Breakfast cereals unhealthy

Tiesto

my breakfast usually consists off 2/3 shredded wheat and some brown bread. toasted.sometimes a banana aswell.

is that sufficient?
im guessing shredded wheat are good for u?

nesf

Porridge
Chicken
Um..

LivingDeadGirl

How acceptable would normal Alpen + porridge oats mixed in(to lessen the extreme sweetness) be?
Just wondering exactly how much of a guilty pleasure it really is

Jesus Wept

Glowing wrote:

Porridge
Just Right (what's wrong with that?)
Weetabix
Bran Flakes
Erm ......

I was getting bran flakes till recently, but they seem to be pure sugar.

g'em

There's this BRILLIANT thing on the interweb called Google...

seriously though, sarcasm aside all of the big cereal companies have websites that contain ingredients lists for all their cereals so take a look for yourself and try and decide if you're happy with what's in them.

For example...

Glowing wrote:

Just Right (what's wrong with that?)

Kellogs website wrote:

Wholewheat, Maize, Rice, Brown Sugar (Sugar, Molasses), Raisins (6.5%), Rolled Oats, Sugar, Dates (3%) (Humectant : Glycerol), Sliced Almonds (1%), Salt, Barley Malt Flavouring, Niacin, Iron, Vitamin B6, Riboflavin (B2), Thiamin (B1), Folic Acid, Vitamin B12.

Well there's nothing inherently wrong with them, but sugar features twice in the ingredients list. Generally speaking, added sugar is a bad thing, particularly if you compare it with porridge which contains... well, nothing but oats! And if you look at the Nutritional information (shown alongside the ingredients) it says that there's 22g of sugars per 100g of cereal. That's a lot.

As for adding oats to Alpen, well it's better than regular Alpen and not as good as plain oats!

There's really no such thing as 'good' and 'bad' cereals, (or foods in general) only bad diets. I know we can all get on our pedestals and talk about what the optimal diet is yadda yadda but the truth is you need to find something that suits you and fits into your goals. Obviously a high sugar cereal every morning isn't going to do your energy levels any favours but eaten once in a while there's no harm. A healthy, nutritious diet will help you feel better, look better, perform better, sleep better, work better and then once in a while a treat is fine.

The great thing about eating well is that it soon starts to become completely normal for your body and your taste buds. If I have a high sugar cereal in the mornings now I feel kind of nauseous afterwards, and I tend to really 'crave' porridge oats and add yoghurt for sweetness. If I do get a sweet craving during the day an apple or a pear will provide that lovely natural sweetnessto curb it.

Of course there is alternatives to cereals, like eggs, and I actually find they keep my appetite down way more than cereal does. Or a slice of wholemeal bread with natural peanut butter, or fruit with natural yoghurt...

oh and lol @ nesf

rubadub

g'em wrote:

Of course there is alternatives to cereals....

oh and lol @ nesf

Yep, eating chicken does raise eyebrows, but there is nothing wrong with it. People have ideas about what can be eaten for breakfast, and what cannot, it is ingrained in their minds for some reason, with no real reasons. They make out that it is weird to eat certain things, yet have no real basis why, so really their unacceptance is the real oddity.

For instance, people will think it odd to eat chicken, or cows for breakfast, yet pigs are perfectly fine!! what is that all about? Fish is more acceptable in the morning than cows, but pigs seem the ideal breakfast animal, bacon, sausages, pudding.

I used to eat curries in the morning in work and always got comments. I was asking a girl if she had timetables on her fridge of when she could eat stuff, telling her "I would hate that, you could be starving, go to the fridge see some chicken, check your timetable and see you would have to wait 15mins before it was acceptable to eat it."

Same goes for eating museli in the afternoon, you would swear there was a section on the box.
Carbs 70g
Protein 10g
Fat 5g
Eating Time 6-9.30am

cavanmaniac

rubadub wrote:

Eating Time 6-9.30am

Why does it take you three and a half hours to eat a bowl of muesli in the morning? Have you no teeth man?

EdgarAllenPoo

rubadub wrote:

Yep, eating chicken does raise eyebrows, but there is nothing wrong with it. People have ideas about what can be eaten for breakfast, and what cannot, it is ingrained in their minds for some reason, with no real reasons. They make out that it is weird to eat certain things, yet have no real basis why, so really their unacceptance is the real oddity.

