cereal

Question
QUESTION: Hi.  I recently read that cereal is one of the worst foods a person can eat if they are trying to lose weight.  Is that true?  Does that apply to healthy cereals like Kashi and Fiber One?  Thanks

ANSWER: Hi Danielle

I'm very curious about where you read this and what the details were... Because it makes no sense at all.

Cereal can be a very healthy food. It can be high in fiber and other nutrients, it can get people to consume milk (for calcium and vitamins) when they normally don't, and it can be a great low-calorie meal when paying attention to portions. Special K even has a special weight loss regimen, where 2 of your meals are Special K cereal!

There aren't any single foods that are "bad", "good", "harmful" or any other adjective you can think of. What meters is your overall diet and health!

Laurie

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: http://authoritynutrition.com/top-11-diet-foods-that-make-you-fat/


I read it at the above link.  That's actually not the only place I've read that, but I can't remember the link to the other website.

Answer
Hi Danielle,

Thanks so much for sending me the site so I can see what you were referring to!

Well, the guy that hosts the site is reportedly a "personal trainer" and a "medical student", although he doesn't report what school he is attending, so that makes me suspicious (I would suspect he may be enrolled in a college and taking premed courses, but usually when someone is in medical school, they are proud to name the program they are attending).

Furthermore, he claims to want to free the world of nutrition misinformation--yet he has no formal education in nutrition. He even says that all the nutrition textbooks are full of lies! So, he's basically making up what he wants to say, and then finding a study that has a sentence to support a hint of what he is saying that he uses for references. I notice his headlines are all about drama and trying to pull the reader in.

So, bottom line about the cereals: Yes, if you eat cocoa krispies or frosted flakes for breakfast, it's likely to leave you hungry mid-morning because there isn't enough protein or fiber to keep you full. But if you enjoy the Kashi cereal (or even cereals like raisin bran, shredded wheat, and others with fiber content) you can be assured you are consuming a healthy breakfast that will not undermine your weight loss efforts!

Laurie

1. Prev:support for weight loss
2. Next:No/low carb diet question ?