Are you eating a bowlful of sugar for breakfast?

Health conscious consumers should take a closer look at the nutrition panel of their favourite cereal to avoid often alarmingly high sugar levels that could be jeopardising health and weight management efforts.

Many consumers are completely unaware that the majority of popular cereals, even the so-called ‘healthy’ brands, are loaded with 20 per cent or more sugar.

With the rising concerns of our country’s obesity epidemic, it’s crucial consumers wise up to the underhanded marketing and half-truths trumpeted by many cereal producers.

Consumers need to actively seek out the complete nutritional picture of their favourite cereals to inform themselves to make genuine health-promoting choices.

Also, don’t be misled by what’s shouted on the front of the pack or highlighted on the nutritional panel. It’s usually because the other nutritional facts are lacking. For example, if a food product is low in fat, there’s a good chance it’s high in sugar (see attached nutritional panel from a leading Australian brand).

A leading, so-called, ‘healthy’ cereal brand

Given sugar’s role in weight gain it defeats the purpose. The entire nutritional panel, including ingredients, is the place to get the facts about what you’re eating.

Compare SuperStart's Nutritional panel

A bowlful of sugar or super healthy cereal?

Health conscious consumers should take a closer look at the nutrition panel of their favourite cereal to avoid often alarmingly high sugar levels that could be jeopardising weight management efforts according to Justin Smidmore of The Metabolic Food Company, producer of SuperStart breakfast blend.

“Many consumers are completely unaware that the majority of popular cereals, even the so-called healthy brands, are loaded with 20 per cent or more sugar,” he says.

“It’s no wonder people are reaching for high calorie snacks mid-morning when you consider the inevitable sugar rush and slump these sugary cereals deliver.”

Even ”real fruit” claims, via the addition of dried fruit, are geared at adding sugary sweetness according to Smidmore.

“Simply adding fresh fruit is a far superior nutritional choice, providing more vitamins and fibre, not to mention the fresh taste,” he says.

With the rising concerns of our country’s obesity epidemic, Smidmore believes it’s crucial consumers wise up to the underhanded marketing and half-truths trumpeted by many cereal producers.

“Consumers need to actively seek out the complete nutritional picture of their favourite cereals to empower themselves to make genuine health-promoting choices,” he advises.

Smidmore’s company is committed to helping Australians lead healthier lives and manage their weight through nutrition. Its SuperStart breakfast blend has no added sugar and just 2.1% of naturally occurring sugar.

SuperStart's nutritional panel

Developed after two years of research, its slow release of energy throughout the morning eliminates the sugar rollercoaster experienced from consuming high-sugar cereals, helping sustain fullness and minimising the need to reach for a high calorie mid-morning snack.

Australian-made SuperStart is distributed throughout Australia in Healthy Life and About Life stores and SureSlim Australia and New Zealand and is available to purchase online at www.metabolicfood.com.au.

Super low sugar SuperStart

PS. Low GI watch-out! Low GI is not a measure of sugar levels. So, while some products may be low GI they may still have high sugar levels. Another reason to check the nutritional panel.

PPS. Special low price on SuperStart – buy a box of 6 and pay just $8.95 per 400g bag.

You rarely think of what the farmer and the chicken went through to get them. Well, if you have ever seen the little chicks they sell at certain times in the spring, you can see what happens when they are fertilized. If you want them, all you have to do is to buy a chicken. If you want more chickens, you need to buy a rooster.

So the chicks are brought home to the farm, and they are set up in a very warm environment. The more the farmer buys, the warmer they will keep each other. A bright light needs to be on them all the time at this point, and they will eat a lot of chick feed. As they grow, they become the age to lay eggs. Different types of chickens lay different eggs.

If you have bought them from a home or farm that has all types of chickens that produce them, you will see from the variety that they sometimes look like they are for Easter. There are actually light blue and light green ones in the egg carton.