For instance, people will think it odd to eat chicken, or cows for breakfast, yet pigs are perfectly fine!! what is that all about? Fish is more acceptable in the morning than cows, but pigs seem the ideal breakfast animal, bacon, sausages, pudding.

Americans eat steak for breakfast for god sake.

What's the verdict on Lidl porridge, it's nice but I don't know if it's that good for you (I don't have the ingredients to hand).

rubadub

GDM wrote:

Americans eat steak for breakfast for god sake.

So do I!

GDM wrote:

What's the verdict on Lidl porridge, it's nice but I don't know if it's that good for you (I don't have the ingredients to hand).

Get the pack and hold it alongside odlums or flanhavans. I did this with tescos branded, I think they have 2 now. The nutritional values were lower on the tescos ones, less fibre and more fat, carbs about the same. With these cheaper ones I expect they are really left over processed oats. They could have been stripped of fibre which goes into fibre supplements. It is like mushy peas- never buy them! they are mush since they are processed peas stripped of fibre & protein.

I think big 1.5kg bags of odlums oats are only about €1.60, tesco value oats might be half that price. But 50% off stuff that costs very little is feck all saving.

At 60g servings, that is 25 servings in a 1.5kg bag -around 7cent per serving!

neuro-praxis

Am I the only person who, after eating porridge, feels very bloated? I have to force down the last few spoonfuls. This would be at about 7.15 a.m. Then by 11 o'clock I am absolutely ravenous.

I find the best breakfast for me is a boiled egg with a couple of slices of wholewheat toast, a cup of tea and a piece of fruit. I'm happy then until 12.30.

EdgarAllenPoo

I don't feel bloated after eating porridge even though I like fairly thick and gloopy but it does give me heart burn.

nesf

neuro-praxis wrote:

Am I the only person who, after eating porridge, feels very bloated? I have to force down the last few spoonfuls. This would be at about 7.15 a.m. Then by 11 o'clock I am absolutely ravenous.

I feel bloated after wholemeal rolls sometimes. 4 hours until getting hungry sounds about right though. I'd be happy enough with breakfast tiding me over that long anyway.

Hanley

You can't beat special K with some sugar, a chicken fillet and some fruit for breakfast!!

I know, I know. It's horribly unhealthy!!

Glowing

Hanley wrote:

You can't beat special K with some sugar, a chicken fillet and some fruit for breakfast!!

I know, I know. It's horribly unhealthy!!

<Shudder.> Do you eat the chicken before or after the cereal, or do you slice it and put it on top? :eek:

rubadub

Glowing wrote:

<Shudder.> Do you eat the chicken before or after the cereal, or do you slice it and put it on top? :eek:

Cut the chicken up and stick it in with the cereal & sugar. All washed down with a delicious tuna smoothie

Gavin "shels"

What would people say about Weetabix?

PeadarofAodh

I go through phases of eating horrendously monotonously for breakfast until I get sick of it and move onto something else for a period of about a month!

I'm nearing the end of my stint of bowl of muesli, 2 eggs, a grapefruit and tea. The great thing about eating monotonously is that you get into such a rhythm that preparing everything takes no time at all so I get those extra 15 mins of sleep before heading off to uni!

BossArky

rubadub wrote:

Cut the chicken up and stick it in with the cereal & sugar. All washed down with a delicious tuna smoothie

WTF?! Don't knock the tuna smoothie! :eek:

EdgarAllenPoo

Gavin shels wrote:

What would people say about Weetabix?

They have salt and sugar in them so not the best choice but not the worst either.

dranoel

I eat Shredded Wheat bytesize with some chopped fruit - no added ingredients at all. Just very expensive compared to other cereals. Nestlé must have a patent

EdgarAllenPoo

dranoel wrote:

I eat Shredded Wheat bytesize with some chopped fruit - no added ingredients at all. Just very expensive compared to other cereals. Nestlé must have a patent

A patent on nasty:D I don't care how good for you shredded wheat are, to me they're like eating brillo pads.

dranoel

I hate the full size ones but the bitesize ones are ok - weird considering they are made with the same stuff

CerebralCortex

GDM wrote:

A patent on nasty:D I don't care how good for you shredded wheat are, to me they're like eating brillo pads.

Really? What is it like to eat brillo pads?

