That's Fit

Cereal is a staple in the houses of busy families. As a breakfast meal, it's easy, it's convenient, kids love it and it's nutritious. Right?

Recent studies show otherwise -- in fact, in recent tests analyzing the nutritional content of cereal, several major brands were found to be made of between 40% and 50% sugar. Yikes! Eating a bowl of sugar is not exactly a healthy start to the day. Post Golden Crisp and Honey Smacks were ranked the most sugary by weight.

But it's not all bad news. Some cereals did fare well nutritionally -- Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios, Kix and Quaker oats were each found to be low in sugar and high in fibre.

As adults living in a fast-paced world, we may be a little lax in assuring we eat a balanced breakfast every morning. Sure, a granola bar or a banana on-the-run may not be the end of the world, but even though those things may have some nutrition to them, they are not balanced breakfasts.

One thing we don't want to do is pass this tradition on to our kids. Today's lifestyle demands a lot from these little people too, and a balanced breakfast will give them a good start to tackle the world, one day at a time.

Dr. Sears, one of the most down-to-earth famous pediatricians out there, has some ideas about balanced breakfasts for kids. Complex carbohydrates and protein should both be present, so he suggests to think whole grains plus dairy plus fruit.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but it's not enough to simply eat breakfast -- you need to make sure you're eating something substantial. Otherwise, you're prone to an attack of the mid-morning munchies.

Over at Fitsugar, they're talking about breakfast idea that will keep you full until lunchtime. The key to sustainable energy is getting a breakfast that combines protein, whole grains, a bit of fat and some natural sugars. Some suggestions? High-protein organic cereal with fruit, walnuts and non-fat milk, whole grain toast with almond butter and apples, and egg-white omelettes with cheese, veggies and a pear. Yum!

That's not all -- head over to Fitsugar for more healthy breakfast recipes. Got any of your own to share? Let us know in the comments.

With a couple of hungry kids to feed every morning and a tight schedule, I often turn to cereal during the week as a way to fill my family up before they get on with their day. Though my kids would be happy if I filled the cupboard with every marshmallow-laden, artificially colored variety out there, I try instead to choose cereals that are whole grain and low in sugar and pair them with a side of fresh fruit and/or a hard-boiled egg. The Mom's brand is my personal favorite -- I'm comfortable with the ingredients, and it's a good product at an affordable price. Unfortunately, I can only get it through our co-op (an hour's drive away) so we don't always have it on hand.

I often find myself turning to organic cereals to avoid things like high-fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils. But organic cereals sometimes taste more like the box they're sitting in than good cereal, so it can be hit and miss at times. Over at Grist, a panel of cereal lovers recently taste-tested eleven different kinds of organic cereal, including a few that are marketed toward kids. The results are pretty interesting, and if you're in the market for a new cereal, it's worth checking out.

What's your favorite healthy-ish cereal? Do you go for the plain, whole grain? Or do you like a little sugar with your morning meal?

Do you have a junk food lover in your house? Sometimes it's hard to deny those cravings... especially when they're foods we've eaten for years and years.

Women's Health has a great idea for making some junk foods a little bit healthier. You can mix healthier options in with your not-so-healthy favorites to create a treat that's not so damaging to you waistline. Better yet, when you start adding healthier options in -- like mixing a bowl of half whole grain cereal and half sugary cereal -- you're starting to retrain your taste buds. In time, you'll find you enjoy the healthier foods as much as the junky ones.

Workout wisdom says to put something in your body after exercise takes so much out. What's the best something, though? How about whole-grain cereal, a bite of Indian takeout, or a big fat non-fat latte? RealAge says these are real possibilities.

Why these three snacks? Because they have something in common, capable of helping the body recover post-workout -- the three C's: Carbs, Curcumin, and Caffeine.

A carbohydrate-rich snack like cereal restores glycogen -- the stuff muscles use for energy -- and helps conquer fatigue. Curcumin, a substance found in the Indian spice turmeric, helps minimize muscle inflammation. And caffeine. It works to block muscle-pain-producing substances. Coffee has other health benefits too.

I've written before about my son's love of sugary, sugary cereals. His preferences and tastes have changed a lot since I adopted him a year ago, but having a sugary breakfast is a preference that's been hard to break. To help my son choose healthier foods in the morning, I tend to make oatmeal (which he loves) and other nutritious options. But there are times when we're in a rush and a quick bowl of cereal is the most convenient choice.

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.

Brie Cadman over at Divine Caroline gives a humorous and right-on run-down of the 10 worst fad diets. Sure these diets, like Slim Fast, The Cereal Diet, The Subway Diet, and Dr. Siegal's® Cookie Diet™ might work -- try them and chances are, you will lose weight -- but if you're looking for weight loss that sticks around or if you want to just plain enjoy your food, these diets are, as Cadman calls them -- just plain ridiculous.

Cadman says of Slim Fast that yes, you will lose weight, "until you grow so bored and tired of eating the exact same thing for two meals a day you quit, and realize that -- wow -- there are a lot of other foods out there that cost a lot less. Say, fruits and vegetables."

About The Writing Diet, Cadman can't figure out why all writers are not size twos because according to Julia Cameron, author of the new book The Writing Diet: Write Yourself Right-Sized, they should be. Cameron says that people overeat not out of hunger, but because of emotion. Says Cadman: "By writing daily, we tap into our emotions, and put them on the page instead of in our mouths. While I can concede that having your hands on a keyboard will prevent them from grabbing a bag of Doritos, I can't figure out how sitting on your butt is supposed to make it smaller." One of Cadman's readers disagrees, stating that the book does a pretty good job of promoting exercise too.

