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Breakfast Cereal or Breakfast Sugar?
The sheer length of the supermarket breakfast cereal aisle has often puzzled me. Surefire certainty that it must be a great moneyspinner, for both the producers
and the supermarket. The mindboggling range of tantalising brightly coloured boxes, with their almost-3D cartoon characters spilling over into the aisle, exists to tempt even the youngest of shoppers. You can almost hear the jingles from the latest
breakfast cereal TV campaign as your child refuses your suggestions for a slightly healthy alternative. He only has eyes for one - usually the most sugary, unhealthy, chocolate laden
cereal in the place.
We're over the guilt now, of allowing our refined-sugar intake to creep up to dangerously high levels..and we're extremely grateful to my grandson for showing us the light - or should I say the 'crystals.' My 3 year old grandson's severe
eczema flare-up is attributed to a sugar intolerance (refined sugars - cane sugar and sugar beet). Thank goodness his body reacted the way it did!
Who knows where we would have been in a few years time.
Diabetes is on the increase in our children - hardly surprising, when you eventually awake from the media-hype nightmare of food promotion and breakfast cereal. Time now to READ THE LABELS and make dietary and lifestyle changes.
Finding an alternative and healthy breakfast cereal for my grandson has been one of the hardest tasks in adopting a sugar free diet. The whole family are making the changes so I gathered togther sugar content and ingredients of some of the most popular breakfast cereals. So here's another happinesspages easy reference guide.
Breakfast Cereal | Nreakfast Cereal Ingredients
Source: Manufacturers' websites | Sugars | | Crunchy Nut Cornflakes |
Maize, brown sugar (sugar, molasses) peanuts (7%) sugar, honey 2%, barley malt: flavouring
niacin, iron, vitamin b6. riboflavin (B2) thiamin (B1)folic acid, vitamin B10 | 35g per 100g |
| Corn Flakes | Maize, Sugar, Barley Malt Flavouring, Salt, Niacin, Iron, Vitamin B6, Riboflavin (B2), Thiamin (B1), Folic Acid, Vitamin B12 | 8g per 100g |
| Rice Krispies |
Rice, sugar, salt,barley malt, flavouring,niacin, iron, vitamin b6. riboflavin (b2) thiamin (b1)
folic acid,
vitamin B10 | 17g per 100g |
| Weetabix |
Wholegrain Wheat (95%), Malted Barley Extract, Sugar, Salt, Niacin, Iron, thiamin (b1)riboflavin (b2)
folic acid, | 4.4g per 100g |
| Cheerios | Whole Grain Cereal Grains (77.8%)(Whole Grain Oats, Whole Grain Wheat, Whole Grain Barley, Whole Grain Rice, Whole Grain Maize), Sugar, Partially Inverted Brown Sugar Syrup, Wheat Starch, Salt, Tripotassium Phosphate, Colours: Carotene, Annatto and Caramel; Antioxidant: Tocopherols.
Vitamins and Minerals: Vitamin C, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Vitamin B6, Riboflavin (B2), Thiamin (B1), Folic Acid (Folacin), Vitamin B12, Calcium Carbonate and Iron | 21.3g per 100g |
| Coco Pops Coco Rocks | Cereal Flours (Maize, Oat, Rice, Wheat), Sugar, Chocolate Flavour Filling (14%)(Sugar, Vegetable Oil, Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder, Cocoa Mass, Skimmed Milk Powder, Milk Whey Powder, Emulsifier {Soy Lecithin}, Flavouring), Glucose Syrup, Cocoa Powder, Chocolate (3.5%)(Sugar, Cocoa Mass), Salt, Tricalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Flavouring, Antioxidant (Ascorbyl Palmitate, Alpha Tocopherol), Niacin, Iron, Vitamin B6, Riboflavin (B2), Thiamin (B1), Folic Acid, Vitamin B12 |
32g per 100g | | Honey Loops | Cereal Flours (Wholeoats, Wholewheat, Wholebarley, Whole Rye), Sugar, Honey (4.5%), Glucose Syrup, Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Tricalcium Phosphate, Colour (Carotenes), Flavouring, Antioxidant (Ascorbyl Palmitate, Alpha Tocopherol), Niacin, Iron, Vitamin B6, Riboflavin (B2), Thiamin (B1), Folic Acid, Vitamin B12 | 34g per 100g |
| Jumbo Porridge Oats | Wholegrain Oat flakes (100%) | 0.6g per 100 | | Shreddies | Whole Grain Cereal Grains: Whole Grain Wheat (94.9%), Sugar, Invert Sugar Syrup, Barley Malt Extract, Salt.