They will taste a bit different from a chicken farm than when you buy them at the store. The yolks are so bright, deep yellow. You can see the difference. You can see which is, of course, healthier. And the small farmers do not generally feed or inject their chickens with hormones, as they are not producing for grocery stores, and they are eating them themselves.

There are others that can be eaten also, not just that of the egg. Ostrich is also are edible and one will probably feed a family of six for breakfast. From ducks they are also acceptable. And if you ever get to try them from a quail, they are considered a delicacy to all. They do not taste too different, but the presentation is elegant, as they are tiny and speckled.

Eggs are generally thought of for breakfast, because there are so many ways to make them for breakfast. Scrambled, sunny side up, omelets, poached, hard boiled, soft boiled, and over easy are a few simple breakfast recipes. But they can be eaten at any meal. They can be the entree, if they are rolled around something else, like ham and cheese, or they can have a Mexican flavor, such as huevos rancheros. The omelet themselves can be made in an endless number of ways to be the center of a lunch or dinner meal. And other people think of eggs as a brunch meal, as their breakfasts are usually simple, like coffee and toast. Around 10 a. M. Or so, it is time for brunch, and this is when they enjoy a nicely cooked egg.

They are also the one ingredient that often holds all of the others together. This is true for cakes and pies, and many other dessert items. They are often one of the main ingredients in a recipe, like custards and crepes. It is safe to say, without eggs, we would be missing some of the finer things in life.

Healthy food can be hard to find these days. Eggs are very healthy and nutritious for breakfasts, and are extremely easy to prepare, especially with these online easy recipes.

The worst thing we had to deal with back then was probably having too much butter on our potatoes and vegetables at dinner, and maybe some bacon was included in our breakfast. Other than that, school cafeterias weren’t even allowed to have vending machines, they couldn’t sell soda or coffee to even high schoolers, and even though lunches may have left a bit to be desired, they didn’t include pizza or tacos.

Fast forward to the 21st century and things are so different – not only in schools but in restaurants, home life and on the road. Our lives are hectic so instead of cooking we order take out. Rather than finding time for a healthy breakfast we grab a muffin or breakfast sandwich that has enough cholesterol to cause permanent damage to our livers and gallbladders.

Unfortunately, many people feel that they have nothing to worry about if they’re already thin. They fail to realize that even fat people can be “healthy” if their cholesterol levels are normal, and thin people can be at risk for clogged arteries and high cholesterol if they eat junk food.

It’s not easy to explain to kids, or anyone, that looking like a model doesn’t mean you’re healthy. If they are “lucky” enough to be able to live on tacos and burgers and pizza and still wear a size two, there are very few kids who even think of admitting that their health might be at risk, and then continue eating the same foods well into their adult lives until… A major crisis erupts, and it won’t be good.

It is truly a challenge to explain to your skinny girlfriend that ordering extra cheese on her pizza isn’t such a great idea, as she sits across from you reminding you that she takes a size 2 and doesn’t need to watch what she eats.

Until a critical episode occurs, most of these people don’t have a clue they aren’t eating healthy. They believe they are immune to the ill effects of pigging out on some of the worst food choices possible. They equate size with health. Find any 40 year old who works out, take a small size, looks terrific, and eats food that helps put her one step closer to the grave yard each day. Ask her to describe the last salad she had, and she’ll likely describe something that was covered in tons of regular dressing that also included chunks of cheese, meats, croutons, and cole slaw. Delicious, yes. Healthy? Heck no!

Eating healthy is not a diet. It’s a lifestyle. One that doesn’t get adjusted to easily or quickly if you don’t really see the benefit or the need. Don’t wait till it’s too late because changing your ways.

Breakfasts have been claimed to be the most important meal of the day. By eating breakfast, it allows the brain to function better so one can focus more easily. For healthy recipes, visit us today!

Burn energy too quickly?

Here’s some healthy foods and ideas to put together your own breakfast menu for sustained energy.

A short bit about longer lasting energy.

