Dry breakfast: eat or not eat?

Today, many people prefer to eat corn flakes or rice balls with milk in the morning. But are breakfast cereals really useful, according to their producers? In this article in detail we will consider cereal breakfasts and their impact on human health.

What is a dry breakfast?

Such products are flakes made from processed grain. They are often eaten with milk, yogurt, fruit or nuts.

These cereals are often enriched with vitamins and minerals. This means that nutrients are added to them in addition to make the dish more useful.

How is the production of breakfast cereals?

As a rule, it includes the following stages:

Processing: grains are processed into flour and exposed to high temperatures.

Mixing: the resulting semi-finished product is then mixed with ingredients such as sugar, chocolate and water.

Extrusion: many breakfast cereals are produced by extrusion. It is a high-temperature process that uses a machine to form flakes.

Drying: extraction of liquid under the influence of temperatures.

Molding: the product is formed into various shapes - balls, stars, figurines or rectangles.

Breakfast flakes can also be airy - in the form of flakes or various geometric shapes. The appetizer can also be covered with chocolate or glaze before drying.

A dry breakfast is made from refined grains, most often through a process called extrusion. This technology represents a high degree of processing of the product, during which many ingredients are added. Most of these dishes eventually contain a lot of sugar and fast carbohydrates.

Potential damage

Adding sugar is the only, but very significant drawback in the production of dry cereal snacks. This can lead to the appearance of excess weight and other health problems if you consume such foods regularly in large quantities. The main difficulty is that many people try to follow the principles of healthy eating, excluding sugar from their diet, but still get it from ready-made processed foods.

According to nutritionists, breakfast cereals are among the most commonly consumed processed foods with a high content of added sugars.

In most of these flakes, sugar is listed as a second or third ingredient, that is, if the label is not carefully read, it may not be noticed.

Than it can be fraught?

If you start the day with a breakfast with a high sugar content, this will lead to a surge in its level in the blood and increase the production of insulin.

After a few hours, the blood glucose level will drop sharply, and the body will begin to require other foods with an equally high carbohydrate content, thereby creating a vicious cycle of overeating.

Excessive consumption of sugar can also increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

What can be inferred from this?

Most breakfast cereals are high in sugar and are made from refined grains. Excessive consumption of this product can have harmful effects and may increase the risk of a number of diseases.

As a rule, on the front side of the box it is indicated that this is a useful product enriched with vitamins. Often, packaging includes misleading inscriptions, for example "low-fat" and "whole-grain".

But if you look at the full list of ingredients, you can make sure that most of the product is made up of refined grains and sugar. Other useful components will be available, but their percentage is usually too small. This means that the benefits of dry breakfasts, which are propagated for a long time, are highly questionable.

They are excessively processed foods that are produced with the addition of sugar. A small amount of whole grains in the composition does not negate the harmful effects of other ingredients.

Impact on children

The huge problem lies in the fact that the producers of these food products carry out advertising campaigns aimed at children. Companies use bright colors, cartoon characters and various colorful figures to attract the attention of small consumers.

Not surprisingly, this leads to the fact that children begin to associate breakfast cereals with entertainment and fun. A classic example is the dry breakfast "Nesquik". Every child knows a merry rabbit from advertising, offering chocolate flakes.

This also affects taste preferences. Studies show that children prefer exactly those products that have images of popular cartoon characters on the package.

Such obsessive advertising of some products is even considered a risk factor for childhood obesity and other nutrition-related diseases.

In addition to attracting children's attention, these products are often misleading about the health benefits. For example, "Nestle" breakfast cereals are presented as a special children's breakfast, saturated with vitamins and microelements, which is doubly useful with milk. The claimed substances in it do exist, but the sugar and chocolate content significantly reduces the benefit.

Does it say that a dry breakfast can not be eaten?

In fact, these snacks are not completely harmful. Sometimes they can be used without any fear. If you want to eat breakfast cereals on a daily basis, you must follow certain rules.

Ideally, you need to choose flakes from crushed whole grains that contain less than 5 grams of sugar per serving. Read the contents of the labels to find out what substances and in what quantities are contained in the product.

Secondly, the content of fiber is important. Breakfast flakes that contain at least 3 grams of fiber per serving are really useful. Eating enough of this substance has many health benefits.

Third, pay attention to the size of the portion. Dry breakfast is usually crispy and tasty, and this is the reason why you can consume a large amount of calories at a time. Measure how much you eat, and be sure to use the size information on the package.

Final verdict

Read the list of ingredients very carefully. Do not pay attention to listing healthy arguments on the front of the box. Check out the full list of ingredients. The first two or three components are the most important, since the product basically consists of them.

Nevertheless, food producers can sometimes use tricks to hide the amount of sugar present in the snack. If it is listed several times under different names, it may not be in the first three paragraphs.

You can make breakfast more useful by adding some protein. This will help to quickly achieve a sense of satiety and reduce appetite. A tablespoon of nuts, seeds or natural yogurt are a good choice for serving with cereal flakes. You can also add some fresh berries or pieces of juicy fruit.