{"id":12967,"date":"2010-12-22T09:48:11","date_gmt":"2010-12-22T14:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=12967"},"modified":"2015-12-27T15:42:49","modified_gmt":"2015-12-27T20:42:49","slug":"addicted-to-cereal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=12967","title":{"rendered":"Addicted to Cereal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Like many \u00a0people, I grew up eating cereal for breakfast. It seemed like a good, healthy thing to eat (as long as it wasn\u2019t a \u201creal sugar cereal\u201d like Froot Loops or Trix, or the ones with marshmallows in them like Lucky Charms, or Franken Berry and Count Chocula. Those were treats reserved for visits to my grandparents’ house (2-3 weeks a year). But I do remember eating Frosted Flakes and Coco Pops were somehow viewed as the same as corn flakes with chocolate milk.<\/p>\n

As an adult, I cut out the sugar cereals, but on the days I ate breakfast at home and didn\u2019t just opt for a cup of coffee, I usually had the so-called healthy cereals \u2013 Special K, Corn Flakes\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the things I remember clearly from my diabetes diagnosis period is the first conversation I had with a nutritionist at the hospital.\u00a0 Her job was to help me understand eating with diabetes. She asked me what I ate for breakfast and I told her I ate a bowl of corn flakes. She suggested I have a smaller portion and mix it with bran flakes. At that point, I realized no good would come from the consultation and wrote off all nutritionists for a few years.\u00a0 (Since then I have met some excellent nutritionists who\u2019ve helped me.)\u00a0\u00a0 But the nutritionist at my diagnosis insisted I could continue to eat all the things I\u2019ve been eating, just in tiny portions – an approach I decided to not take.<\/p>\n

So for the last eight years my breakfasts, like most of my meals, have changed and our home has become much more food conscious. We try very hard to feed our children healthy, not processed food. We stay away from fast food and try to prepare things at home. \u00a0(We do order the occasional pizza). The one meal we\u2019ve had a hard time with is breakfast.\u00a0 Our kids want boxed cereals.\u00a0 \u00a0We tried to switch to healthy granola-type cereals, but after a few days they didn\u2019t really want it.\u00a0 We offered scrambled eggs.\u00a0 We’ve tried oatmeal.\u00a0 But nothing ever lasts once the novelty wears off.\u00a0 So back we go to the \u201cnon sugar\u201d cereals.<\/p>\n

A few days ago, I read about the study<\/a> that found kids eating \u201cnon sugar cereals\u201d were just as satisfied with their breakfast as those eating sugary cereals. This was no surprise to me since the \u201cnon sugar cereals\u201d are still full of sugar (and 100% carb) and the children in the study added sugar to their cereal. They also had fruit and orange juice which means they had plenty of sugar.<\/p>\n

The real question is: \u00a0why cereal? Is it just because it\u2019s easy?\u00a0 Is there something addictive about it?\u00a0 Shouldn’t children be happy with eggs and toast, or bread, ham and cheese with some vegetables (like the Dutch serve \u2013 at least in their hotels)?\u00a0 I would get up early to make pancakes or French toast but when I offer it, the kids say “no!”<\/p>\n

After I read this article, Jessica and I talked about breakfast again. Can we find a healthy alternative to cereal?\u00a0 Suggestions?\u00a0 Does anyone else have the cereal problem?<\/p>\n

\n

[youtube]http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nDE1IWf1C-w&feature=related[\/youtube]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":129,"featured_media":53098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1501],"tags":[752],"yoast_head":"\nBreakfast Cereal: An Addiction<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I grew up eating cereal for breakfast. It seemed like a good, healthy thing to eat. Our kids want boxed cereals. 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