The sugar content in most traditional breakfast cereals exceeds international and national consumption recommendations
The breakfast was pretty salty since the beginning of mankind, but from the fifteenth century the use of sugar became widespread in French cuisine. Meats, fish and vegetables were sweetened, and it was combined with coffee, tea, fruit, eggs, cereals, pastries and chocolate. Towards the seventeenth century, this trend moved to the time when they were served, leaving sweet dishes for breakfast and afternoon tea.
"With the arrival of the Industrial Revolution, and the invention of breakfast cereals, the industry took advantage of a habit established for several centuries to do business, generating an excessive supply of foods designed exclusively for breakfast with no less excessive levels of sugar ", highlights in Aprende a Desayunar ‘the dietician-nutritionist Raquel Bernácer.
The also university expert in Food Education and a master's degree in Nutrigenomics and Personalized Nutrition emphasizes that cereals with milk have become an icon of modern breakfast, given the great and attractive offer that the food industry provides, although they are not always healthy.
In fact, it draws attention to the fact that there are better and healthier alternatives. "It is important to know how to differentiate between breakfast cereals and cereals as a food group. Including whole cereals (and their derivatives) as a food group in breakfast can be a healthy practice if we choose them well," he warns.
Bernácer talks about whole wheat bread, oat flakes or spelled in the form of granola, and porridge, as well as unsweetened breakfast cereals, which are available. "Nothing prevents you from eating the leftovers of rice with vegetables, or macaroni, in addition to innovating and preparing, for example, a whole wheat couscous with fruits and yogurt for breakfast, " warns the expert, while warning that the Industrial granola tends to hide a lot of sugar.
The dietician also emphasizes that the sugar content in most traditional breakfast cereals exceeds international and national consumption recommendations. "Hence they are not the best food option. But the sugar content is not the only problem with breakfast cereals. The low fiber content makes them not very satiating, in addition to being accompanied by salt. That is why it is so important to read the labels of the packages we buy, "he adds.
With all this, the also university expert in Food Education lists six recommendations for people who have breakfast cereals with milk:
Choose your cereal well
These must be unsweetened. These are spelled, rice, wheat, quinoa and other flaked or toasted cereals or pseudo- cereals, to which nothing has been added, and which usually preserve the fiber. Read labels carefully to make sure that all you have bought is whole cereal and nothing else.
Substitute dried fruit for cereals
A good option is to substitute part of the cereals for nuts or seeds, rich in unsaturated fats (the good ones) and fiber. It can be an alternative to increase satiety.
Swap milk for yogurt
Alternate milk with Greek yogurt and other unsweetened fermented milks. They provide probiotics. They tend to be better digested and provide greater amounts of protein and fat than milk, so the degree of satiety will also be higher.
Add fruit to your breakfast
Eat fresh ripe fruit, or dried fruit for sweetening. You can flavor the milk by crushing a piece of ripe fruit, adding it directly to pieces in the yogurt, or with a teaspoon of pure cocoa powder (without sugar), cinnamon or liquid vanilla.
Avoid sweeteners (all)
Remember that honey and syrup style sweeteners are still sugar in semi-liquid form. They can be used in moderation when the rest of the recipe is rich in whole foods.
Use spices for flavor
Use fresh herbs and spices for flavor. Both cardamom, anise or ginger can add a touch to your porridge, granola and yogurt. Fresh chopped mint adds color and refreshing flavor to yogurt porridge and granola
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