Cereal offender: is it time to bin breakfast cereal?

Sarah Berry
September 18, 2014
The Age
Cereal: is it good or bad for us?
Cereal is no longer the breakfast of champions.
It became popular here in the 1920s when Corn Flakes was first introduced, but now Australians are eating less of it than ever.
Cereal, it seems, doesn’t bring out the tiger in us anymore.
Not that it was ever intended to.
John Harvey Kellogg, who developed Corn Flakes, believed plain cereals could curb sexual appetite and proclivity for masturbation.
There’s no evidence to suggest it worked and it’s unlikely the sex-fearing Kellogg had in mind the kind of pimped-up cereals we see on the supermarket shelf today.
No, cereal has become stigmatised as the trend moves away from refined carbs, gluten and wheat. There are concerns about sodium content and cereal has developed a bad reputation because some brands contain enough sugar to bury a small child.
But Australian Dietary Guidelines still recommend we eat between four and six serves of “grain (cereal) foods, mostly wholegrain and/or high cereal fibre varieties” a day.
So is cereal Gr-r-eat or is it time to give the Fruit Loops the flick?
A new review of of breakfast cereals, commissioned by the Australian Breakfast Cereal Manufacturers Forum, was published on Tuesday in the journal Advances in Nutrition.
The review of more than 230 papers was conducted by Peter Williams, an Adjunct Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Canberra.
Among its findings were that those who have cereal for breakfast are more likely to be healthier and slimmer.
“Despite common belief, breakfast cereal eaters do not have higher sodium intakes than non-breakfast cereal eaters,” Williams said.
“The review found that for children who consume breakfast cereal, there is no difference in their overall daily energy intake, total [naturally occurring and added] sugars intake.”
In fact, he said he was surprised to find that “one of the strongest findings” was the benefit of eating cereal for weight management.
“Regularly eating breakfast cereal is associated with a lower body mass index and a 12 per cent lower risk of being overweight or obese and in both adults and children,” he said.
High fibre, wholegrain cereals were also found to help lower LDL cholesterol, reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease as well as helping to improve bowel health.
In a media briefing on Tuesday, Williams highlighted some of the shortcomings of the study.
These include that other lifestyle factors may affect health outcomes and that some of the papers reviewed were of breakfast cereal versus no breakfast at all “which doesn’t really tell you much about cereal”.
While the findings are consistent with the Australian Dietary Guidelines, some have criticised the review.
“I’m appalled that people are stating refined cereals are a healthy breakfast,” said Cyndi O’Meara, nutritionist and founder of Changing Habit.
“The minerals are few, the vitamins are even less and made from products of the petro-chemical industry and there are flavours in some cereals with up to 48 chemicals, not to mention GMO foods within the products and wheat-based sugars as well.”
Celebrity chef and vocal food activist Pete Evans took to his Facebook page to express his opinion.
“Why do the people in the Western world eat so much cereal for breakfast? It is one of those things that we don’t even question, because we have been brought up in a society that tells us we must be eating this stuff to be healthy and strong,” he said.
“For me, grains offer nothing that you cannot get from more nutrient-dense sources such as eggs from pasture-raised chooks, and the fat and protein from animals that have also had a natural diet and of course quality, chemical-free vegetables, coconuts, nuts and seeds.
“Even though the cereal may have started as a whole grain, but many are refined to within an inch of its life. I struggle to find anything right with many refined cereals and this does not help the health of our children.”
A cereal does not need to be all whole grain to be defined as “wholegrain” on a cereal packet (or bread or pasta, for that matter).
Williams suggests checking the package for the fibre and whole grain content to get maximum snap, crackle and pop from your cereal.
He says “breakfast cereals are relatively inexpensive, nutrient-dense and convenient foods, which can be recommended to form part of a healthy balanced diet”.
CSIRO chief research scientist Dr David Topping agrees: “The review includes 21 graded evidence statements and in several instances, the evidence statement is as strong as or even stronger than that for fruit and vegetable consumption.”
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