Cereals don't deserve to be called food

By Marika Sboros

How healthy are your ready-to-eat breakfast cereals?

Manufacturers say their products are high in carbohydrates, low in fat, with added vitamins and minerals. Health benefits, they say, include high-energy boosts for peak mental and physical performance, weight loss, and reduced risk of heart disease.

Market leader Bokomo even advertises its Pro Nutro as "the most nutritious family cereal in South Africa" - a claim contested by competitors, but sanctioned by the Advertising Standards Authority.

But, medical specialists say if you eat the cereals at all, you'd be wise not to do so regularly, and you shouldn't let your children eat them everyday.

'You'd be wise not to do so regularly'
They say we are being hoodwinked into believing the cereals are a healthy way to start the day. It's a common perception with particular appeal for harassed parents with picky mouths to feed on the run.

Concerns focus on refined, processed, sugared, salted products, especially brightly coloured ones. Experts say the nature of the cereals - high-carb, low fat content - creates conditions for the development of health problems they are supposed to prevent.

One vocal cereal antagonist is Dr Sterna Franzsen, a Pretoria general practitioner and gynaecologist who practises complementary medicine calls the cereals, including "natural" muesli products, "rubbish" and "windkos". She says they don't deserve to be called food, so far removed are they from their natural state.

Dr John Briffa is another. He is a medical doctor and one of Britain's foremost nutritional experts. He says the cereals "peddle fodder as food". The notion that we should eat them every day is driven "by the food industry, not science and our experience".

Far from helping us to slim, refined cereals can actually make us fat, Briffa says. Their high-carb content stimulates the body to manufacture fat, and reduces its fat-burning potential. A high-carb diet may also lead to higher-than-ideal levels of the hormone insulin in the body, which can lead to high blood pressure, raised levels of unhealthy blood fats and increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

'The greatest scam in medicine's history'
Of course not all packaged cereals are equal, and some, such as 100 percent rolled oats (not instant), are less refined. But concerns make sense when you look at ingredient lists of ready-to-eat cereals, with sugar high up. Many start off with natural rice or corn, strip its nutritional value by refining and processing, and then claim to put back all the goodness by adding vitamins and minerals.

Is this purely to create demand and a longer shelf life? And what is the rationale justifying these products?

Kellogg's and Bokomo say it's not about shelf life, but about food safety, nutritional availability, variety and convenience. They say their products are based on sound nutritional science, that shows carbohydrates are essential, and the best source of energy.

Briffa and others say the cereals depend on myth, misinformation and ignorance about biochemistry and nutrition, and the power of vested interests. They depend on the lipid (fat) hypothesis, introduced by researchers to explain a disturbing increase in heart disease, cancer and obesity rates.

The hypothesis fingered cholesterol and saturated fats in animal foods such as butter, eggs and red meat as causing problems. Yet these were in the diet for years before the rising incidence of life-threatening diseases, says Briffa.

Researchers chose to ignore unusual changes in diets, especially the introduction of highly refined, processed carbohydrates, such as sugar, white bread, flour, pasta, and lifestyle habits of smoking and reduced physical activity.

Studies appeared to confirm the hypothesis, and doctors began to pronounce confidently that "it is convincingly clear that saturated animal fat is the dietary risk factor in raising cholesterol concentrations". Many still do so today.

The hypothesis spawned the notion that high-carb, low-fat foods promote health.

"They don't," says Briffa, "and the evidence is there for anyone willing to see it. "For instance, studies show that in the long-term, low-fat diets do not lead to weight loss. The totality of the evidence shows saturated fat is very unlikely to be the true villain of the health piece."

This is still disputed in medical circles. The South African Heart Foundation has moved from the low-fat stance, but still recommends decreasing fat and a good carb intake.

Others say the effects of the lipid hypothesis have been insidious. Amercican heart researcher Dr George Mann called it "the greatest scam in medicine's history", used to "convince millions of healthy people they are sick and need expensive drugs with serious side effects".

Briffa says we should look at the many traditional societies who eat high levels of animal food and saturated fat but remain free of heart disease. One of them is the Masai cattle-herding people in Africa who eat meat, blood and rich milk, yet their heart disease rates remain refreshingly low.

Eggs have had undeservedly bad press. Studies in rural communities show that high egg consumption does not increase heart disease risk.

The most likely cause is inactivity coupled with pervasive changes to our diets, says Briffa.

"Increasingly, we have been eating a diet denuded of much of its nutritional value, at the same time tainted with potentially hazardous components including trans-fatty acids, salt, refined sugar and artificial additives."

He says the healthiest diet is that of our ancestors which was varied, with flesh foods, fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and small amounts of unrefined carbs.

Our diets are too high in carbohydrates from grains, refined or unrefined, says Briffa. "Genetically, we are similar to our ancestors of 10 000 years ago, which means we are best adapted to the diet we ate before grains were used."

Today there is a lot of hype about high or low GI (glycaemic index) foods. The index rates the speed with which foods release their sugar content into the bloodstream.

"Cereal manufacturers have leapt on to the GI bandwagon," says Briffa. "They try to give the impression that their products have low GIs, but the reality is most cereals release sugar quickly."

Eaten in excess, refined carbohydrates may have "significant hazards for our health".

How cereal is made:

Kellogg's Corn Flakes:

A non-genetically modified variety of corn grown for about 180 days.

The hybrid corn is harvested, stored in silos and sorted at the mill.

The milling process includes cleaning. Only split kernel of a specific size is used, with a formula of malt flavour, salt and sugar.

Flavoured grits are funnelled into stainless-steel cookers. Heat-stable vitamins and iron are added. The grits are dried and put through rollers to form flakes.

The flakes are tumble-toasted in an oven.

Contents are weighed into moisture-resistant liners, sealed to form bags, and packed into sealed, date-coded cartons.

Sub-standard wet or dry waste is sold for animal feed. No food or ingredient is deliberately prepared for animal feed. - Source: Kellogg's

Source: http://www.iol.co.za