The dangers of cereal and the benefits of good fats

We’re constantly told how important breakfast is – from our mum’s when we were younger, to today’s fitness industry and the many cereal company’s with their adverts and slogans. 

Some studies say breakfast is needed – that eating first thing can give your metabolism a boost, stop muscle breakdown after fasting for 7-9 hours and will make you feel fuller. Other studies say that none of this is true and that having breakfast actually results in the opposite direction for all of these actions. There’s also the view that skipping breakfast will make you liable to eat more during the day.

As I’ve said before in previous posts, no one can tell you what is and isn’t good for your body apart from you – they can only advice you, as each human body is different.

Fasting is currently becoming very popular and some people have had great results in fat loss and muscle definition from fasting until lunch then eating all their food within an 8 hour period. I’ve tried this a few times and the first few times I felt great but soon found that I was lacking strength and focus and that my weights in the gym were dropping. I would like to try it again someday and maybe do a few 24hr fasts, but for now it’s not something that I’m planning on doing anytime soon. Those interested in learning more about fasting can find out more at http://www.leangains.com/ or do a general Google search. Charles Poliguin the famous strength and fitness expert recommends a breakfast of meat and nuts.

However, if you find you feel better after eating breakfast (and from a personal point of view I know I do, both at work and in the gym) then you need to make sure you have a breakfast which is healthy and will help to fuel your body for the day ahead. You want something that will supply you with a good dose of protein, nutrients, healthy fats and some carbs. 

At weekends when I’m not going to the gym, I enjoy a breakfast of good quality bacon and free-range/organic scrambled eggs made with added pure butter. I might also add some spinach and tomatoes to the eggs. This is a great breakfast – for a start your getting a big protein shot from the bacon and from the eggs. Also from the eggs your getting a dose of vitamin A, B2, iron and omega fats. If your also having 100% pure butter then that will be a good source of fat. Your body does need fat, despite what so called experts tell you – if you avoid trans fats found in biscuits, cakes, margarine and pies then you shouldn’t need to worry too much about other types of fat. Good fats will help you fight fatigue, give you energy and help your body to absorb nutrients. Good fat can also raise your good cholesterol (HDL) and lower your bad cholesterol (LDL). Your body is also designed to burn fat for energy – the problem now is that people eat far too many carbs and instead these carbs are being used as energy, rather then the fat that sits round your stomach (I’m speaking from personal experience here!). So fat doesn’t sound so bad now, does it? 

Another breakfast favourite of mine is a protein shake (chocolate mint True Whey from http://www.myprotein.com/), followed by some Greek yogurt mixed with berries’, some flax seed and a handful of organic porridge oats – all mixed together. It tastes far too good to be a breakfast! Like the bacon and eggs, the shake will give you a big does of protein to start your day, and with the one I use I’ll also get a good supply of amino acids which are needed to help the body repair and build muscle. Your also get these from the Greek yogurt, along with some calcium. The berries will give you a good supply of various vitamins as well being helpful for their antitoxins.  And the oats will give you a slow release of fuel for the day. 

People will have their own views on what is a good breakfast. But one thing that everyone should be able to agree on is how bad breakfast cereals are.

For years cereals were advertised as being healthy – full of nutrients and vitamins and a healthy way to start your day. Don’t worry if you had some this morning, as for years I was fooled as much as you were. As a fat teenager I once eat a whole box of Lucky Charms – not a good look! So sorry to say this about your favourite cereal but this is nonsense. Cereals are full of sugar which will rot your teeth and make you put on weight, are carb heavy which along with the sugar can give you an epic sugar/carb crash a few hours later (along with the already mentioned added weight problem) and nutrients and vitamins that are heavily processed and have been added to the cereal.

Now you could argue that if you eat cereal but keep it within your allocated number of calories/nutrient count for the day then your ok. But from experience, how many of us just stick to the recommended 35/40g of cereal that is described on the side of the box in the little nutritional information panel? Not many of us I’m sure. Here’s a picture from the UK’s Daily Mail, not a paper I would normally read but this picture is pretty compelling when you look at the sugar levels:

Doesn’t make for great reading does it? You wouldn’t give your dog or cat something with that much sugar or processed crap so why should you give it to yourself or your kids? Since I’ve stopped having cereal I feel much better in the mornings and don’t suffer a mid-morning sugar/carb crash like I used too. Cereals also have a lot of bad trans fat in them, preservatives, flavour enhancer… look at the ingredients in a box of cereal and how many of the ingredients would you add to something you were cooking?

If I do have to have cereal (and it’s been a while for me), then I make sure it’s something like Weetabix or Shredded Wheat with some added fruit and berries. But even then, these can unfortunately full into some of the traps that blight normal cereals, like heavily processed added vitamins and minerals. 

The hardest thing to do is to make that initial change. Once you start and you begin to feel the benefits of eating a good healthy breakfast then you’ll want to throw all your cereals away like I did. The last time I had Coco-Pops which used to me my favourite, they tasted so sweet, plastic and artificial that I couldn’t finish the bowl. 

I hope you've found this of interest. If so, here are some links that may be of interest:
 
Charles Poliquin's view on breakfast
http://www.charlespoliquin.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/270/The_Meat_and_Nut_Breakfast.aspx

 High fat breakfast
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7540732/A-high-fat-breakfast-of-bacon-and-eggs-may-be-the-healthiest-start-to-the-day-report-shows.html

Reason's to eat breakfast
http://www.formerfatguyblog.com/2008/02/13/top-ten-reasons-to-eat-breakfast.html

What's wrong with breakfast cereals
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2009/06/whats-wrong-with-breakfast-cereals-random-reader-question.html
 
As I always state, everybody's body is different. What works or doesn't work for one person might not be the case for somebody else. But I do believe that if you can eat a 90/10 clean diet (foods that aren't processed and are whole and natural) then you'll not only feel better but look better.


As always, I'm always interested in hearing people's thoughts and opinions.


Talk soon,


Dan