Monday, April 26, 2010

Reader question: Breakfast cereal's

What to feed ones children for breakfast? And is the article based upon truth? A read recently asked this question. So here is the answer.

Firstly the article linked to is written by Sally Fallon, who I have previously mentioned in a blog post. I have a very high regard for Sally and the Weston Price organization. Therefore the article is likely to be accurate. However the specific example used about mice being feed puffed breakfast cereals dieing before the mice with no food seems a little extreme. And saying the studies were not published, leads to the obvious question about were did they come from, and where is the original. So I have serious questions about the study and the results.

However I totally support Sally's criticism of extruded breakfast cereals. I have a simple rule, which I will restate:
 If it looks like how Nature (or God if you prefer) made it, then it is highly likely to be good for you. Conversely the more it looks modified from the original, the more it is bad for you. 
I would say that if it looks like nature made it then it is good for you. But clearly one gets stuck with poisons plants!  So hence highly likely to be good for you.

Applying this test to:
  • Cornflakes
  • Rice puffs 
  • Honey puffs
  • et
These all look highly modified. Sure some are the same shape as original but that is about it. Therefore these are highly processed food..... so they are bad for you. Most muesli are not much better. Toasted normally means high in oil (eg almost deep fried) and a lot have very high sugar content. The sugars come from the dried fruits as well as sugar, syrups etc. Although at lead some muesli's you can see what the grains an some fruits used to be!

This leads onto the question - what to have for breakfast..... but first let me confess that our family's breakfast is far from ideal. Me and the kids normally have weetbix and Tiffany has a better option of a omelet with mushrooms. The weetbix is pure convenience.... and for its fiber. So here are some ideas:
  • Free range, outdoor living, hens egg's with vege's. (free range often is walking around inside.... chicken need grass, bugs, sunlight to produce healthy eggs)
  • Soaked whole oats. Soaking oats in raw milk, live yogurt or lemon juice overnight before eating
  • Ground nuts. Grind up in a coffee grinder raw nuts (not cooked, not salted). linseed-sesame-almond combo provides balanced protein, I also put in any other seeds we have, often pumpkin, sunflower.... I tend to eat my Brazil nut (for selenium) and cashews whole cause they are yummy. You can then mix this with yogurt, fruit, add to a fruit smoothly etc etc. I find this very fulling and sustaining for a long time. 
  • Vege jucie. Breakfast doesn't have to many vege's in most homes. Therefore when I am feeling low on vege's I will make juice to have with breakfast. I find that the rest of the day I tend to eat healthier as I started on a good way. 
Therefore there are other options....

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