Fiber-rich fortified cereals + fat-free yogurt : a healthy breakfast?

Foods that have had any of their natural elements removed usually do not taste as good by themselves. To make up for that, the food industry adds refined sugars / salt / taste-chemicals in them.

Whole milk & yogurt are generally more digestible & healthier than fat-free milk / yogurt. Children who drink skimmed milk suffer diarrhea at rates three to five times greater than children who drink whole milk.[1]

But to ride on the popular misgivings, modified or man-made fiber / bran is added on to some food products like breakfast cereals, yogurt, probiotics, snacks, etc., just to claim that they are an “excellent source of fiber”.

This is usually done to foods that have had their carbohydrate content unnaturally removed to cater to the calorie-mania.

Since the fibers also get lost along with the carb-rich portions of the food, adding fiber / bran artificially allows the hungry food-manufacturers to boast of it’s fiber content.

Just beware that bran may cause allergies [6] while increasing risk of cancer [5].

And so may be the case with refined concentrated fiber which may aggravate the pains it is supposed to resolve : flatulence, bloating, cramps and diarrhea [3].

Within the list of ingredients of your foods, these manufactured fibers may hide behind innocent looking or generalized terms like [2] :

Modified natural fibers,
Modified cellulose / methylcellulose / propylcellulose,
Low methoxylated pectins,
Resistant dextrins / polydextrose,

Beware of your healthy cereals

Beta(2-1)fructans,
Isolated beta-glucans,
Galactomannans,
Isolated lignin,
Prebiotics.
Chicory Extract /Chicory Inulin,
Dahlia Extract /Dahlia Inulin,
Fructo-Oligosaccharides (FOS),

Excess fiber is acknowledged to be an anti-nutrient [7].

If these food processors are so concerned about our health then why do they irradiate the grains used to make breakfast cereals besides using genetically modified crops?

‘Improving’ foods by altering it’s natural composition, as in low-fat, enriched flour, fortified bread…, only makes them chemically hazardous to you [4]. For the most part, nutritional fortification = adulteration.

References :
1. The Skinny on Fats
2. Manufactured functional fiber
3. Extra fiber in processed foods causes bellyache
4. FOS : FructoOligoSaccharides
5. Dietary Bran Fiber Increases Cancer Risk
6. Climb off the Bran Wagon
7. Anti nutritional factors

Go back to What’s your Nutritional Quotient?

Or check out better breakfast alternatives.