True story:
About six months ago, I saw Cap’n Crunch on sale 2-for-1. I thought to myself “dang, I need me some Cap’n,” as it had been decades since I last ate the delectable crunchy mess that sticks to the roof of the mouth in a sugary glob. Imagine my disappointment when I fixed myself a big bowl and tucked in, only to discover that it was, in fact, absolutely disgusting. I actually posted both the opened and unopened boxes on the local Buy Nothing page and someone scooped them up.
I loved Cap’n Crunch so much that I’m amazed I have teeth left.
When we did an expat assignment in England, they did not have fluoride in their water. Don’t know if they do now. Our then two-year-old son took fluoride tablets during our time living there.
I loved Captain Crunch and other sweet cereals. Alas, we lived out on the country with well water (no city water / fluoride). I had a whole lot of cavities as a child. Recently I got my 4th crown, after having first three around age 40. Interesting they are all on the right side of my mouth.
In earlier posts of this thread, the cereals that I looked at generally showed improved nutrition over time. Other studies have reported similar conclusions, which made me curious. The table below shows percent sugar of the 10 most popular cereals in 2005-2010 and present. The cereals that had a large enough difference that I am confident is not a rounding error with the different serving sizes were all decreases. Lucky Charms, Fruit Loops, and Fruity Pebbles all had a 10+ percentage point decrease in % sugar in recent decades, dropping from 40s% to 30s%. Many European versions had larger cuts in sugar/salt in recent years. The second chart shows how nutrition and Nutri-Score has changed in Germany. A similar pattern (but less extreme) was observed in countries that do not use Nutri-Score on box, such as Australia.
This raises the question of why the study linked in this thread came to the opposite conclusion. One possibility is the study did not use an unbiased sample of cereals or most/more popular cereals. Instead it used a biased sample of cereals that “launched”, the majority of which were repackaged cereals, such as switching to use a smaller box (shrinkflation) or a new promotion on box. “Launches” also includes cereals that have new flavors or new imitations, such as the higher sugar % Malt-O-Meal versions of popular cereals I mentioned in my previous post.
We were never allowed sugar cereals growing up. It was a choice between Grape Nuts (I remember leaving them to soak in the milk so they weren’t so hard & pebbly) or rice Chex.
As a college student I tried all the forbidden sugary cereals. I remember the Cap’n Crunch scratching the roof of my mouth because the pieces were sharp!
“Malt-O-Meal” has got to be the worst name for a cereal brand.
I follow several social media accounts that regularly lobby the US cereal companies (and other food companies) to remove all of the sugar, dyes, chemicals and seed oils from the US versions of many, many processed foods that we eat on a regular basis (ingredients that are banned in Europe). I’ve seen many ingredient comparisons to European versions. It’s eye-opening and frightening to see what food companies willingly put in the food we eat. It’s no wonder the U.S. suffers from maladies that other countries do not. It’s also shocking that more Americans aren’t outraged by this.
There are some schools of thought that say seed oils cause inflammation in the body. It’s not so much the seed oil itself, but rather how it’s processed (at very high temperatures). Cold pressed seed oils are considered not to be inflammatory. The seed oil brands we see in Kroger, etc. are processed at high temperatures. Additionally, many processed foods contain seed oils that were also processed at high temperatures. Avocado oil, olive oil, coconut oil and tallow are not processed in this manner and are not labeled as “inflammatory”.
There is plenty of info out there on both sides - many who say that seed oils in moderation are ok. I would recommend researching and forming your own opinion. I have eliminated seed oils from my cooking and baking but it’s harder to eliminate it when it’s in many common foods that we regularly buy. I am working on that.
The actual claim is that it is omega-6 polyunsaturated fats that increase inflammation, but it is distorted by influencers against seed oils. Some seed oils (canola, sunflower, safflower) have mostly monounsaturated fats (similar to olive oil), with relatively low content of polyunsaturated fats. While some other seed oils (corn, soybean) are high in polyunsaturated fats that are mostly omega-6, flaxseed oil is high in polyunsaturated fats that are mostly omega-3.
We grew up on oatmeal and farina; only rich people could afford that lovely sweet cereal in the colorful boxes. DH, OTOH, was one of five, and his family went through a box(!) of cereal each morning, eating it as snack food, too.
I think we’ve all known for quite some time now that the cereal aisle is mostly hazardous waste. If there’s sugar in it, don’t buy it. Regardless of what’s marketed to children, we’re the adults, and we decide what to feed them.
Oatmeal and Cream of Wheat at our house. Occasionally pancakes (not from a box mix) which was a special treat to everyone who liked pancakes (I’ve never cared all that much for pancakes, French toast, waffles etc).
It was also a special treat if there was more fruit options other than raisins to put on your oatmeal/cream of wheat.
