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Cereal might seem like a diet-friendly breakfast option, but you should probably take a closer look at the nutrition label before stocking up. Depending on the cereal you choose, you might be picking out a breakfast full of empty calories and sugar, which can only make weight loss more difficult.
Keep reading for more details.
Cereal
Julie Mancuso, nutritionist, B.A., R.H.N., and owner of JM Nutrition, explains, "For years we’ve been sold the idea that cereal forms a part of a healthy breakfast. Well, it doesn’t because most cereal isn’t healthy."
"The vast majority of cereal, and not just the ones made for kids, contains far too much sugar to be even remotely considered for regular consumption," she says. "Most of these cereals contain refined grains and lack adequate fibre for proper digestion."
With that in mind, make sure to check the sugar content of any cereal you are purchasing or eating on a regular basis. Even the cereals that look healthy--aka the ones without chocolate or marshmallows--can pack in their fair share of sugar if you are not careful.
But it's not just the large boxed cereal you have to consider.For the most part, cereal bars are not good for you either.
Trista Best, registered dietitian at Balance One, explains, "They are typically loaded with sugar and refined carbohydrates. Added and excess sugar slows the metabolism by overloading the liver making it more quickly to be stored as fat. This simultaneously slows metabolism and causes weight gain."
This can be a particular problem if you are using these bars to replace your breakfast (or any other meal). Best continues, "These bars also lower metabolism when they are replacing nutrient-dense meals. Bars are typically around 100 to 300 calories per bar and when they are replacing meals they may inadvertently slow the consumer's metabolism. Reducing calories substantially can cause the body to begin burning calories at a slower rate."
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