I’ve been loving me some corn flakes lately. I’ll have a couple of bowls at night for dinner every other day or so, and I’ve been feeling pretty good in the knowledge (or assumption, rather) that I’m doing my body some good.
But am I?
I imagine they’re not bad for me like a chocolate doughnut deep-fried in dollar store vegetable oil might be, or a heroin brownie might be, but are they in any way good for me?
It looks like Dr. Mirkin’s objection to corn flakes is that they are too refined. I prefer my breakfast a little slutty, also, so I can’t argue that point. However, “good for me” covers an awful lot of ground. Can you be more specific?
Mythbusters did a segment comparing Corn Flake’s nutritional quality to the box in which they came. It came ahead, but not by a whole lot, IIRC.
Corn Flakes are good for you if they substitute a three egg omelette with bacon and chocolate milk, of course. If you upgrade to Special K, Total or one of those super enriched cereals with 100% of your daily requirement of all vitamins, it is even better.
Dr. Mirkin, from the link, says to avoid Special K as it contains trans fats. However, I had always thought like you that Special K was good for you (I also assumed corn flakes were good for you too, so what do I know.)
In Mythbusters they only looked at the caloric value of corn flakes and the box (and I’m not sure it was corn flakes they used). I’d think the actual cereal would have vitamins and minerals added or occuring naturally. Certainly Total Corn Flakes does According to: Registered & Protected by MarkMonitor
Total Corn Flakes are:
Very low in saturated fat
No cholesterol
Very high in calcium
Very high in iron
Very high in niacin
Very high in pantothenic acid
Very high in riboflavin
Very high in thiamin
Very high in vitamin B6
Very high in vitamin B12
Very high in vitamin C
Very high in vitamin E
Very high in zinc
It depends on what your metabolism is like and what you’re weight goals are. Corn flakes are highly refined carbohydrates which are not particular good for keeping your weight down. You might as well eat an equivalent caloric amount of sugar.
This is a great site for evaluating the nutritional value of food, and it even contains links to substitutes which you can select by what your goals are (eg, weight loss or gain).
You might be better off taking a multivitamin than relying on your bowl of cereal to meet those needs. I pay more attention to whether a cereal is made with whole grains, how much sugar is added, that kind of thing.
Thank you, that’s a very interesting site! (Even if a bit depressing - the only food I’ve been able to find so far that’s apparently conducive to weight loss is raw celery…)
For breakfast, I’m a cottage cheese and cantaloupe girl. Melon is a 4-star weightloss food on that site, its yummy and nutritious (it has little sugar compared to how sweet it tastes: 12g pr cup), and relatively easy to deal with in the morning. Cottage cheese for lean protein and calcium… it works for me.
As compared to corn flakes, Special K has more protein, which helps you feel full longer. I’m not a huge fan of cereal for beakfast though.
Meh. Not enough fiber for a breakfast cereal, but more or less harmless. Much better than muffins, do-nuts, bacon & eggs, and the like.
What you want in a cereal is: Low fat, OK taste and decent fiber. Corn flakes has two of three (at least to you), better than some (like granola with high fat). Don’t worry about vitamins or carbos. You can get your vitamins from better sources and cereal *is *carbs.
More or less, yeah. It’s not bad for you, except if you’re trying to lose weight.
Not quite. There’s fat and then there’s fat. Most of the fats you find in granola* is from nuts (like almonds) and that’s good for you, as long as you don’t overdue it. The bad part about most commercial granolas is the high sugar content. What you want in a breakfast is low refined carbs and a decent amount of protein and (good) fats. I usually do yogurt and berries with a half bagel and a few slices of lean ham.
Americans get way too much carbs, especially the highly refined type. I’m not saying go Atkins (where you don’t worry about fat), but most Americans need to cut waaaaay down on the refined carbs. I’d recommend everyone out there to go thru their pantry and throw away everything that has “high fructose corn syrup” listed as one of the first 3 ingredients.
*I’m think of good quality granola here, not some cheap-o stuff fried in trans fats.
Not to mention the daily enemas. It is strongly suspected that they served John Kellogg as a substitute for the last item on the list (your word for the day is Klismaphile).
Yes. Lots of empty calories. Not bad for you, per se, but not particular nutritious. Just as importantly, not filling-- so you’re going to be hungry again shortly. As I said before, you might as well just eat an equivalent caloric amount of sugar (and add a tiny bit of protein).
But it’s hard to talk about the goodness or badness of any particular food outside the context of what else you’re eating. In a typical American’s diet, corn flakes are worthless. Better to eat something with more nutrients and more of an ability to satisfy your hunger for a longer period of time.
