Sugar for Breakfast

Does your child have trouble focusing throughout the day, or do you? Do you start off the day on the right foot with a decent bowl of breakfast before leaving the house?

Unfortunately, depending on your cereal, you could be starting off the day with more of a crash and burn pattern than one of a success. 

The Environmental Working Group (they publish the Safe Sunscreen List and the Cosmetic Safety Database, remember?) recently published a list of the top 10 sugar cereals on the grocery store shelf.  Prepare to be amazed, horrified and totally bummed out if you and your loved ones love cereal.

Here are the top 10 worst offenders: 
1.  Kellogg's Honey Smacks (let's just say you'd be better off with a Twinkie-it's 56% sugar by weight!)
2.  Post Golden Crisp (funny, number one and two are my dad's favorite!
3.  Kellogg's Fruit Loops Marshmallow
4.  Quaker Oats Cap'n Crunch's OOPS!  All Berries
5.  Quaker Oats Cap'n Crunch Original
6.  Quater Oats Oh!s
7.   Kellogg's Smorz
8.  Kellogg's Apple Jacks
9.  Quaker Oats Cap'n Chrunch's Crunch Berries
10. Kellogg's Fruit Loops Origional

This one isn't on the top 10 list of worst offenders, but if you ate a bowl of Honey Nut Cherrios (at 12 grams of sugar) you could have had some chocolate chip cookies instead. 

For the more information,  you can check out the Environmental Working Group's Full Report.

Remember, once you trip the mental trigger for sweetness, your body craves more and more, paving the way for reduced will power and not so great, high calorie, low nutrition choices through out the day.  Start your day off with something else instead. 

Here are some alternative ideas to help you make the healthy choice for breakfast: 
-Apple Cereal
-Smoothies made from plain yogurt, frozen fruit and nut butter
-No Sugar Added Applesauce mixed with nutmeg and cinnamon, topped with cream and walnuts or pecans
-Toast with peanut butter
-Whole eggs any way you like to eat them
-Left over thin crust veggie pizza!

Absolutely must have cereal for breakfast?  Here are some EWG grainy recommendations:
-Homemade oatmeal with fruit or peanut butter
-GMO and pesticide free Laughing Giraffe:  Cranberry Orange Granola (remember to vote with your dollars!)
-Post Honey Bunches of Oats with Vanilla Bunches
-General Mills Kix
-General Mills Cheerios


Don't forget...sugary bedtime snacks might be troublesome as well!

Thanks to Heather for Quick Tip!