Healthy Eating: Food and Health with Healthy Eating Recipes by Lucy Hyland at Food For Living

Thursday 4th August

Ever wondered about how much sugar was in your breakfast cereal (or your kids?) Find out in my article this week in the Cork Independent or read below:

http://www.corkindependent.com/stories/item/3555/2011-31/-Questioning-cereals

Questioning cereals

The response that I’m getting to my “Cheat and still stay healthy” campaign this summer is great. I am becoming more and more aware of the importance of reading the packets of the foods that we eat. It is only through reading the ingredient list and the nutritional information that we can get a real picture of what is in the foods we are eating. As last week’s article really opened people’s eyes up to the hidden sugar content in food, so this week I thought I’d look at cereals.

Again, there are a number of things to consider when choosing cereals. Salt levels, sugar levels are key, but also the type of cereal grains used. Many cereals, such as Wheetabix, Shredded Wheat and Oatibix sell themselves on being wholegrain cereals made with more nutritious whole grains. When you check the labels of these products, then there is generally less than half a teaspoon of ‘sugars’ in a serving or per 100g which is a positive sign.

Remember that the ‘Of which sugars’ part of the nutritional information that is key. 4 grams of ‘sugars’ is equivalent to 1 teaspoon of sugar. How many grams of ‘sugars’ we should have a day is a controversial issue but the general guideline is about 40g.

The surprisingly high cereals (i.e. those marketed as ‘healthy’) were Dorset High Fibre Muesli, Bran flakes, Just Right and Kellogs Special K with Berries averaged 5 ½ – 7 teaspoons per 100 grams The products I found with the highest amount of sugars were Kellogs Crunchie Nut Cornflakes, Coco pops and Frosties that averaged 9 teaspoons of sugar per 100 grams. With these products a child is getting half their daily sugar allowance by 9am in the morning!!

Oats are a great cheat for healthy eating – use them instead of flour for a more fibre and nutrient rich alternative.

Raspberry crumble

Base
2 punnets of raspberries

Topping
4 oz rolled oats
2 tablespoons  almonds (crushed)
1 tablespoon of sunflower
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon of honey or maple syrup
Small pie dish

Place the raspberries at the bottom of the pie dish.
Place all of the topping ingredients into a bowl and mix well with a spoon.
Pour the crumble mixture on top.
Place in a medium oven (about 180 oc) for 20 mins.
Serve with some Greek style natural yogurt.

Wheat free, dairy free