How to choose breakfast cereal: useful tips are announced

There is a huge offer of breakfast cereals on store shelves. However, only a few of them are healthy. Most of these products contain a lot of unnecessary additives.

The main risk is that the cereal is rich in sugar or other sweeteners. Ideally, their amount should not exceed 10 g per 100 g of product. In addition, you should beware of flavors, preservatives, acidity correctors or thickeners, riza.it reports.

OBOZREVATEL offers to familiarize yourself with useful tips on how to choose the right breakfast cereal.

The best breakfast cereals are made only from natural ingredients

A healthy choice is a product that contains processed cereals as the only ingredient, i.e. oats, barley, wheat, corn, rice, or spelt, as well as millet, quinoa, or amaranth. The only thing is that, as in the case of muesli or granola, the composition also contains nuts, dried fruits, oilseeds, and various types of grains. However, any other ingredients should be absent or in a minimum percentage.

Choose organic cereals

Given the excess of ingredients that are often added to breakfast cereals, choosing organic products is an excellent solution. In addition, when buying whole grains, choosing organic is even more important because it ensures that there are no chemical residues on the outside of the grain, which is most susceptible to contamination.

Differences between flakes, flaps, and air grains

When choosing a quality product, in addition to the list of ingredients, it is also useful to consider the grain processing technique: for example, hulling is the production method that best preserves the nutritional properties of the grain. Other methods used, such as blowing and extrusion, expose the grain to high temperatures and have a more significant impact on the nutritional value.

Flakes made from whole grains. Processing consists only of steaming, grinding cereals, and then toasting or drying them. They are the most "natural" type of breakfast cereal.

Air-ground grains: they are produced by heating under pressure at high temperatures. The water inside the grain evaporates quickly, causing it to "burst". Many vitamins and nutrients are lost, so such products are then artificially enriched.

Bran is the outer part of the grain. It consists of dietary fiber. Wheat can contain up to 40% of its weight, and oats – 15%.

Petals, rings, and balls: These are products obtained by extrusion, a technique that involves grinding the grain, heating it at high temperatures, and then pressurizing it in a mold to give it the desired shape. This process degrades the nutritional value of the grain to the greatest extent.

Muesli, granola: contain nuts, oilseeds, and dried fruits. It is ideal to prepare them yourself because packaged ones often contain a lot of sugar.

Learn to read the label

It is important to know what is in the product. Ideally, 100 g of the product should contain the following:

• Sugar level below 10 g
• Saturated fat less than 1 g
• Sodium less than 0.2 g
• At least 6 g of fiber if the product is whole; at least 3 g if it is not whole
• Absent: hydrogenated fats, colors, and preservatives