Cereal Day & Food for Thought

Hey guys! Happy Monday

Get Your Cereal On

Happy national cereal day?

I guess that should be an exclamation point rather than a question mark — but these food “holidays” are so silly (yet here I am validating them? hehe). Here’s a round-up of some cereal info. for you!

• How to choose a healthy cereal
• Watch out for “cereal bars” that are really candy bars
• Make your own Cinnamon Toast Crunch or Peanut Butter Puffins
• Enter to win an Obol – a partially separated bowl perfect for cereal here

Food for Thought
Warning: this stuff may make your head spin.

• Are cooking oils wearing an undeserved health halo? Happy Herbivore thinks so. Her argument? “Oil is a highly processed food (not to unlike all the other processed foods we all rail against) and it’s also not a good bang for the calorie buck… it’s just been fortunate to have a good marketing team that convinces is it’s healthy, when it’s not. Think about it this way: We all agree healthy foods are whole foods found in nature like beans, nuts, fruits and vegetables….There is no oil naturally occurring in nature. It needs to be pressed and extracted out of something else. Our ancestors did not have oil, but they had olives” here - While I agree with the logic that, in general, processed food consumption should be limited and that eating olives, for instance, over olive oil would provide more health benefits (just eating less refined anything, including bread, is a good idea). However, I’m not sure I’d shun oils altogether (as it is I rarely use them), especially since so many studies show that oil consumption, particularly olive oil, has aided in reducing breast cancer risk. Granted, it’s the antioxidant properties of olive oil that are responsible, I’m sure, and technically you could get the same benefits eating olives on their own. Right? But should you? Doctors she refers to (this list is via a Facebook conversation here): Jeff Novick, T. Colin Campbell, Rip Esselyn (Engine 2) Dr. Caldwell Esselyn, Dr. John McDougall, Dr. Joel Fuhrman. Any doctors, nutritionists want to weigh in? Anyone familiar with reputable studies to sway us in either direction?
• The above is an interesting point given the Civil Eats piece published a couple days ago debunking the “avoid all fats” phenomenon of the diet industry here
• Why you shouldn’t fall for all “food studies” here (written by the awesome Marion Nestle, a leader in food politics) – I’m sure this post helps us weed out the reputable from shady studies regarding oils, no?
• I wanted to direct you to the comments section of my post on our collective obsession with sex, food & dieting here – I think the point about there being a double standard in “body acceptance” talk is muy interesante.
• Did you see this great guest post on the chemical additives lurking in your foods, even when the package clearly states the contrary (as the case is with MSG & transfats)? here

Phew. Anyone else get overwhelmed with some many contradicting “reputable” food studies on what we should and shouldn’t eat? I guess that’s why, at the end of the day, my advice to others (and myself) is be a truly conscious eater — read, research & experiment, but mostly listen to your body and your heart with honesty. Your mind and body are so intricately linked that health needs to be approached from a holistic point of view. And with that, I’m off to finish Kerouac’s On the Road — how have I not read this book sooner?! Love it!

<3, The Cranky One

p.s. Updated my where to eat healthy in and around Long Beach, CA post here

Tags: cereal, fats, oils