We can probably all relate to Jerry Seinfeld’s love for a big bowl of cereal. Many of us grew up on bowls of Frosted Flakes, Cheerios, Fruit Loops, or those cereals we thought were healthy like Honey Bunches of Oats, Chex and Frosted Mini Wheats. But traditional breakfast cereals are about as low-quality as you can get when it comes to calories.

Even worse is that cereals are eaten typically for breakfast, along with non-fat milk and a glass of OJ, setting the stage for a bad day. When you break the fast with empty calories that are essentially just sugar, the body becomes reliant on sugar- and carb-burning, over time it can lead to insulin resistance and disease. The day-to-day symptoms of fueling with sugar for meal #1 are riding that rollercoaster of spikes and crashes in your energy, and cravings upon cravings. You might feel fine as blood sugar spikes, but the crash 2-3 hours later makes you feel like junk with the brain sending signals that the “solution” is to have more carbs and sugar (i.e. cravings).

The vicious cycles continues. Over time, your metabolism and blood sugar are out of control, and you’re reliant on carbs and sugar to operate—or else! Meanwhile, this is a ticket to brain fog and weight gain. And even if you are a lean chronic cereal-eater, being “skinny” is not synonymous with healthy.

Here’s an outline of just what makes cereal so harmful, and some alternative meals that still allow you to enjoy a bowl of goodness.

