A lot of people living the Paleo lifestyle skip breakfast. Others have eggs, or just the leftovers from their dinner the night before. The choices for a good Paleo breakfast are not as limited as you might think. You just have to think outside the box a little.
One thing you can say goodbye to when leaving a Standard American Diet (SAD) is cereal. No matter what health claims the big companies try to make, cereal is not good for you. I don’t care how much fiber is in there, you’re better off without it.
The Health Claims
Cheerios are the perfect example of a breakfast cereal with unfounded health claims. Many of us are familiar with the image of the cartoon bee telling us that his cereal is heart healthy due to the soluble fiber content. In 2009, General Mills ran into trouble with the FDA for advertising the ability of Cheerios to “reduce bad cholesterol by an average of 4 percent” without foundation for those claims.
The Facts
Those of us who know that it takes a lot more than just fiber to lower cholesterol aren’t fooled by such advertising. Not only do Cheerios contain wheat flour and oats (both no-nos for a Paleo lifestyle, since they are both grains), but the ingredient list includes modified corn starch (another grain turned into sugar), honey, and brown sugar syrup. Three different types of sugar are listed prominently in the ingredients, which is bad news for anyone trying to lower their cholesterol or lose weight.
Mark Sisson weighed in on the negative side of Cheerios on his blog.
