Contributed by Kevin Bateman
The only processed breakfast cereal that I eat is small amounts of Kelloggs® All Bran that I add to my home-made muesli mix. There is a recipe in the ProZone book. All Bran has 45.4g carbohydrate per 100g, which is very moderate for a refined cereal, and it has 29.5g fibre per 100g. This high fibre content helps slow sugar absorption into the bloodstream. So we can use a little All Bran and still maintain healthy blood sugar levels. I am referring to All Bran Original, the squiggly stuff, as there are several other varieties of Kelloggs® All Bran that are not at all favourable, particularly the flakes rather than the squiggles.
I was looking at an All Bran packet this morning and my attention was drawn to a chart that showed average adult daily food intakes broken down into macronutrients.
When we convert this to Zone Blocks we get some idea of why we keep reading about concerns about growing rates of obesity and diabetes.
Average Adult Daily food intake:
Converted to blocks Zone female (eg) Zone male (eg)
Protein 50g 7 blocks 11 14
Total fat 70g 23 blocks 11 14
Carbohydrate 310g 34.4 blocks 11 14
Noticeable is the low protein compared to Zone recommendations. Protein helps us to feel satisfied after a meal. With low protein meals we tend to eat more as we are not as satisfied for as long so would need to eat the extra fat and carbohydrate to feel satisfied by a meal. Protein is also important for maintaining muscle, maintain blood sugar levels and hormonal balance.
Fat is about half of what the Zone would recommend and carbohydrate is well over twice as much. Considering that carbohydrate will appear in our bloodstream as sugar the link to obesity and diabetes becomes apparent.