Wheaties - Breakfast of Champions or Just Sea Monkeys?

Marketing can be awesomely powerful.

A good marketer could sell catnip to a dog if need be. We've all been hoodwinked into buying some sort of product at one time or another in our lives that turned out to be a dud or a downright lie. Sea Monkeys comes to mind. I can remember being so disappointed when my sea monkeys, bought with a zillion box tops of Captain Crunch, turned out to be nothing more than brine shrimp i.e., fish food.

It appears that Wheaties, the breakfast of champions, is now spending millions of dollars in an attempt to brainwash people -- specifically athletes -- into thinking a bowl of sugar is good and will enhance athletic performance.

Take a look.

Don't let the hype fool you sportsfans. Cereal grains are nasty stuff. Grains are chock full of antinutrients and when refined for consumption and fully digested, are nothing more than simple sugar.

Sugar is extremely caustic to the human body. It is responsible for a host of inflammatory ills and is linked to damage to the endothelium.

The endothelium is the thin layer of cells that line the interior surface of blood vessels. Not a good thing to mess with.

A cup of Wheaties has 24 grams of carbohydrates (essentially sugar). The typical adult has a only a few grams, more or less, of sugar in her total blood volume - slightly less than a teaspoonful. (My co-author and friend Michael R. Eades M.D. wrote a great blog post on this issue.) But who eats a mere cup of cereal for breakfast - especially an athlete? When I was a wee lad, I typically ate 2-3 bowls of cereal. (And as you now know, Captain Crunch was my favorite.) I'm surprised my blood isn't sugar after all the cereal I ate as a kid, not to mention the soda, pancakes, buns, etc.

Wheaties cereal is fake food. In fact, I wouldn't call it food at all. I've never seen a Wheaties tree or a cereal bush. All commercially made cereal is among the worst foods one can eat and is especially bad for children. And at five to seven dollars a box, you're paying top dollar to kill yourself. You could buy 3 dozen, muscle-building, bone densifying eggs for that price.

The real breakfast of champions would consist of real foods - meat, eggs, fish, vegetables and fruit - foods that actually exist in real life.

Be a real champion. Eat real foods. Don't be fooled by nutritional sea-monkeys!

Follow Fred Hahn on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SeriousStrength

Comments

[Fred Hahn - Huffpost Blogger]

I was unable to link Dr. Eades blog on sugar in the bloodstream to my recent blog so here it is! http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/sugar-and-sweeteners/a-spoonful-of-sugar/

[Fred Hahn - Huffpost Blogger]

Sorry folks needed to send a Test message.

[kbella]

Mr. Hahn, just out of curiosity, what do you say about oatmeal? I buy regular rolled oats and cook them myself in milk.

[Fred Hahn - Huffpost Blogger]

Hi Kbella - Thanks for reading and responding. Truth be told, oatmeal is just grain - sugar to be exact. While oatmeal appears to be on the better side of grains compare to wheat (if you take the time to read the hyperlink to Dr. Cordain's paper "Cereal Grains..." you'll see why.

All grain once digested is simple sugar. Eating a cup of oatmeal (54 grams of carbs) is akin to eating 13 teaspoons of sugar. http://www.quakeroats.com/products/oatmeal/old-fashioned-oats.aspx#NutritionalInfo Would you put 13 teaspoons of sugar in the morning in your coffee? I think not! :)

On top of this you add milk which is mainly sugar. So That's a heck of a lot of punishment you are dishing out to your pancreas and endothelium. You're much better off ( allergies aside) eating a few farm fresh eggs and an apple. Real food for real health.

I like to ask my clients "Would you feed a bowl of qoatmeal to your dog?" Why eat it yourself then? Bad stuff especially for kids. Thanks again for reading!

[kbella]

Thank you for your response! So even if on the side of the box it says it contains minimal amounts of sugar (in the breakdown of the carbohydrates), it doesn't really matter because it gets turned into simple sugar after digestion? Is that correct?

I already cut out all processed grains from my diet (all that gross white bread and icky processed cereal) a few years ago, but this is new information. I will definitely start eating eggs more often for breakfast!

By the way, I always read your posts...I always find them informative!