‘Harmful’ Effects of Cereal

  1. Sugar rush: Many cereals have about 40 carbs and upwards of 20 grams of sugar per serving, and that’s just for ¾ of a cup. Not even a full 1 cup!!! Most people have much more than that in a bowl, giving you upwards of 120 grams of carbs and 60 grams of sugar. Even if your cereal is lower in sugar, those carbs are eventually converted into sugar as the body breaks them down, which causes a sugar spike. So, even a healthier cereal choice, like Cheerios, is a dangerous culprit.
  2. Junk-food effect: Cereal is wasting calories on a meal void of quality nutrients, and misses out the opportunity to eat something more nourishing. In fact, I can’t think of any nutritionally dense ingredients in a bowl of cereal unless you consider any fruit you add in or the full-fat non-dairy milk if that’s what you use. Cereals are all processed, which basically means this food has been drastically altered from its whole food form and stripped of vitamins, nutrients, and minerals. It doesn’t end there… The “junkiness” also refers to the added chemicals, colors, artificial flavoring, sweeteners, starches, and preservatives—which do not “burn clean” in your GI system!
  3. Synthetic vitamins: For marketing purposes and in accordance to government regualtions, companies want to make cereal appear healthy so they “fortify” it with synthetic vitamins, making the cereal seem nutritious and in line with RDA standards. Don’t buy into this. Synthetic–i.e. unnatural–vitamins are not only pointless, but they could actually prove to be dangerous. In fact, research is now being done to see if fortified foods are what are really responsible for messing up the guts of millions of Americans (i.e. not just gluten).
  4. Anti-nutrients: Because most cereals are grain-based, they possess what’s known as anti-nutrients. Anti-nutrients are a plant’s natural defense system against predators in the wild and make perfect sense from a Darwinian standpoint. However, when we eat these grains we are eating the anti-nutrients (unless the grains are prepared properly via soaking and sprouting, which commercial cereals are not). Anti-nutrients may block absorption of calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc—all things we desperately need! Anti-nutrients also lead to inflammation in the gut, which can manifest in other parts of the body as bad moods, headaches, decreased recovery, anxiety, or even autoimmunity. Another class of anti-nutrients commonly found in beans, oats, corns and nuts are lectins. You can’t “unlock” these anti-nutrients once you open that box of cereal.
  5. Wheat:  Over 90% of grains available out there are wheat-based. The way it’s harvested increases our risk of ingesting pesticides, GMO’s, and (as we learn in #6) anti-nutrients. Gladian, a protein found in wheat, can also increase appetite and lead to weight gain. The harms of wheat continue, just look into a book called Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis.
  6. Gluten: You don’t have to be Celiac to suffer from the harmful effects of gluten. A little here and there is probably ok, but having gluten-containing foods as a diet staple certainly can be harmful. Gluten is hard for our guts to handle and can lead to everything from uncomfortable gas and bloating when you workout to full-blown gut disorders of all kinds, including leaky gut or bacterial overgrowths (read: no bueno if you’re an athlete). Gluten causes inflammation in the body, weakens the immune system, may lead to vitamin deficiencies, and can even lead to autoimmune or other diseases over time as the body gets weaker with gluten overload.
  7. Increased hunger: Cereal will not keep you satiated due to its high carb and sugar content. Furthermore, many people still use fat-free milk or yogurt with cereal, which is stripped of satiating fats and includes added sugar for palatability. Your body and gut does not need to be consuming food every hour of the day, even as an athlete. Constant consumption can cause gut disorders or inability to manage weight and blood sugar. Instead, you want to eat foods that are more satisfying and allow you to stay full for longer before needing another meal—this will come from higher-fat foods and whole-food carbs like sweet potatoes.
  8. Inflammation and cholesterol: If you’re going to have calories why not give your body what it truly needs for health, hormones and performance benefits? And no, I’m not going to bash cholesterol, but rather suggest you eat more cholesterol-containing foods instead of low-quality cereal! Our bodies need cholesterol to produce sex hormones, aid in liver function, fight inflammation and so on. Cholesterol from food, like eggs, will not raise your blood cholesterol. Why did cholesterol get a bad rep? It’s true that cholesterol is present in blocked arteries; however, they travelled there to fight inflammation and heal the body. They didn’t cause the problem in the first place. Cholesterol just showed up to help and instead got blamed as the villain for being at the sight of the crime. The real villain? Highly-inflammatory foods like sugars, grains, carbs, oxidized “bad” fats—and, you guessed it–cereals! If you’re an athlete, why not give your body foods to help it thrive, not suffer inside?
  9. Insulin resistance (IR) & leptin: Athlete or not, many of us are often shoving down sugars and carbs at an alarming rate. As such, more insulin is released, which reduces fat-burning, increases hunger, and triggers inflammation (the first stage of chronic disease). Having fat with your carbs and sugars to “offset the carb effect” is not the solution and can actually lead to fat-induced insulin resistance. Over time, the pancreas gets overloaded with the high intakes of refined sugars, simple carbs, and even complex carbs (grains) found in packaged products, and this can eventually lead to insulin resistance—what you see in someone who gets diabetes. “Insulin resistance is a condition in which the body produces insulin but does not use it effectively. When people have insulin resistance, glucose builds up in the blood instead of being absorbed by the cells, leading to type 2 diabetes or prediabetes” (National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases). Even if you’re an athlete you can overdo it on the sugar and cause problems—being an athlete is not a ticket to eat whatever you want. 
    • Granted, athletes are often more insulin sensitive due to training. Insulin sensitivity refers to the amount of insulin needed in order to “deposit” X amount of glucose (sugars, carbs) to tissues like muscle. You are  insulin sensitive  if a small amount of insulin needs to be secreted for “X” amount of glucose. On the other end of the spectrum, you are  insulin resistant  if a lot of insulin needs to be secreted to deposit the same amount of glucose. Short and simple: insulin sensitive = good, IR = bad. Athletes on high-carb and high-sugar diets are still at risk of developing IR, especially if they are highly stressed with high cortisol levels. So avoid excess carbs and sugars. Athletes do need moderate carb intake, however, and these should be obtained from whole foods and more complex carbs.
    • Switching gears from insulin to leptin. Leptin is a hormone that triggers the sensation of feeling full. Over time eating carbs in excess can blunt leptin signaling, making us feel hungry constantly. To make matters worse, ghrelin, a hormone that triggers the sensation of hunger, takes over and causes the body to feel even more hungry. We want to maintain normal leptin signaling (natural increases and decreases) to get that feeling of fullness and not overeat, and we do so by eating more fat and whole foods, not processed and packaged foods.
  10. Body fat: unless you’re using that sugar right away and in the right quantities, it’ll be stored as extra body fat (this relates to #9). And even if you’re an athlete and are using some of the sugar for your muscles and exercise, chances are these refined sugars in excess will be more than you need, which could lead to increased body fat, prevent you from losing those stubborn pounds (no matter how hard you workout), or contribute to insulin resistance. Some body fat is good (girls no lower than 17% in my opinion), but excess body fat or too much body fat in the wrong areas (e.g. abdominals) is not good especially if you’re working to be lean.