All foods release their energy into your bloodstream at different rates. One measure of this is called the Glycemic Index (GI). The higher the food indexes the faster it releases its energy. And the faster the energy is spent.

• High GI index above 70.
• Moderate GI foods index between 56 to 69.
• Low GI is anything indexing 55 and under.

So on this breakfast menu we’re going to concentrate on a low GI diet. A number of healthy breakfast ideas that will keep you going until lunch.

Low GI breakfast menus

1. The Box Seat – get in the best position for the day with a low GI breakfast cereal and full fat milk. Why full fat milk? Most of the benefits of milk are in the fats, which contain CLA (fat burning and omega 3′s).
2. Cafe breakfast – don’t you just drool over the breakfast menu at your favourite cafe? What they can do with eggs is amazing. The good news is that a ‘traditional’ breakfast high in protein and good fats is good news for your body. They fill you up and release their goodness over a longer period of time. Just make sure the food is cooked as healthily as possible…and with fatty sauces like Hollandaise.
3. A king’s breakfast – like the cafe breakfast above, just lots of it. The old adage “eat like a king at breakfast, a prince at lunch and a pauper at dinner’ makes a lot of nutritional and energy sense. Poached eggs, whole grain toast, avocado, tomato, low GI muesli with full fat milk, black tea. Just don’t forget to get off your throne by dinner time.

Enjoy!

It’s so easy being bad. It’s just so much fun. By ‘bad’ I mean eating junk, partying hard, drinking too much, not exercising, scoffing sugary foods. The list goes on. And on.

We all go through phases in our life where we fall out of good habits like eating healthy foods, exercising regularly and not snacking.

Then there’s the bad times. We just can’t get up the motivation to do all, or even some, of the things we know are good for us.

The best way to start making yourself feel a little better about being a little bad is to start. Start somewhere.

Start with a healthy breakfast

If you’ve been partying and drinking and partying and drinking the night away then you’ll inevitably wake in fright. Did you comfort eat your way through a chocolate bar? Did you take the elevator up 1 flight?

Being bad

The best way to emotionally and physically feel better is to eat a healthy breakfast. By healthy I mean low fat and definitely low sugar.

Go low GI

A low GI breakfast cereal full of whole grains, nuts and seeds is the good way to feel less bad. There’s plenty of vitamins and nutrients and the low glycemic index (GI) means you’ll feel fuller for longer, so less bad snacking.

Even a big breakfast of eggs (poached), toast (whole grain) and sausage (low fat please), is a good idea. Interestingly, this breakfast idea can also be part of a low GI diet that satisfies your cravings.

Another must-have for a healthy breakfast after a bad day or night is plenty, and I mean plenty, of water. Flush out the bad stuff and fill yourself with the good.

Enjoy!

Whole wheat pancakes with fruit is a wonderful way to start your day. Eating healthy is hard when the foods you have to choose from are somewhat less than desirable. I have found that whole wheat pancakes topped with fruit instead of super sweet syrups is actually quite the treat. It’s almost as though the two were meant to go together.

Offering whole wheat pancakes for breakfast, Sunday brunch, or even a breakfast-for-dinner meal is sure to be a crowd pleaser. In addition it offers you a great dose of fiber that will keep you healthier and stick with you longer than the average breakfast.

Making the expense and effort to eat whole wheat pancakes should not be wasted by the pouring high sugar syrups and dessert toppings all over you plate. There are so many other toppings available that provide the sweetness we all desire and doesn’t have the bad side effects of a high sugar content. Fruit or yogurt or both together seem to blend so well with the nutty taste of wheat pancakes.

Try something like blueberries or raspberries heated with a few teaspoons of lemon and a couple teaspoons of natural cane sugar. The warm topping comes with a lot less sugar than the high fructose corn syrup alternative and is so inviting on a cool morning. It will soak into your whole wheat pancake creating a great taste and texture.

