great. Popular cereals like Kellogg’s Raisin Bran, General Mills Cap’n Crunch, and Post Honey Bunches of Oats may not be the healthiest breakfast fare because they are made from highly processed grains, are high in carbohydrates and added sugar, and may contain preservatives. Sometimes you have to wonder if kids would be better off nutritionally eating the cardboard box than what’s inside.

 

Okay, so that’s an exaggeration, but recently amid much fanfare, General Mills announced that the company was replacing the processed grains with whole grains to their lineup of breakfast cereals. Whole grains are much better for you because they contain fiber and more essential vitamins and minerals. Every nutritionist prefers whole grains over refined grains, which are stripped of their vitamin, mineral, and fiber content during the refining process. These missing nutrients explain why breakfast cereal manufacturers feel compelled to “fortify” their products with vitamins and minerals.

A New York Times investigation into General Mill’s decision to add whole fiber to their cereals, however, unearthed information that 28 of the company’s 52 cereals contained the same level of fiber as before. A total of 22 cereals had only one gram of fiber, and five didn’t have any fiber at all.

 

You shouldn’t have to play a guessing game on whether you’re eating a healthy cereal. You’re not going to go wrong eating an old-fashioned whole grain organic oats that takes about twenty minutes to cook, or, if you’re pressed for time in the morning, a bowl of sprouted dry cereal and milk will do the trick. I don’t eat much cereal, but when I do enjoy a bowl, I reach for a package of Ezekiel 4:9 cereal, which contains the following ingredients: organic sprouted 100 percent whole wheat, malted barley, organic sprouted barley, organic sprouted millet, organic sprouted lentils, organic sprouted soybeans, organic sprouted spelt, filtered water, and sea salt.

 

Another great breakfast idea is firing up the blender and making smoothies in the morning. Kids love homemade smoothies, which are made from fresh fruit and juice, along with a dollop of protein powder mixed in. Keep in mind that many whey- or soy-based protein powders contain artificial sweeteners, flavorings, and additives. Some labels say the product contains dextrin, high fructose corn syrup, sucralose, aspartame, or acesulfame-K, which are sugars or artificial sweeteners.

 

Since sugars are not healthy and artificial flavors and sweeteners are chemicals, you should not consider these protein powders to be ideal substances. While some protein powders are better than others, superior protein powders are whey protein powders made from grass-fed, free-range cows, fermented soy protein, and my personal favorite, protein powder made from goat’s milk, which is easily digestible and contains enough fat for the nutrients to be absorbed.

 

Finally, don’t fall for all the marketing hype that surrounds the cereal industry. These days, just about any time a Pixar, DreamWorks, or Disney movie is released for the G-rated munchkin crowd, you can count on some type of promotional tie-in—from package labeling on candy wrappers to colorful Happy Meal boxes—featuring the animated film characters. The beloved Shrek character, which belongs to DreamWorks, appears in McDonald’s ads. Ice Age merchandise is found in sugar-saturated cereals like Cocoa Krispies, Froot Loops, Honey Smacks, and Frosted Flakes. One back scratches the other.

 

“In an era when childhood obesity is exploding, it’s a scandal that our entertainment elite has been blinded by the easy money they’re getting from letting huggable movie characters pitch fat-saturated food,” writes Los Angeles Times Calendar columnist Patrick Goldstein.

 

That’s what happening, although the Walt Disney Co. has announced that it will be phasing out licensing deals with McDonalds after declaring Buzz Lightyear and Lightning McQueen won’t endorse junk food anymore.

 

Cachow to that, but we’ll have to see it to believe it.