Hanley

Glowing wrote:

<Shudder.> Do you eat the chicken before or after the cereal, or do you slice it and put it on top? :eek:

Just blend that sh!t together and chug it.

emeraldstar

GDM wrote:

A patent on nasty:D I don't care how good for you shredded wheat are, to me they're like eating brillo pads.

Shredded Wheat is gorgeous...especially when they go all soggy and the milk is really cold, mmm. I've never had the full size ones. But those little bite size pieces rock

Gavin "shels"

GDM wrote:

They have salt and sugar in them so not the best choice but not the worst either.

Any other suggestions for very quick breakies, I wake up at 8 and have to leave my house at 8.25. Just looking for a good cereal with no effort involved.
At the moment I would have 2 Weetabix with some "Supermilk" over it and a small spoon of sugar over it, aswell as 1-2 slices of brown bread and 2 cups of "Supermilk".

rubadub

Gavin shels wrote:

Just looking for a good cereal with no effort involved.QUOTE]
I have porridge oats mixed with cold milk, sometimes put honey in it. Honey is sweeter than sugar is per gram of carbs, so less calories for the same sweetness, and more nutritious and nicer tasting IMO.

Newaglish

GDM wrote:

A patent on nasty:D I don't care how good for you shredded wheat are, to me they're like eating brillo pads.

What?! That stuff is freaking tasty. I want some right now.

Maynooth

Opinions on Special K?? I'm thinking not good?!

Glowing

Maynooth wrote:

Opinions on Special K?? I'm thinking not good?!

God that stuff is such a ripoff! And they're trying to make more money by getting you to eat it twice a day!

Newaglish

Maynooth wrote:

Opinions on Special K?? I'm thinking not good?!

Hah, I thought that read: "Onions on Special K"

*shudder*

Hanley

Maynooth wrote:

Opinions on Special K?? I'm thinking not good?!

I'm a fan. Which probably means you shouldn't eat it.

rubadub

Newaglish wrote:

Hah, I thought that read: "Onions on Special K"

*shudder*

Well why not! it is like the ad for rice krispies says, "what did you think they were made from", special K has rice in it. I eat stir fried rice & onions.

What about just brown rice & sauce for breakfast. I think G'em was saying that the roasting of grains means some nutritional value is lost so wholegrain brown rice could be a good choice. I think some other poster recently said something about rice though hard to digest or something. I have heard easy cook rice is parboiled and retains nutrients and is easier to digest.

ant.lei

I have 4 weetabix with whole milk and a banana for breakfast everyday. Is it ok? Is oatabix any better?

Edit: I weigh 68kg and hoping to become 75kg

emeraldstar

Gavin shels wrote:

Just looking for a good cereal with no effort involved.

Uhhh, what cereal does have effort involved?!!

Glowing

Well after the shocking news that the second ingredient in Bran Flakes is actually sugar, I took it upon myself to develop a new museli from scratch.

- Oats 50%
- Bran (from health food shop) 15%
- Barley Flakes 15%
- Sesame Seeds (Edit- I really meant Sunflower seeds here!)
- Pumkin Seeds
- Raisins
- Dried Papaya
- Dried mixed fruit

I picked up these bits and pieces in Tesco and a health food shop where the seeds were only 1.20 for 250gms .... the bran was almost free, as were the oats and barley.

So, whats the verdict? Who's going to tell me I'd be better off with Just Right?

Edit: It was really tasty!

Froot

Sangre wrote:

Nope, lungs are fine. Ipso facto cigarettes are healthy.

Its scientifically proven to work.

Also most generalisations are right.

FYI @ Glowing: get blueberries and sunflower seeds into your muesli, its mint!

Gavin "shels"

emeraldstar wrote:

Uhhh, what cereal does have effort involved?!!

Well I mean, that I can mak it and eat it in less than 10 minutes.:D

Alanstrainor

Best breakfast ever, the breakfast smoothie Mmmmmm....
1 Banana
1 yogurt(natural or fruit or what ever)
~40g porridge oats
loadsa milk.
Blitz until smooth.
Gorgeous

flywheel

i've been eating Kashi's cereal while doing a bit of traveling in N. America, and been enjoying their GoLean Cereal and GoLean Crunch. nutritional info looked better than any of the other packaged cereals on offer here.

anyone noticed them on any Irish shelves?

Hermione*

I think I've seen Kashi's in m local Tesco. Or else something with a very similar looking box!