Breakfast Cereals in the News Again

I watched with dismay a report on BBC Breakfast about the 'worrying' sugar levels in many of our breakfast cereals.

The news item was reporting on a new study by Which? magazine, which investigated the 'alarming' levels of sugar and salt in 100 cereals found on the shelves of British supermarkets (You can read more about the report here).

In a nutshell only 8% of the cereals qualified for a Food Standards Agency "green light" for low levels of sugar, but 31 out the 100 cereals examined containing more than four teaspoons of sugar per recommended serving.

So that means 69% were probably okay, if not spectacularly low in sugar. Not really newsworthy that is it?

The proportion of cereals high in salt was just 8%, down from 20% in a similar survey in 2006. So 92% weren't high in salt.

It depends how you present this stuff, doesn't it?

The presenters on BBC News grilled the particularly ineffective 'expert' from some cereal manufacturers association, or some body like that.

Comments like 'there's as much sugar in a helping of this cereal that you would find in a bowl of ice cream'.

So what?!

How much fat is there in a bowl of cereal compared to a bowl of ice cream? How much protein is there in a bowl of cereal compared to a bowl of ice cream?

Only when you compare all of the macronutrients in a product can you make a real judgement on something.

The problem I have with the way this news item was reported is:

firstly, that they did not specify what cereals are based upon. They are a grain product. Grains are little storage pods of starch ... which is a carbohydrate (or a sugar) and so a product based on carbohydrate is bound to be high in ... carbohydrate! and

secondly, our society is in danger of demonizing food of almost any kind. The calorie really is getting hammered these days.

So go to work on a bowl of cereal if you dare was the overall impression the breakfast team managed to create. Well done folks! You have just succeeded in sending half the UK population out to work on a bowl of guilt in the morning.

In reality for those with a weight issue (and lets face it that is around two thirds of us in the Western hemisphere these days), starting the day with no breakfast is not a smart move.

Many wannabe slimmers deliberately starve themselves by skipping meals in a mistaken attempt to lose weight or to try to keep it off.

However, if they really want to be slim, then perhaps they would be better following the example of successful slimmers.

Research into a register of successful maintainers, who have lost a minimum of 30lbs (or 13.6Kg if you prefer) and kept it off for at least a year, has shown that 78% eat breakfast everyday, typically of cereal and fruit. Hmmm?!

So if we are worried about the obesity epidemic and want to improve what and how people eat (including our kids), then perhaps we should look at what the successful few who manage to keep winning the war with their weight actually do and not just label cereals as high in this or that to grab the promo headlines for our new report.

Incidentally, if you want to read more about how successful maintainers keep the weight off, then you can find more info at Slimmer Secrets here.

That's all for now,

Take care and enjoy your food,

Dr Ian Bracken ridge