Here is a great recommended recipe: Use blue berries or raspberries or whatever berry you like and add five tablespoons of lemon juice and heat to boiling. Stir in one third cup cane sugar or equivalent in sugar substitute if you have it. Let the mixture simmer for about 10 minutes until it starts getting a little thicker. Remove from heat and serve.

Once the scent of sweetened and heated fruit starts creeping around the house you will have curious visitors looking forward to a delicious treat. There is something about a hot berry topping poured over whole wheat pancakes that creates such a wonder taste combination.

Whole wheat pancakes are a healthy, more natural way to start your morning. The advantages of whole wheat to your health are well known. Offer them to your own family and make breakfast an event that everyone looks forward to.

Even if it’s only done on the weekends, getting together for a delicious meal is a treat for all. When you serve healthy whole wheat pancakes topped with warm yummy fruit toppings everyone will enjoy, you get an event that will last. The benefits of the whole wheat pancakes will give you the health and energy to enjoy the day, the benefits of eating a delicious meal together will last long after.

Eggs have always been a popular and healthy food for the entire family. When eaten in moderation eggs are a healthy source of protein. Eggs are especially popular with children. If you are looking for creative ways to prepare eggs for your children, below are a few recipes that you can try:

1. Make some toast and add butter. Cut a hole in the middle of the toast. Fry or poach an egg and place it in the hole. With a glass of milk and fruit, you will be giving your children a healthy and delicious breakfast.

2. Scrambled eggs have always been a very popular meal. You can add some flavor to it by mixing in a bit of soup broth when you are mixing it. You can also add a little bit of spices and sprinkle some shredded cheddar cheese in the eggs while you are cooking.

3. Cut an English muffin or bagel in half and toast it. Poach an egg. Once the egg is poached, place it on half of the toasted bagel or English muffin. Pour a little pizza sauce on the egg. Add a slice of pepperoni or salami and top it off with mozzarella cheese. Put the other half on top and you will have a delicious sandwich.

4. Omelets are very popular. You can spice it up by adding salsa and grated cheddar cheese when you are cooking it. Fold it over so that the ingredients are in the middle of the omelet.

5. Egg salad sandwiches can make for a great lunch. You can add flavor when you are mashing the egg by adding some lemon, onion and celery pieces. You can also replace the mayonnaise with a salad dressing such as ranch or dill. Other ingredients can include: pieces of bacon or ham, and red and green pepper. Make sure your eggs are completely boiled so you don?t have any runny yolks.

6. You can make your children?s plate more creative by using eggs. Fry two eggs. Make toast and fry some bacon. Place the food in the form of a happy face. Use the eggs as eyes. Cut the toast in angles and position the pieces as eyebrows and a nose. Use the bacon strips for the mouth.

7. Bake a potato and cut it in half. Remove a small amount of the centre of each half. Mash up a boiled egg and mix in celery, chives, and some spices. Scoop it into the centre of each potato half. Cover each potato half with cheddar cheese. Have a cheese burger with the meal.

8. Open up a pita so that it is a pita pocket. Mix egg and cook as scrambled eggs. Put the scrambled egg in a bowl and add onion, tomatoes, green pepper, and cooked chicken pieces. Mix them all together with feta cheese and a bit of olive oil. Put the mixture in the pita and you have a pita pocket sandwich.

It is very easy to be creative with eggs. Because children love eggs, they will be surprised and pleased with the imaginative meals you prepare for them using this delicious and wholesome food.

No matter how rushed you may be, breakfast can still be a part of your day. Using breakfast foods that are easy and fast doesn’t mean they can’t deliver what your body needs to get a good start in the morning.

The ready made breakfast foods purchased at your local grocer are typically very high in sugar content. It might be fast and it certainly is easy, but it isn’t going to last. Our bodies need energy and the sugar we love in the morning is so quickly burned off you will find yourself wanting more before the morning is through.