Vitamins and Minerals: Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Vitamin B6, Riboflavin (B2), Thiamin (B1), Folic Acid (Folacin), Vitamin B12 and Iron. | 15.5g per 100g |
| Frosted shreddies | Whole Grain Wheat (79.3%), Sugar, Inverted Sugar Syrup, Barley Malt Extract, Salt, Flavouring: Vanilla Flavour.
Vitamins and Minerals: Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Vitamin B6, Riboflavin (B2), Thiamin (B1), Folic Acid (Folacin), Vitamin B12 and Iron. | 28.8g per 100g | | Coco Shreddies | Whole Grain Wheat (76.3%), Sugar, Inverted Sugar Syrup, Fat-Reduced Cocoa Powder (2.2%), Barley Malt Extract, Salt, Cocoa Powder, Flavouring: Vanillin.
Vitamins and Minerals: Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Vitamin B6, Riboflavin (B2), Thiamin (B1), Folic Acid (Folacin), Vitamin B12 and Iron. | 28.9g per 100g | | Oatibix | Wholegrain Oats (97%), Malted Barley Extract, Sugar, Salt | 3.2g per100g |
| Oatibix Bites | Wholegrain Oats (88%), Sugar, Prebiotic Oligofructose (6.8%), Salt, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin (B1), Riboflavin (B2), Folic Acid | 14.2g per 100g |
| Oatibix Bites with Apple and Sultana | Wholegrain Oats (77%), Sugar, Sultanas (7%), Prebiotic Oligofructose (6%), Apple Flavoured Fruity Pieces (4.1%) (Sugar, Humectant: Glycerol, Concentrated Apple Puree, Invert Sugar Syrup, Oat Fibre, Vegetable Oil, Rice Starch, Glucose Syrup, Gelling Agent: Pectin, Citric Acid, Flavouring, Antioxidant: Ascorbic Acid), Salt, Flavouring, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin (B1), Riboflavin (B2), Folic Acid | 19.3g per 100g |
| Oatibix Bites with Chocolate and Raisin | Wholegrain Oats (70%), Plain Chocolate Chips (12.0%) (Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Butter, Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin, Flavouring), Sugar, Raisins (6.0%), Prebiotic Oligofructose (5.4%), Salt, Flavouring, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin (B1), Riboflavin (B2), Folic acid. | 20.5g per 100g |
| Yogurt Burst Cheerios Strawberry | Whole grain oats (includes the oat bran), sugar, naturally yogurt flavored coating (sugar, fractionated palm kernel
oil, dextrose, corn starch, dried strawberries, dried nonfat yogurt (heat treated after culturing) (cultured nonfat milk), color
added, soy lecithin, nonfat milk, natural flavor maltodextrin), cornmeal, modified corn starch, corn syrup, salt, trisodium
phosphate, brown sugar syrup, color added, wheat flour, vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) added to preserve freshness
Vitamins and minerals: calcium carbonate, zinc and iron (mineral nutrient), Vitamin C (sodium ascorbate) A, B vitamin (niacinamide), Vitamin
B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), vitamin B2 (riboflavin) vitamin B7 (thiamin mononitrate), vitamin A (palmitate), A B vitamin (folic acid), vitamin
B12, vitamin D3 Contains milk, soy and wheat ingredients. | 33g per 100g |
| Ready Brek honey | Wholegrain Rolled Oats (47%), Wholegrain Oat Flour (31%), Sugar, Calcium, Honey Powder (1%) (Honey, Maltodextrin), Natural Flavouring, Niacin, Iron, Pantothenic Acid (B5), Vitamin B6, Riboflavin (B2), Thiamin (B1), Folic Acid, Vitamin B12 | 20.4g per 100g | | Ready Brek Original
| Wholegrain Rolled Oats (60%), Wholegrain Oat Flour (39%), Calcium, Niacin, Iron, Pantothenic Acid (B5), Vitamin B6, Riboflavin (B2), Thiamin (B1), Folic Acid, Vitamin B12 | 1.0g per100g |
Return from Breakfast Cereal to Brain Gym Exercises
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A sugar free diet
Breakfast for us is going to take on more variety. We're cutting our reliance on breakfast cereal and now include home made sugar free pancakes,
scrambled eggs and toast, grapefruit and figs. bacon and egg. We're leaving the sugar coated breakfast cereal on the shelf!
If we really crave our cereal fix then we'll buy sugar free cereals - available from health shops and in specialist supermarket aisles e.g diabetic foods.
Reduced sugar diet.
It's easy to see how you can significantly reduce sugar in your breakfast. Use the basic breakfast cereal and add your own toppings, honey, fresh fruit, seeds, nuts and yogurt
add variety.
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