.
I believe whole heartedly that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. If you skip breakfast thinking that this will save you calories and help you reach your weight loss goals then you are just fooling yourself. It has been proven time and time again that eating a good breakfast results in a thinner body.
One of the reasons I have been successful with my low carb lifestyle is I always eat a breakfast that has protein and fat in it. This keeps the hunger away and I have no desire to cheat on high carb food later in the day.
I never liked cereals for breakfast because they didn’t usually control my hunger for very long and I tended to crave more carbs throughout the day. If you decide on a cereal then it needs to be very low in added sugar (preferable no added sugar) and it needs to be whole grain.
If you are wondering how much sugar is in some leading cereals then the following list will probably make you shake your head. You won’t believe how much sugar is in cereal. Many of these breakfast cereals are the ones kids eat every morning. It is no wonder that we have an obesity epidemic with our children and teens and that behavioral problems are running rampant. Some of these have enough sugar for several meals.
Sugar Content In Cereal
This table shows the top ten cereals based on the percentage of sugar by weight
| Kellogg’s Honey Smacks |
56 %
|
| Post Golden Crisp |
52 %
|
| Kellogg’s Froot Loops Marshmallow |
48%
|
| Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch’s OOPS! All Berries |
47 %
|
| Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch Original |
44 %
|
| Quaker Oats Oh!s |
44 %
|
| Kellogg’s Smorz |
43 %
|
| Kellogg’s Apple Jacks |
43 %
|
| Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries |
42 %
|
| Kellogg’s Froot Loops Original |
41 %
|
There are at least 47 breakfast cereals designed for children that have more sugar in a cup of cereal than is in a Twinkie or three Chips Ahoy cookies. If you think you are giving your child a healthy way to start the day with these cereals then you might as well be giving them Twinkies and cookies for breakfast.
This is really incredible to me. Is it any wonder that we are setting our kids up to be fat and to develop diseases like diabetes?
Cereal Low In Sugar
If you are going to feed your child cereal then be sure it
- Whole grain
- Lots of fiber
- Very few or no added sugar
- Is not based on a cartoon character
The time to develop good eating habits is when we are young. Don’t start them down a path to obesity and sugar addiction.