 

Healthy & Hearty Breakfast Ideas

#1 Butternut squash and avocado mash:

  • In a bowl add: roasted mashed butternut squash (or kabocha squash), combined with 1/4-1/2 mashed avocado, non-dairy sugar-free milk (I advise coconut milk or homemade nut milks), Himalayan pink salt, a few teaspoons cinnamon, and any other toppings like coconut flakes or chia seeds. What you have is a creamy porridge-like oatmeal.
  • For protein options: 1) Mix in your favorite protein powder of collagen powder, 2) top off the bowl with two cooked pastured eggs (cook on low heat or poached), or 3) Keep it vegan/vegetarian with nuts, seeds, pea protein, etc.
  • Note: Butternut and kabocha squash are lower in carbs than sweet potatoes and “safer” than sweet potatoes when on a specific-carb diet (i.e. healing SIBO or an anti-candida diet). Another alternative is roasted pumpkin. I recommend using sweet potato mostly when exercise volume/intensity is high, as a pre-race meal or post-workout refuel meal, for example.
  • This is a great, easy-digesting pre-workout meal for the long days, and you can make a small portion if you don’t like eating a ton before you train.
  • AIP: use Great Lakes Gelatin powder instead of eggs for protein, omit seeds, and use only coconut milk.

#2 High-fat green smoothie bowl with a crunch:

  • I know most of us don’t like liquid breakfasts, I usually don’t either, but if you add your healthy green smoothie to a bowl—not an acai bowl!—mix in toppings, and eat with a spoon, it’s a whole new experience and extra satiating.
  • First, make your green smoothie—avocado, frozen berries or ½ banana, kale, spinach, protein powder, flaxseed or chia seed, non-dairy milk, and even coconut butter or cacao powder. Add this concoction to a bowl.
  • Top with your fixin’s for a good crunch: unsweetened coconut flakes, raw nuts, raw seeds, unsweetened cacao nibs, “approved” low-sugar paleo granolas (see #4), some berries, or small amount of fruit.

#3 Pastured eggs, avocado, veggies and grassfed butter:

  • Just chop a few veggies like kale and fennel (or bell pepper, mushroom, green onion), add to a pan with cooking fat of choice, crack in a couple eggs (sunny side up or scrambled), and cook well. Dice or mash an avocado, adding it to a bowl or plate, then add the egg/veggie mix.
  • Need more? Salsa, olive oil basil pesto, bacon, side of sweet potato, or even a quality long-fermented sourdough bread.

#4 Bone broth breakfast soup:

  • Basically do #3, the egg-avo-veg concoction, but warm up bone broth and add all your eggs, veggies and avocado to a bowl with broth to turn it into a soup!

#5 Leftovers:

  • Anything in the fridge works great for a fast breakfast–from spaghetti squash with melted butter, grassfed meatballs and Rao’s tomato basil marinara, to a chicken wrap with leftover chicken thighs, gluten-free tortilla and an assortment of fresh greens and veggies. I also like zoodles and organic chicken-apple sausage.

#6 Grain-free, gluten-free, low-sugar cereals:

#8 Coconut flour pancakes:

Ingredients:

  • 2 heaping tbsp coconut flour
  • 2 pastured eggs
  • 1 tbsp collagen powder (optional)
  • water (eyeballed)
  • cinnamon
/nutmeg (optional)
  • 1-2 tsp vanilla
sea salt
  • 1-3 dino kale leaves
  • 1/4 cup fennel (optional)
  • 
grassfed butter (or cooking oil/fat of choice)
  • 1/2 avocado
handful organic blueberries, from frozen
  • 1-2 tsp local raw honey (optional)

Directions:

  • In a mixing bowl:
 Whisk two eggs, add coconut flour, collagen, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, sea salt and enough water to make a pancake batter consistency. Mix well. The coconut flour is highly absorbent so the water helps prevent it from being too thick.
  • Chop up fennel and kale.
  • Melt butter on stovetop skillet over medium heat. I use a cast iron skillet. Cook fennel and kale in butter for a few minutes until soft. Add more butter, let it melt and add the pancake batter forming 2-3 pancakes. Cover pan and cook on low-med heat with top on pan for 4-5 minutes. Flip the pancake(s) and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Adjust cooking time as needed for your stove. You basically want them browned but not burned; fluffy not runny.
  • Meanwhile, mash your avocado and add the honey and a bit of sea salt to that mixture for a topping. Melt the blueberries if frozen. If you’re going more low carb, skip honey and let the blueberries be your sweetener.
  • Plate the pancakes and add avocado mash and top with berries! I like to sprinkle on more cinnamon once it’s all on the plate. If you’ve been low sugar for a while and your palate has adjusted to that then even cinnamon takes on a new level of sweetness!
  • PS: if you’re lazy and don’t care about perfect little pancakes, you can let this become a “pancake scramble”