Weekday mornings can be hectic around the house. Parents prepare for work and hustle reluctant kids from bed to go to college. Time is a valuable commodity so that you make decisions that require the least effort to get the best result. For most families, this means placing a box of , a bowl and a carton milk before your child for breakfast.

Healthy food

Concerned about the lack of healthy food at school, many parents also throw a reinforced snack bar to the kid’s lunch box. Nobody wants to send their kid to college with no food in their belly. Getting the day off to a excellent nutritious start assists the child meet the requirements of the school day and supports their growing and very energetic bodies. The cereal box proudly shows healthy messages indicating that the product is fortified with vitamins, rich in fiber and thus, it’s a healthy choice for your child’s breakfast.

Unfortunately, this expedient option might do your child more harm than good. First, let us discuss those vitamins. Nobody argues with the need for vitamins as an important part of a nutritious diet. The best resources are those we get from fruits and vegetables, where they’re supplied in sufficient quantities together with phytonutrients and all beneficial to our bodies.

Vitamins

Cereals and snack bars fortified with vitamins frequently supply very substantial amounts of these vitamins leading to a harmful cocktail for young kids. Many cereals include harmful quantities of , zinc and niacin. Children aren’t the only ones affected by this. Pregnant women and seniors may also experience harmful effects from over consumption. Next, have a look at the amount of sugar in 1 bowl of cereal. The bundle label may indicate that one serving comprises up to 9 grams of sugar.

You then notice that a serving size looks fairly small, so you pour a heartier appearing helping to the bowl, looking more like the image on the front of the box or the commercial you saw on tv. Now you’ve raised the sugar load to about 18 g, as well as doubling the dose of vitamins. Along with added sugars, many cereals are made from highly processed grains, which convert to sugar in the body almost instantly. The poor kid’s little body has no way to metabolize that sugar and the insulin cycle starts.

The child’s ability to focus and stay focused on schoolwork is severely diminished. Long-term, the effects of too much sugar in the diet are numerous, including , , inflammation, cardiovascular disease and . The combination of a lot of sugar and an overdose of vitamins stresses your child’s immune and metabolic systems. You can make key improvements to your child’s breakfast nutrition and school performance with a few simple changes.

Conclusion

Look closely at the labels of the cereal boxes on the supermarket shelf and choose cereals with reduced sugar content. Avoid wheat products as they provide refined starch, and they’re recognized by the Consumer Protection Agency as a food allergen. You will see warnings about the package indicating that the item was processed at a facility that also handles wheat. Switch to whole grains such as steel-cut or rolled oats and muesli. Whole grains that aren’t highly refined are healthy sources of fiber, protein and vitamin B combined with several essential minerals. Add some sunflower seeds and you’ll add more minerals and protein. For another nutritious option, consider adding plain with a few chopped berries into the breakfast table.