The Great Breakfast Cereal Battle!

I'm not sure exactly how or when it happened, but somehow I got suckered - hook, line and sinker - into providing breakfast cereal for my children.

I thought I was beyond peer pressure!

Actually, it wasn't really my peers... it was my offspring! Seems as though my school-aged child had been led to believe that, once again, her mother was an awful, unloving, mean person because she didn't provide cereal like all the other mommies of her friends. Where's my barf bag when I need it??

BUT... I fell for it!!!

For most of the past school year, 80% of her school day breakfasts have included cereal. It was always organic, never any high fructose corn syrup, GMOs or trans fats... but insulin-producing CEREAL nonetheless. Thankfully, I've always 'mandated' fruit and protein in the morning as well - apparently to offset the poisonous effects of the cereal I was providing her.

What on earth was wrong with me??!! I KNOW better! Organic or not, it's still useless food that's worse than "empty" calories... it's "negative", "harmful" calories. The grains in sugar (and bread, pastries, bagels, etc.) are broken down to sugar. This stimulates insulin production. This is true even if it's "whole" grains.

And I was wondering where her big attitude was coming from!

Anyhow, fast forward to the last few weeks. I've been back to my heavy-duty nutritional studying and reviewing in preparation for some upcoming books I'm writing. By simply reviewing studies by the godfather of nutrition, Weston A. Price, and several of his followers, I was reminded of what a DORK I've been!

Here I've been serving my kids cereal because they were begging for it, but I wouldn't touch the stuff with a 10-foot pole! Heck, I certainly didn't want the insulin spike! No thank you. I start my day with protein, greens, fruit and fish oil... plain and simple!

I had a very grown-up conversation with my daughter about the dangers of regularly consuming cereal and eating too many grains (we've had this conversation many times before!), and we laid out a game plan for getting rid of cereal at breakfast. Was she happy? Not at all. Was she eager to welcome breakfasts without her beloved cereal? Nope. Oh, well. I'm fully aware of who wears the responsible nutritional pants in our family!

To her credit, she was a very willing and enthusiastic participant in selecting healthier breakfast options at Whole Foods the last time we grocery shopped together. She chose some clean meats and different fruits that we don't normally purchase... and she thoroughly read each and every ingredient in the whole milk and yogurt/kefir products we chose.

So, for the last several days since beginning our new & improved breakfasts (which are pretty much the type of breakfasts we used to eat BEFORE she began school!), we've been doing exceptionally well! Our breakfasts have consisted of organic turkey bacon &/or organic free range eggs, fresh fruit, whole milk organic yogurt or organic kefir and some organic almond butter. Yum!

She has been joking at the breakfast table, "I think I must be in Heaven! This breakfast is SO delicious!" A bit dramatic, I know!

Suddenly, the cereal monster returned this morning!

Holy cow... I wasn't quite sure what hit me! I'm pretty sure what she had is scientifically known as a "hissy fit"! That kid must have been in the middle of a sugar withdrawal... or pre-puberty! Either way, it was UGLY!

I tried to rationally explain that, as a GOOD parent, I simply couldn't knowingly poison her and destroy her health. (Apparently, drama runs in the family!) She retorted that "If poisoning me means I can have cereal this morning, I'll eat poison!"

Did I mention she's only FIVE????

Yes, it was a rather tumultuous morning in our house today! Did I give in and let her have the cereal? No. Was it because I needed to "win" this one? No, not really. It was mostly because I had already prepared her entire breakfast and I cannot stand wasting food... or money... or my time! Will I ever let her have cereal again. Maybe. That's not really my point anyhow.

My point is that we don't NEED it. There are SO many healthier options to choose from. My number one goal with food is always to create more health in the body.

One of these days my kids will get it, too. If not, the stress from trying to provide healthy foods will outweigh the benefits and I'll be back in the loony bin!


I'm including a link to a related article on Dr. Mercola's site. Once again, make sure you read all the way down to Dr. Mercola's comments AND the readers' comments... that's where all the fun is!

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/05/17/why-you-should-be-worried-if-your-kids-cereal-is-widely-known.aspx?source=nl

Dr. Mercola has some fabulous archived articles on grains. I also HIGHLY recommend checking out the Weston A. Price Foundation for superior nutritional information.

http://westonaprice.org/

It's not about "NEVER" having grains. It's about being informed and aware of how they effect your health. That's all!