It’s pretty scary – you will find entire aisles devoted to ‘dead’ food in the supermarket, one of the biggest and longest aisles is usually the cereal aisle. Do you have any idea how toxic these so-called ‘healthy breakfasts’ are? Sure, they are touted as slimming aids, promise boundless energy, supposedly supply nutrients to growing children and appear from adverts to be an absolute daily essential for all ages. Sorry but this is far from the truth. The healthiest part of that boxed cereal is the box itself, I really mean it. Have you ever read what’s on the back of a cereal box? No? Let me enlighten you then.
Here are a few of the ingredients in cereal boxes (and I mean a few) – I have several cereal boxes here (I bought them, tossed the contents in the bin, & kept the boxes for my research):
- Sugar (usually the first item on the list) – more sugar than you can imagine!
- Wheat bran and wheat variants (very bad for the gut)
- Added gluten (if you don’t know yet, gluten’s not good for you!)
- “Flavouring” features heavily – these are chemicals, not real flavours
- TBHQ – a carcinogenic “antioxidant. No, this is not an antioxidant – it simply prolongs shelf life (not your life), it’s not safe – and is one of many such ‘antioxidants’
- Very many “E” numbers, which almost always signal chemical additives
- Vegetable fat/palm fat (hydrogenated or not, this is ghastly for the arteries and lungs)
- Malt (more sugar) – and is in so many products
- Plenty of maize (GMO and not good for the body, nor is it nutritious)
- Loads of soya (don’t even get me started on soya…but this too is GMO)
- Lots more, check them out yourself next time you wander down the ‘cemetery’ aisle Cereals also have carbohydrate and calorie counts through the roof, so don’t be surprised if your scale disappoints you next time you weigh yourself if you are a serial cereal eater (sorry, couldn’t resist that ).
In some cereals, you are getting 12-17+ teaspoons (or the equivalent) in sugar per serving as well as all the other gunk and chemicals. Another disturbing thing is that the maize and soya (bad enough on it’s own) is genetically modified in this country.
The so-called “vitamins” added are in such miniscule amounts (and almost 100% synthetic) that a flea would not benefit from their intake. Cereal puffs, flakes, and shapes made in factories are subjected to such intense pressure and heat that they actually liquefy into a slurry. This slurry allows the grains to be easily shaped into puffs, flakes, and other shapes that make each cereal distinct, before soaking it in sugar and chemicals. But at the end of the day, it’s all the same gunge.
The manufacturing process used to make boxed cereal is called extrusion – if you want more eye-popping information on the food industry and extrusion, look here. Just make sure you’re sitting down first. This process is so violent and denaturing that the proteins in the grains are actually rendered toxic and allergenic by the process itself. Don’t think “organic cereal” is any different – it’s not. Sugar is sugar is sugar. And don’t forget, cereals are heavily treated, processed ‘food-like’ products – they are not classed as real, whole food.
If you don’t feel like egg and bacon every day, here are a few other ideas:
- Good old-fashioned egg and bacon is still a very healthy meal by the way, with a few tomatoes, even a piece of steak from last night’s dinner, mushrooms etc – you won’t even think about food the rest of the day
- Make a healthy wrap (use an egg in a pan to form a ‘wrap’) fill with your choice of mushrooms, chicken livers, salmon, rocket, etc. Or use a healthy wrap you’ve made.
- Nothing wrong with leftovers from last night either – there are no rules!
- Make a healthy smoothie with blueberries, homemade almond milk, Pure Hydrolylsed Collagen or Whey Protein Isolate, walnuts or pecans, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, a touch of honey, and some BarleyLife powder or a green powder of your choosing.
- If you absolutely must have cereal. Make your own Swiss Bircher Muesli or similar, grate in an apple and you have a delicious cold brekkie.
Eating a whole food breakfast sets your blood sugar on the right path daily. Your health is too important to pour damaged/junk food down your or your children’s throats. Our precious bodies are worth caring for. Treat yours well and you will reap the benefits.
You can simply click on the name of each product mentioned above (in bold) and a hyperlink will take you directly to the product for an easy purchase.
Originally published on https://www.facebook.com/SallyAnnCreedSA/ in 2020.
