Breakfast Cereals: Healthy Or Not?

Breakfast cereals are available in many households. But is consuming them a healthy or unhealthy practice?

Depends.

There are many ways to enjoy cereals: with milk, vegetable drinks or yogurts. Some are also made from corn, while others from rice, wheat or oatmeal. Some of them even have a commercial version with chocolate and many other ingredients.

According to several health organizations, cereals such as oats, rice, wheat and corn have a high nutritional value due to their content of protein, carbohydrates, natural fats and fiber. However, they lose their nutritional properties once the food industry subjects them to the refining process to make them more attractive. The difference between a whole grain and a processed grain is the manufacturing process.

Breakfast cereals: types

Processed breakfast cereals appeared during the vegetarian movement in the last quarter of the twentieth century (According to the article published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of Argentina ). The production is quite large nowadays and there is a great variety of them.

There are various breakfast cereal options, such as:

Breakfast cereals: healthy or not?

Whole grains, such as oats, rye, barley, corn, wheat, and brown rice, provide the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients the body needs. They also contain dietary fiber – which perform various functions in the body.

Many other products sold as cereals are not actually cereals – such as quinoa, amaranth and buckwheat. But they are also very nutritious.

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Health benefits of eating whole grains for breakfast

Canned cereals: healthy and unhealthy

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So is eating breakfast cereal healthy or unhealthy?

To determine if a cereal is healthy or unhealthy, you need to be critical and keep in mind that the occasional intake of processed foods, whether it is a whole grain or a canned one, will not lead to health problems. Frequency and quantity consumed matter the most.

Keep in mind that you can have a healthy breakfast as long as you opt for natural whole grains, such as oatmeal, expanded rice grains (no added sugar), quinoa, expanded amaranth and granola, among others.

Also, don’t forget that all meals of the day should provide you with quality nutrients. Choose more and more often the natural or minimally processed products.

So what do you think? Are your breakfast cereals healthy or unhealthy?