Sunday, November 2, 2008

Cereals…..Your Best Bets for a Nutritious Breakfast (1 of 3)

Most of us adults think that cereals are only for the kids. But that’s all wrong. I want you to come along with me and have that knowledge and awareness that it can be eaten by anyone. Now it can be told: When it comes to giving your children a healthy breakfast, you can’t go wrong with cereals.

In a recent study on the nutritional values of cereals, the facts are crystal clear: Breakfast cereals give children 27% less calories, 38% less sodium and 75% less cholesterol, while furnishing them with 50% more of many essential vitamins and minerals than non-cereal breakfast. This should give your young ones a head start in meeting their dietary allowances, including iron and zinc which children usually have a difficult time consuming enough of.

These nutritional benefits actually last the whole day, going a long way in providing children with pep and energy. Whatever else they may choose to eat the rest of the day, cereals in the morning already assure them of 20% more of seven essential vitamins and minerals, including iron and vitamins A and B6, than non-cereal breakfast. At the same time, cereals enable them to get less that 35% of their total daily calories from fat and 40% less cholesterol – no matter what else they usually take in during the day.

Cereals, in fact, are hailed by nutritionists as nutrient-dense, which means they contribute too little calories compared to the amount of nutrients they supply. Research figures show tha cereals for breakfast give only 17% of the children’s total daily calories while already supplying over one-third of their daily intake of many essential vitamins and minerals.

As an added bonus, children who are into cereals hardly ever skip eating breakfasts; if ever, they skip much less frequently than children who savor some other breakfast goodies.

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