It is a challenge to get the right balance of nutrients from our breakfast foods. It is especially difficult when we are so rushed in the mornings. Many households now have two working parents and young children that need to catch the school bus. We need to gather last nights homework and make sure we all look as sharp as we are, which leaves little time or thought for the morning meal.

It’s quite possible to make the task of getting the right level of nutrition out of every morning a very manageable endeavor. By putting forth a little pre-planning effort you can have ready many great options for healthy breakfast foods making the choice of “what’s for breakfast” an easy choice. You will no longer have to worry about whether you ate healthy or not. You simply follow your plan.

The biggest challenge to getting the right nutrition for any meal, not just with breakfast foods, is forcing ourselves to think about it. Unfortunately, the right time to think of what to eat, isn’t in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the morning. If you are able to spend a few moments preparing a meal plan when you have a moment to think about it, you will choose a much healthier diet.

It can be very helpful at this pre-planning time to ask the kids or other members of the family what they might like to have for breakfast. Helping them choose a healthy lifestyle is much easier taught during the low stress times on a comfortable couch with no deadlines than in the middle of chaos in the morning. After all, healthy living is a family matter.

By getting the family involved at the early stages you will find it a lot less stressful in convincing them to eat what’s on their plate. Choosing healthy breakfast foods together and possibly even preparing the meals together, will greatly increase your chances of them learning a healthy lifestyle that will stick with them for years to come.

Once the weekend rolls around most of us seem to find a little extra time to bake a little more than during the rigorous work and school days. It isn’t much more difficult to double a few of the breakfast foods you prepare over the weekend. Often a delicious coffee cake is made on Saturday morning when time isn’t at a premium, why not double the recipe and store the rest for Tuesday or Wednesday. Pancakes, particularly whole wheat pancakes, taste great warmed up a few days later. It will save you a lot of effort through the week if you can prepare a few extra breakfasts ahead of time.

Give yourself an edge when it comes to breakfast foods by making them ahead of time and getting what you and your kids like, and what your body needs. The advantages you get from using good grains and avoiding processed cereals will be apparent in the extra energy that you feel at work or school.

You must be loopy to serve this for breakfast

I’ll start this article with a lament. How can we have our kids eating good, healthly meals when there’s so much temptation (and advertising) for the fatty, sugary and, admittedly, delicious alternatives?

Well, there are healthy breakfast cereals in a box and some you can create.

It’ll take time to break the breakfast sugar fix. The rewards will be leaner, healthier, energetic. focused and less sick kids.

Pester power

If we parents haven’t heard of this saying, we’ve certainly experienced and relented to it.

It’s the ability of kids to nag us for a treat (usually one of the fatty, sugary kind).

The ‘power’ part is so accurate as there’s no other way we’d allow these foods in the house let alone in our kids mouths. (Mind you, we probably loved them as kids ourselves).

So that’s what we’re up against.

A good start  – mix it up

Rome wasn’t built in a day. A child’s eating habits have also been built up over time. Going cold turkey on sugary, processed cereals will only result in a morning argument. Not a good start to a busy day!

What I’ve been doing is adding some crushed nuts (linseed, almond and meal is healthy, tasty and hard to detect) to their cereal. Adding more and more over a few weeks. Break them of the sugar hit – at least a little.

Next I throw in some wholegrain cereals to increase the healthy ratio.

Adding some fresh fruit is a big but beautiful step in the right direction. Well worth the effort. Most fruits go well with cereal so just try your kids favourite (or least hated) kind.

You get the idea.

A better start – Low GI cereal

A low GI cereal will release it’s energy over a longer period of time than higher GI foods. That means your kid will have less ‘fuzzy’ moments and more energy throughout the morning.

The low GI diet also means your kid will feel fuller for longer. Hopefully, less of those mid-morning snack attacks.

Please note. Not all low GI foods are created equal. Some may still be high in sugar. Keep your eyes open for products with less processed, more natural ingredients.

Enjoy!