It’s estimated 94% of us have cereal in the cabinet, Cereal was one of the first processed foods, making life easier for Americans (and now for people all over the world). Cereal requires no cooking, no skills, and it’s just about as easy as you can get. Quick and easy isn’t always best.
Millions of dollars are spent on advertising cereal every year, and while most of it aggressively targets children, they heavily advertise to adults as well. It’s all done to make us believe that we don’t have time prepare real food and that vitamin-fortified creations will give us the energy we need to get through the day.
In reality, the cereal industry is making billions selling us cheap commodities like corn and sugar, mixed with cheap additives like artificial colors, dumped into a colorful box with cartoon characters. Mainstream cereals are so heavily processed that they do not have natural nutrients, that’s why most of them are sprayed with vitamins, minerals, and sometimes fortified with protein. It’s the cereal, the ultimate fake food.
The marketing messages on the cereal boxes sure sound healthy: “High Fiber”, “Protein”, “Gluten-Free”, “Low Fat”, “All Natural”, “Essential Vitamins” and “Good Source Of (insert vitamin here)”. But, is cereal really good for us or is it just processed junk food? Several “healthy” cereals contain questionable additives that should never be in a healthy breakfast.
Worst Ingredients of Cereal, The Ultimate Fake Food
- BHT – This preservative has not been proven safe, controversial research links it to cancer, and it’s believed to be an endocrine disruptor that interferes with your hormones.
- Dirty Dozen List of Food Additives – making it one of the most controversial ingredients in our food.
- Artificial Colors – Derived from petroleum and linked to several health issues, including allergies and hyperactivity in children. This is why Europe requires any food containing these dyes to carry the warning label: “May Have an Adverse Effect on Activity and Attention in Children.”
- Genetically modified (GMO) ingredients – Do everything in your power to avoid GMOs. That’s because these ingredients are not required to undergo any FDA premarket safety assessments and increase pesticide and herbicide use. Perhaps most importantly, as put by the respected scientists at Consumer Reports, “There is global scientific agreement that genetic engineering has the potential to introduce allergens and toxins in food crops, to change the nutritional value, and to create other unintended changes that may affect human health”. Most major cereal brands admit to “likely” using GMO ingredients.
Learn More About Cereal, The Ultimate Fake Food
How do you avoid these suspect ingredients? Read labels!! If you don’t recognize the ingredient(s) chances are your body doesn’t either. Remember, you are what you eat. The answer is to eat real food! At OH we help our patients by providing Healthy Shopping Tours plus so much more. Interested in finding out more? Call Optimum Health Rehab at 877-704-1761 or fill this form to schedule a complimentary consultation at one of our convenient locations in Buford, Cumming, Grayson, Dacula, Hiram, Suwanee, or Woodstock.
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