Cheerios-related stories
Cheerios: Drug or Breakfast Cereal?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has thrown a stern warning in the direction of General Mills. Cheerios is not a cholesterol drug, they remind the cereal maker in a letter on May 5, so it should stop acting like one on the yellow box. The little toasted O's stepped over the line with the claim that a regular diet of Cheerios could "lower your cholesterol 4 percent in six weeks." The FDA is not thrilled that Cheerios is marketing itself as a cholesterol drug on its box and website, and sent a detailed letter letting the company know it had waded too far into drug territory.
With an ever expanding list of claims made by food manufacturers, from flavored water claiming to be equivalent to eating a piece of fruit, to cereal lowering your heart numbers -- Cheerios is just one example of a growing trend of health claims on processed foods.
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Fitness, Celebs & Entertainment
Mighty Phelps endorses sugar-packed cereal
Healthy Kids, Celebs & Entertainment, Nutrition & Supplements
Gold medal phenomenon Michael Phelps never stumbled at the 2008 Olympic Games, but what was he thinking when he signed the Kellogg's Frosted Flakes sponsorship agreement? A cereal high in sugar, low in fiber, made with mostly refined grains. One of the last meals I'd feed my kids for breakfast. At least the deal also includes Kellogg's Corn Flakes, a better option.
We've never bought a box of the Tiger's frosted cereal. Significantly lower in sugar, Cheerios and Rice Krispies are my kids' favorites. I've taught my eldest to consider 'grams of sugar per serving' as he peruses the toy-filled cereal aisle. "No, honey" isn't sliding off my lips so often in Aisle 2 - Cereal anymore.
As a parent trying to teach my children solid nutritional habits, I'd rather see Phelps' inspirational butterfly stroke from the back of a box of Cheerios. At this point, maybe Phelps can scratch out Kellogg's Frosted Flakes on the contract and write-in Kellogg's Frosted Flakes Gold instead -- the Tiger's partially whole grain version. Pic from Gettys.
Top breakfast cereals for your kids
Healthy Kids, Nutrition & Supplements
Healthcastle recommends mixing your child's favorite cereals with a healthier option. I've actually tried this at home by mixing Fruity Pebbles with Cheerios. At first my son really liked the novelty of it, and gobbled them up. But when I started reducing the amount of the less-healthy cereal in the mix, he caught on and protested. We've finally compromised on the mix (about 3/4 healthy cereal and 1/4 not-so-healthy). He did make me pinkie swear that I wouldn't reduce it further. Your other alternative is to just eliminate unhealthy, sugary cereals from home altogether. This is the best bet all around, and one that I should adhere to as well.
Is Cheerios really a super bowl?
Healthy Kids, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Reviews & Products, Nutrition & Supplements
If I was Goldilocks (stay with me here), eating the 3 Bears' porridge wouldn't have been an issue. Why? Because: 1) I'm smart enough not to eat food that belongs to animals that can rip me to shreds, and 2) I really don't like the taste of porridge/oatmeal. The downside of that distaste is that I miss out on a great deal of health benefits offered by whole oats. The solution I came up with is to mix the oats with my morning protein shake, which helps me choke it down. But, it turns out that there is a tasty alternative to oatmeal, and it supposedly has similar heart-healthy properties.
But does it?
Classic Cheerios (not the Honey Nut kind) has more fiber (4 grams) than a packet of oatmeal (3 grams). And, just like oatmeal, whole-oat cold cereals chip away at your LDL cholesterol because they contain beta-glucans. This all sounds good so far, but there is some debate over whether or not the claims made on the Cheerios box (that a clinical study showed that eating two 1 and 1/2 cup servings daily of Cheerios cereal reduced cholesterol when eaten as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol) is legit. This woman researched these claims herself, only to find that the study was funded by General Mills. Does this automatically make it invalid? Not necessarily, but it does raise suspicions.
Since the 3 Bears declined to comment on this situation, I'd be very interested to hear what you guys have to say.
