Comfort foods aren’t supposed to be entirely healthy for the body. There usually is a tradeoff between, say, plates of fried chicken and mashed potatoes soothing your flattened psyche and potentially unflattening your stomach. Nutritionist Susan Kleiner says there is one comfort food that doesn’t pose such a dilemma. It’s cereal, one of the best foods in any active person’s diet.
“Whether it’s cooked or ready to eat from the box, cereal is especially comforting when we get up in the morning,” said Kleiner, a Seattle-based nutritionist affiliated with the University of Washington. “We don’t want food to be stressful. Eating cereal regularly forms a healthy habit, which is the opposite of stress.” Kleiner is a formidable expert on the subject. She is author of a newly revised sports nutrition book, “Power Eating” (Human Kinetics, $16.95), team nutritionist for the Seattle SuperSonics professional basketball team and a personal adviser to more than 40 clients who have lost weight and kept it off for the last seven years.
Everyone she counsels makes cereal and breakfast part of a new eating plan. What’s more, Kleiner is a cereal eater extraordinaire.
“I’m about as boring as you can get,” she said, laughing. “I have eaten Shredded Wheat every morning of my life since I was about 10 years old. I used to love tearing up the big biscuits when I was a child. I have since switched to the bite-size biscuits. I mix them with Kashi cereals, both the original puffed Kashi and the newer versions.”
In fact, Kleiner takes a box of Shredded Wheat and some plastic bowls and spoons when she travels. She usually can find a small carton of milk easily enough after a morning run or walk.
“I do it for two reasons,” Kleiner said. “One is that cereal is what I like to eat at breakfast time. It fills me up, but I don’t feel stuffed, like I might if I go to the hotel buffet or a restaurant. Two, it sort of irks me to spend nearly $10 on a bowl of cereal.”
There are several reasons that make Kleiner and other nutritionists so enthusiastic about cereal for breakfast–or as a snack or even dinner. Perhaps most important, cereals, especially the ready-to-eat versions, encourage us to eat breakfast.
“It’s the most important meal of the day,” Kleiner said. “Breakfast fires you up for the day. It’s critical for anyone who is physically active–I require all of my clients to commit to an exercise program before I work with them on losing weight. Since we mostly eat it at home, the meal provides an opportunity for nutrient density. You can consume lots of good things with very little fat.”
Liz Applegate, a best-selling author herself (her latest book is “Eat Smart, Play Hard” from Rodale Press, $16.95) and University of California-Davis nutritionist, said “ready-to-eat cereals are at the top of my list for one of last century’s greatest food inventions.” She calls them “boxed wonders.” Research seconds her endorsement. Studies show breakfast cereal eaters have lower blood-cholesterol levels than non-cereal breakfast eaters or breakfast skippers.
Oats are especially effective for reducing cholesterol. Oatmeal is the obvious choice, but oat cereals high enough in fiber such as Quaker Oat Bran and General Mills Cheerios also fit the profile.
Another plus for cereal is its positive effect on calorie control. Kleiner said research clearly shows that people who eat breakfast are better able to control how many calories and fat grams they consume the rest of the day. Breakfast cereal eaters are even better at calorie control.
A word about serving sizes. They range from a half-cup to cup, depending on the cereal. People might eat two or more serving sizes at breakfast. That’s not a problem if you select a low-sugar cereal. One serving is between 80 and 180 for these cereals, so even doubling it is not an unhealthy move for the active person. Cereals higher in sugar can add more calories than ideal.
Kleiner said cereal can serve the active person at times other than breakfast. She suggests dry cereal for a snack before or after working out. Cold cereal with non-fat milk can be a quick dinner on hot nights, or quick-cooked hot cereal can warm you in a hurry when the weather turns chilly. Kleiner sometimes turns to her travel box of Shredded Wheat when arriving at her destination hungry (she won’t eat airplane food) and late at night. Boost your meal with fresh or dried fruits, nuts and–can it be?–a bit of sugar, if you please.
“I think raisins can be an ideal sweetener,” Kleiner said, “but some people love a bit of sugar in their cereal. That’s not a big deal if you do it moderately. It is a sort of reward for sticking to a regular workout program.”
Kleiner recommends picking cereals that contain no more than 6 to 10 grams of sugar per serving, as shown on the label. Then be sparing with any spooning from your sugar bowl. A teaspoon of sugar is 10 grams itself. “I think it is OK to buy a cereal that contains a bit of sugar, but you should try to keep the entire sugar count to 10 grams,” Kleiner explained.
One of the best features of becoming a regular cereal eater–or choosing healthier cereals–is the ability to easily add whole grains to your meals. Most Americans fall significantly short of the recommended 25 to 30 grams of dietary fiber. High-fiber cereals such as Fiber 1 or Kellogg’s All Bran can provide a third of the daily recommended amount in one serving. Kleiner’s favorite, Post Shredded Wheat Spoon Size, offers 5 grams of fiber in each cup. “Any cereal that gives you at least 3 grams of fiber is a positive move in the morning,” Kleiner said.
In fact, Kleiner said, there can be drawbacks to eating the “super-duper high-fiber” cereals.
“Beware of taking your vitamin and mineral supplement with this sort of breakfast,” she said. “The high fiber may bind some of the minerals, including such vital ones as calcium, iron and zinc.”
Instead, Kleiner recommends taking your vitamins with lunch or a midafternoon snack. Some people take vitamins at dinnertime because they keep their products at home. That’s no problem, according to Kleiner, especially if people are doing it because they are eating fiber in the morning.
“I’m just glad to hear somebody wants to eat breakfast,” Kleiner said.
Tips on buying the right cereal
The news about oatmeal just keeps getting better. A recent Yale University study compared individuals in a control group who drank a high-fat milkshake to an experimental group that drank the same shake but also consumed a bowl of oatmeal. Turns out the folks drinking only the milkshake showed signs of arterial narrowing while the oatmeal eaters experienced no such constriction.
No one is recommending milkshakes for breakfast. What the study suggests is another reason why oatmeal should be a staple in our diets. Other cereals should be in the mix, too, for both health reasons and variety. Some of us can eat the same cereal every day, others mix and match, sometimes in the same bowl. While the cereal aisle at any grocery store is practically overflowing, here are few tips from dietitians on how to make the right selections:
– Look for fiber. Some of the possibilities may surprise you. Corn bran cereal can offer as much as 5 grams of fiber in one serving, while General Mills Wheat Chex can do the same. Some instant hot cereals have outstanding fiber counts for the convenience of simply adding hot water to the cereal. Arrowhead Mills, Fantastic Foods (which even provides the individual-size cup) and Quaker are brands to browse.
– Add your own sugar. Though it’s acceptable to buy cereals with a bit of sugar (6 to 10 grams per serving), you can just add your own. That way you can experiment with how much sugar you need when adding fresh or dried fruit. You might be surprised how little you need to sprinkle.
– Note the vitamin and mineral content. Most cereals are fortified, which is why research shows cereal eaters as among the healthiest and best protected against heart disease. On the other hand, because cereals are processed, they typically contain sodium. The better choices keep the sodium to 100 to 250 milligrams per serving.
— B.C.
