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Cereal

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Hey

The other day I read an article in The Mirror about different types of cereal that basically empahsied how unhealthy the many types of cereal are- 75% it actually indicates. It mentioned some of the cereals that are unexpectedly the worst types, so what is actually healthy in cereal?

Steve

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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i would have thought any cereal containing lots of sugar like cocopops, frosties, honeynut loops etc are bad for you.

    therefore cereals like bran flakes, weetabix original, special k are good for you. especially the bran flakes because they are very high in fibre.

    which cereals were you surprised by then?
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    You'd possibly be surprised by the amount of sugar in somethings like Cornflakes.

    On the plus side a lot of brand name cereals have extra vitamins and minerals in the.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    like lipsy said something with a high fibre content will be good for you (in moderation) and obviously try to avoid cookie crisps and the likes because firstly they taste foul and secondly it's not the best start to the day.

    i usually have some alpen or you could have something like shredded wheat/weetabix.

    why not try having some fruit after your breakfast too? even if it's just a banana and some fruit juice.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    things like frosties, crunchy nut cornflakes, cocopops, crunchy oat cereal, golden grahams, are usually between 40 and 60% sugar.

    cornflakes and rice crispies etc do have some sugar in them but its not in anything like the same quantities.
    I think the issue is that a lot of them are marketed at children and people think its healthy to have cereal in the morning, but looking at the nutritional value of some of the leading ones, you seriously would be as well having a bar of chocolate for breakfast, healthwise.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Bars of chocolate would not be as good, there is at least are fair amount of fibre in all cereals and they provide a good slow release carbohydrate provide energy for the day.

    The warning is that they are not perfect, lots of them are sugary etc, and you can tell (most of the sweet kids type ones) the more misleading ones are things like corn flakes, and quite possibly alpen that use nice sticky sugar to hold the cereal together.

    Cereal makes a great breakfast, especially as most people eat it with milk, but be warned it's not as healthy as you may think.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Don't worry about the sugar contents. The government usually sex up the RDA of things usually.

    If you are worried about sugar intake, then supplement with Alpha Lipic Acid. ALA will divert excess sugar out of the body.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    HIT wrote:
    Don't worry about the sugar contents.

    That's rubbish. Or do you not realise how mcuh sugar is in certain cereals? (as already mentioned)
    why not try having some fruit after your breakfast too? even if it's just a banana and some fruit juice.

    There are some cereals which contain a bit of fruit as well.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Sofie wrote:
    That's rubbish. Or do you not realise how mcuh sugar is in certain cereals? (as already mentioned)



    There are some cereals which contain a bit of fruit as well.
    Why did you quote me saying eat fruit? The average 200ml glass of orange juice contains about 18g of sugar.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    HIT wrote:
    Why did you quote me saying eat fruit? The average 200ml glass of orange juice contains about 18g of sugar.

    What do you think?:rolleyes:
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Sofie wrote:
    What do you think?:rolleyes:
    Why do I think what? You added a little extra in my quote. I dont know what to think. :rolleyes:
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think special K has either 17% or 22% (Dont have a box here) thats one bloody spoon of sugar for every 4 of cereal. Plain old Kellogs has 11% if I recall

    Thats why I only eat porridge or toast. Breakfast cereals are a very unhealthy marketing trick, like McDonalds :P
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    HIT wrote:
    Don't worry about the sugar contents. The government usually sex up the RDA of things usually.

    .
    blimey, you give some shit advice sometimes!
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    blimey, you give some shit advice sometimes!
    Rda of caloric intake

    women 2000
    men 2500

    Do you want to explain to me why the above figures are not accurate? And do you want to explain to why the rda of sugar is the same?
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I have porridge which i beleive is good.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    double post
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    HIT wrote:
    Rda of caloric intake