My son has a penchant for sugary cereals. I adopted him at age 10, so he had 10 years of forming his tastes and eating habits before he moved home with me. Luckily, he does enjoy a number of healthy foods. (I just recently succeeded in getting him to try (and enjoy) salmon.) Breakfast foods, however, are more of a challenge.

More often than not we have oatmeal, whole-wheat toast with peanut butter, or eggs. But I do like to have a box of cereal in the pantry for those busy days. Getting him to change his preferences has been a slow process. In fact, just recently when we were at the grocery store he said "Fruit Loops are healthy. Right, Mom? They're made of fruit." Uh.... no.

HealthCastle has a great article discussing the truth about reduced-sugar products -- from cereal to instant oatmeal to granola bars to juice -- that are popping up on store shelves. The products are often aimed at kids, yet the claim of "reduced sugar" is supposed to appeal to health-conscious parents. Often, artificial sweeteners are used in place of the sugar -- calorie content remains about the same.

Trans fats are bad. But fiber is good. So maybe as you ditch the bad fat from your diet, you could replace it with some good fiber. It's never tasted better, says Prevention magazine. You might not even miss your fats when you give these fiber-filled foods a whirl.

• Grain: Air-popped popcorn, 3 cups, 4 grams of fiber

• Cereal: Quaker Oats (cooked), 1/2 cup, 5 grams of fiber

• Fruit: Blueberries, 1 cup, 4 grams of fiber

• Vegetable: Broccoli, 1 cup, 5 grams of fiber

• Protein: Black beans (cooked), 1 cup, 15 grams of fiber

• Other: Dark chocolate, 5 pieces, 3 grams of fiber
  
  

These are just a few ideas. The list goes on -- just hop on over here and you'll stumble upon tasty treats like orange juice, chickpeas, canned pumpkin, pears, whole wheat pasta, and so much more.

Because they're filled with vitamins and minerals -- in addition to having very figure-friendly names that include words like "Fit," "Natural," and "Body" -- cereals seem like a healthy way to start your day. I'm not saying they're not, I'm just saying that it's easy to get tricked into thinking a particular cereal is good for you when, in reality, it's not much better than a bowl of Fruity Pebbles.

Ideally, you should try to find a cereal that has fewer than 170 calories and less than 10g of sugar per serving. It should also contain at least 4g of fiber per cup. While the aforesaid Fruity Pebbles definitely do not meet this criteria, some that do are Kellog's Unfrosted Mini-Wheats (4.8g fiber, 0.8g sugar); Kashi Vive (9.6g fiber, 136 cal, plus probiotics); Quaker Simple Harvest Vanilla Almond and Honey (160 cal, 4g fiber, 9g sugar).

A totally different option is to start your day with steel cut oatmeal, an ultra healthy (but admittedly unpalatable) bowl of oats that will digest very slowly, leaving you feeling nice and full well into mid-morning. I'm sure there are ways to improve the taste of steel cut oats, but I unfortunately am not a person who knows any. So, please feel free to leave suggestions in the comments section below if you happen to have any recipes or tips.

Does your child decide what she or he eats for breakfast? Chances are they do, but letting them make the wrong choice can impact their health ... for life!

If we continue at the rate we're going, the entire U.S. population will be obese in 50 years. That's what a recent University of Missouri study suggests, anyway. Even if it doesn't turn out to be completely true, it's easy to see how it can still end up being quite close.

What can we do about it? Best I can tell, the only solution is to shape up. Through diet and regular exercise, the obesity epidemic can become a thing of the past, rather than an inevitable part of our future. With that little pep talk over, I feel obliged to now offer up a quick health tip. OK ... here goes.

Random Health Tip of the Day: add water to your cereal. Well, you don't have to add it directly to your cereal; drink a glass of water while you eat it. Men's Health magazine states that doing so will help slow the absorption of sugar into your bloodstream, thereby preventing hunger-causing blood sugar spikes. In addition, the water will help make the fiber in the cereal expand, which will also help you feel fuller longer.

Have you been wondering why it seems that so many more women have been giving birth to boy babies lately? According to British scientists, it could be because more women are eating a healthy diet.

Apparently, there is a link between skipping breakfast and not getting a wide range of calories and nutrients and having a baby girl. They really think that having breakfast cereal once a day produces more male offspring.

Critics are all over this one, and I say with good reason. First of all, processed breakfast cereal is not a part of a good diet in my opinion. The study's results should have focused more on the wide range of nutrients throughout the day that were important. Are we just trying to sell cereal for the big name food industry?

A healthy diet when you are pregnant -- heck, anytime -- is always a good idea, but don't be looking for a baby boy to be a sure thing out of the deal.

Malt-O-Meal has recalled two of its cereals after 23 people have fallen ill with salmonella. The Puffed Rice and Puffed Wheat cereals are sold under several different brand names: Malt-O-Meal, Acme, America's Choice, Food Club, Giant, Hannford, Jewel, Laura Lynn, Pathmark, Shaw's, ShopRite, Tops, and Weis Quality. (See actual packaging here.)

The cereals are stamped with "use by" dates of April 8, 2008 (APR0808) to March 18, 2009 (MAR1809). If you have them in your cupboards, the FDA recommends that you throw them out.

Salmonella can cause nausea, cramps, vomiting, diarrhea, and fever. It can be serious in young children, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems.