Cheerio

Cheerio! Cereal should be avoided as a breakfast food, healthier options chosen

very morning, over 5,000 CHS students stumble out of their beds and get dressed, ready to start the day. For the vast majority of us (I hope), we make sure to grab a bite to eat before we go about our business, and for good reason: according to WebMD, those who make sure to eat breakfast in the morning have better concentration, lower levels of cholesterol and a lower likelihood of diabetes. According to the BBC, breakfast jump-starts the metabolism, giving us the energy we need for a long day of school and work.

However, there is one breakfast food which gets you going a little too much: cereal.

The main culprit with cereal is the same culprit that plagues candy, cake and doughnuts: sugar.

By now, we should all be aware of the dangers high blood sugar level poses: it leads to diabetes, heart disease, tooth decay and mood swings (according to Healthline). In the morning, eating cereal without adding on something else sets us up for an energy crash in the afternoon. All of the most popular cereals like Honey Nut Cheerios, Fruit Loops, Lucky Charms and Cinnamon Toast Crunch advertise their cereals as “whole grain,” “gluten-free” or with the ability to “lower cholesterol.” However, the main reason they taste good is the high sugar content as each type of cereal has nearly 40% sugar per serving.

What should we eat instead? Healthline lists the possibilities out: whole eggs, fresh fruit, lean meat, Greek yogurt, berries and oatmeal. For drinks, they recommend green tea, protein shakes and even coffee.

All of these options are certainly more timeconsuming to prepare than cereal. In the end, however, those extra minutes in the morning set us up for a better day, and those habits set us up for better lives. E WORDS | | ASHWIN PRASAD GRAPHIC | | EMILY SANDY

A PHOTO || KIERSTEN RIEDFORD

The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the Acumen staff. Reach Ashwin Prasad at aprasad@hilite.org

Whole Grain Oats Cheerios are made from whole grain oats which contain beta-glucan, a soluble fiber that can help lower cholesterol as part of a healthy diet

Fiber Source Three grams of fiber daily that comes from whole grain such as Cheerios may reduce one’s risk of heart disease

S O U R C E | | C H E E R I O S , H E A L T H L I N E Milk The milk that most Cheerios eaters pour over top of their cereal has many benefits. Milk has many essential nutrients such as calcium (healthier bones), potassium (maintains body pressure), and protein (source of energy and repairs muscle and tissue)