    women 2000
    men 2500

    Do you want to explain to me why the above figures are not accurate? And do you want to explain to why the rda of sugar is the same?
    the above figures are an average.
    If I ate 2000cals a day id be huge. It varies from person to person. I dont know about the RDA for sugar, but I think that noone NEEDS extra sugar to be added to anything. theres enough natural sugar in fruits and vegetables without adding 50% extra sugar to some flakes of corn. If you want sweet stuff, its better to add a little bit of your own sugar to something so you can control it, and they are saying that most of these cereals arent particularly healthy, yet they are marketed as a healthy thing and even aimed at children.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    museli is healthy and good for you... thats what i have for breakfast most days with some added fruit.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Things like muesli, oatmill etc. are great because they give a steady release of energy throughout the day. :)
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    the above figures are an average.
    If I ate 2000cals a day id be huge. It varies from person to person. I dont know about the RDA for sugar, but I think that noone NEEDS extra sugar to be added to anything. theres enough natural sugar in fruits and vegetables without adding 50% extra sugar to some flakes of corn. If you want sweet stuff, its better to add a little bit of your own sugar to something so you can control it, and they are saying that most of these cereals arent particularly healthy, yet they are marketed as a healthy thing and even aimed at children.
    Literally they are aimed at children because companies think you can add abit of calcium in the mix & every mum wants there children to have some. Even if the other ingrediants are shit.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I've just found this information from the British Nutrition Foundation all about different types of cereals.

    The issue of sugar intake is quite complicated, as this page explains. Briefly, here's what it says:

    "Sugar, being a source of energy, contributes to the energy density of the diet, regardless of whether it is supplied as table sugar or as the sugar present in fruit or milk. However, government dietary guidelines classify sugars by their source and recommend that intake of those sugars not present in fruit or milk, sometimes referred to as non-milk extrinsic sugars should be reduced to an average of 10% of total energy."
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i reckon sugar is the least of your worries ...slong as your reasonably sensible about intake ...your body will deal with it a lot easier than with SALT.
    SAL;T is the real nasty as far as i understand it.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    trouble is the really healthy ones can taste so bland like shredded wheat - it's like eating dry grass.
    Bran flakes are nice, special K is nice too. Like rolly said - salts more dangerous than sugar so thats the one to you need to be extra careful of.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    its best to buy your own dried fruit (with no added sugar) to add to your plain cereals/porridge etc.

    I buy raisins and dried apricots, then cuts them up into ickle little bits. Tastes yummy
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    tbh i think we worry and obsess too much about food in this country...
    salt, sugar, calories, complex carbohydrates, dieting of every kind imaginable, this is good, this is bad, etc
    ~ everyone will do just fine if they eat a variety of food. - end of.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ballerina wrote:
    trouble is the really healthy ones can taste so bland like shredded wheat - it's like eating dry grass.
    .
    youre supposed to put milk on them :P
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    youre supposed to put milk on them :P
    :D
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    youre supposed to put milk on them :P

    doesn't make much difference though!
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    whenever i have cereal i always have waay more than the suggested serving size on the box :p

    i was bored the other week (as in REALLY bored) and after putting my cereal in the bowl, i decided to weigh it. (what can i say, the scales were already on the counter!)

    and it turned out that the bowl of fruit and fibre i had in front of me weighed a whopping.. 140g!! (or something horrendous like that - cant remember exactly!) which is more than 3x more than the serving size on the packet :eek:
    made me feel like a right heifer lol

    although saying that, the serving sizes they have on the boxes are hardly practical anyway! 40g of the stuff is hardly enough to fill up my gerbils let alone me :rolleyes:
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    soraliah wrote:
    whenever i have cereal i always have waay more than the suggested serving size on the box :p

    i was bored the other week (as in REALLY bored) and after putting my cereal in the bowl, i decided to weigh it. (what can i say, the scales were already on the counter!)

    and it turned out that the bowl of fruit and fibre i had in front of me weighed a whopping.. 140g!! (or something horrendous like that - cant remember exactly!) which is more than 3x more than the serving size on the packet :eek:
    made me feel like a right heifer lol

    although saying that, the serving sizes they have on the boxes are hardly practical anyway! 40g of the stuff is hardly enough to fill up my gerbils let alone me :rolleyes:
    the bowl wieghed 100g's.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    the bowl wieghed 100g's.

    nope (im not THAT stupid!!) i put the cereal in the scales and weighed it. did not include bowl
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