Ever wondered how healthy is your cereal, rather, is it healthy at all? In the aim to lose weight, stay fit and eat healthy, we often pick up a cereal for breakfast without checking its nutrient value.
Breakfast is considered to be the most important meal of the day. Often nutritionists suggest cereal as an ideal breakfast for the simple reason that they are loaded with healthy nutrients and fibre content that keep us full till the next meal. However, ignoring its contents and nutrients can be extremely harmful to the body as many of them are topped up with added flavours and extra sugar. While such a breakfast may turn out to be extremely appetising to taste, it also plays a significant role in adding bulk to your waist line instead of keeping you fit and active.
Lovneet Batra, Chief Nutritionist, Fortis La Femme, says, "Some cereals have high sugar content. They may contain worse sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup which are directly linked to increasing fat specially around the waist. One cup of such cereal has sugar ranging from 25-30g which is comparable to 28g present in a cup of ice-cream."
One of the most easiest ways to avoid this situation is to read the ingredients carefully. One should always buy cereals that are loaded with fibre and should not contain any added preservatives. Agrees Dr Namita Agarwal, Fitness Consultant and Pilate Expert, “Eating wheat-based cereal is unhealthy. Wheat is gluten and gluten further converts to sugar. One should always pick oat cereals and always keep a track on its quantity. Over indulgence is extremely unhealthy.”
If a cereal is not assessed carefully, it can actually turn out to be a dessert. One can easily make the meal delicious to taste. Adding fruits can come to your rescue. Bananas, almonds, blueberries as well as strawberries are considered to be healthy, nutritious as well as great on taste. “Fruits are the best as they do not contain sugar most of the times. Sugar addiction in any form is unhealthy. While some cereals come packed with added sugar, people tend to add additional quantity to make it sweet without thinking of the repercussions. One way to add sugar is by introducing fruits, nuts and honey to enhance the flavour of the cereal. Stay away from even adding brown sugar and keep calories off the bay,” adds Agarwal.
