I know this might be shocking and this may be the first tough day for many of you.
Cereal is a staple on most American households breakfast tables.
It is a silent killer in this country. This killer stalks you every morning. His accomplices Mr. Bread and Mr. Pasta will stalk you in the evening.
Most people I talk to can NOT imagine a life without cereal.
“But, I eat whole grains!”
This is a mistaken notion. People that are eating whole grains often feel as if they are doing the best they can for their body. Grains in general are the problem; whole grains, 7-grain, stone-ground or whatever you think is healthy. There is no chemical difference in your body.
The most critical problems with these grains are:
Gluten
Mostly omega 6 fatty acids
The pH of grains is acidic
High phytic acid content
Gluten—Many people are very sensitive to gluten. Many health problems can be related to gluten. The most common would be arthritic symptoms and gut problems. It is also difficult to digest.
Gluten Grains: Oats, Rye, Barley, Spelt, Especially wheat
Non-Gluten Grains: Buckwheat, Rice, Millet
Omega-6 fatty acids—These are fatty acids that promote inflammation. These are balanced by omega-3 fatty acids, which are often very deficient in the average American diet. We'll cover these later.
Omega-3 fatty acids are anti-inflammatory. An acceptable ratio would be 4 omega-6 fatty acids to 1 omega-3 fatty acid (4:1). Since there is such an abundance of omega-6 fatty acids in grain, many Americans are between ranges of 10:1 and even 40:1. This is a huge imbalance.
How does this apply to REAL life?
To clearly decrease inflammation the majority of our diets should be vegetables, fruits, and fish.
We now know that hardening of the arteries and heart disease are considered chronic, smoldering inflammation that develops slowly until—Wham —A Heart Attack!
If 50% of all heart attack victims have NORMAL cholesterol, then why do the others have heart attacks? Chronic inflammation also promotes PAIN, cancer, inflammatory gut disease, and just about any chronic disease.
#1 Killer = Heart Disease
#2 Killer = Cancer
If you follow the ever so clever FOOD PYRAMID that asks you to eat 6-11 grains a day, you can expect to be like every other American; overweight and a shorter life expectancy than 23 other nations.
So how does cereal add to this problem?
Acidic pH—creates a pain and inflammation just like the above omega-6 fatty acids.
Phytic Acid—is abundant in grains. Some have more than others but it is in all grains. Phytic acid blocks minerals from being absorbed in the guts, like calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, and especially ZINC.
What major health problem do many people get without enough calcium? Women especially!
Breakfast cereal has no place in your house. Cereal is made at high temperatures and pressures called extrusion. Extrusion destroys many nutrients, causes oils to go rancid, and makes some proteins toxic.
There is some good that can come from grains, but how to use and prepare them is a topic for later. The easiest thing to make BIG changes to your health, right now, is to avoid this tricky food.
If I could recommend one thing to patients to both improve their lives and make their adjustments hold and work better, it would be to stop eating bread. To top it off, many breads and cereals have partially hydrogenated oil in them.
Action step
No Cereal This Week
Eat anything else but cereal this week.
#1 Eat some eggs, we'll cover these more next week.
#2 Try some yogurt
#3 Eat some fruit.
I even had a patient eat left over chicken and celery while she was reversing her diabetes.