askthedoctor Cereal Choices B
Better Than Bacon Compared with other breakfast favorites — bacon, sausage, fried eggs, waffl es, coff ee cake, etcetera — cereals are relatively healthy. Read labels to choose a nutritious breakfast.
50 MILITARY OFFICER SEPTEMBER 2011
A breakfast staple for many, dried cereal can be a healthy meal. However, some have as much fat and sugar as any dessert, so choose carefully. By Rear Adm. Joyce Johnson, D.O.
Breakfast cereals vary consider- ably in their nutrients and calories. The healthiest are high in fi ber and low in fat and sugar. Some cereals have no fat, while in others more than half of the calories come from fat. It is diffi cult to predict fat content without reading labels — though granola is almost always high in fat. The amount of sugar in cereal also
varies considerably, from almost none up to a third of the calories. If you want to add sweetness to your cereal, try adding fresh fruit instead of choosing a highly sweetened cereal. Because some puff ed cereals are fi lled
with air, calories per serving vary widely when serving sizes are measured by vol- ume rather than weight. For example, one cup of a typical unsweetened fl ake cereal has about 80 calories, whereas granola ce- reals might have as many as 600 calories in a cup. However, if you measure by weight, most cereals have about 100 calories per ounce. As you read labels and compare calories, look at both the weight and the volume of a serving size. Cereals usually include added salt/so- dium to enhance the fl avor. The amount of sodium is fairly constant among cere- als, but if you are on a sodium-restricted diet, check on this before purchasing. Fiber is a valuable nutrient found in
many cereals. Oat- and wheat-based cere- als generally have more fi ber than rice- or corn-based ones. Dietary fi ber and soluble fi ber content are specifi ed on most labels.
Vitamins and minerals are another
reason to choose cereal — or at least, some cereals. Most are fortifi ed with B vitamins, folic acid, and iron, while oth- ers contain many additional vitamins in signifi cant amounts. Skim milk poured over dry cereal is a good source of protein, calcium, and vi- tamins A and D. Milk fortifi ed with addi- tional calcium or vitamin D is even higher in these nutrients. Fruit — such as a sliced banana or peach — adds even more nutri- tion to a bowl of cereal. Thawed frozen berries are an easy way to add fruit in winter. Don’t forget dried fruit — raisins, cranberries, dates, or apricots. As the weather changes from fall to
winter, hot breakfast cereals become more popular. Choose grains such as oat- meal, oat bran, grits, cream of wheat, or cream of rice. These are high in fi ber, and unfl avored varieties have no sugar. Cere- als also provide some protein. Because whole grains naturally con- tain fat (for example, corn oil is extracted from corn), expect these hot cereals to have about 15 percent fat; they will have considerably more if you serve them with butter. Many can be prepared quickly in a microwave oven.
MO
— Rear Adm. Joyce Johnson, USPHS-Ret., D.O., M.A., is vice president, Health Sciences, Battelle Memorial Institute, Arlington, Va. Find more health and wellness resources at www
.moaa.org/wellness. For submission information, see page 18.
PHOTO: STEVE BARRETT
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