I'm all about trying to find a good, healthy way to start the day. I've posted previously about the veggie bites, but I've had a hard time finding them again at my local hip market. (You know, the one that carries organic products in a section of a corner back in the back of the store, along with all the jars of vitamins and other supplements that pretend to be "health foods.")
Anyway, last night I was at Walgreen's picking up some Co Q-10. I honestly don't know what this stuff is but my doctor told me to take it and so I do. I really should look at some info on that. But anyhoo... I spent a good amount of time in the cereal aisle looking at the nutrition information on cereal boxes. I was chagrined and all to discover how little fiber there is in most cereals that promote themselves as healthy food. Especially compared to the number of carbohydrates per serving, and especially compared to the number of carbs from sugar. Thanks Tech, and to the diabetes educators out there, for raising my awareness about carbs in the life of a diabetic.
So I finally ran across one box that had some really interesting numbers. Get this:
Serving size: 1/2 cup
Caolries: 60
Calories from fat: 10
Total Carbohydrates: 25 grams
Dietary Fiber: 14 grams
Soluble Fiber: 1 gram
Sugars: 0 grams
Other Carbohydrate: 11 grams
Holy cow! 14 grams of dietary fiber in 1/2 cup!! That oughta work better than Roto Rooter!
I've taken to buying milk in the small 2-cup bottles. Each cup of milk (this is whole, Vitamin D)has 11 grams of carbohydrate as a sugar. So I've found that 1/2 cup is plenty plus for a 1/2 cup of cereal. So count that as 6 carbs plus the 11 net carbs (once you subtract the dietary fiber from total carbs) and my breakfast is 17 carbs... just over one serving (15 carbs is one serving of carbohydrate.) Not bad, especially for the boost of that 14 grams of dietary fiber!
So what's this product I'm recommending to you? It is General Mills' Fiber One Bran Cereal. This one little serving is satisfying and provides you with 57 percent of your daily value of fiber.
Don't forget to drink lots of water with your fiber, and make sure you get some walking time in every day.
I have the first in a series of four diabetes education classes starting this morning. Every Wednesday morning from Halloween until the day before Thanksgiving I'll be at the hospital for three hours learning about managing my disease. That seems like a LOT of classroom time for me but I know I have to do this to live.
Keep up your good work, everyone. Tech, take care and let us know how the Sim Fast is going this week.
6 comments:
Okay, I'm not going say anything about the Fiber One cereal. (shudder). I LOVE their oat bars, though. Nine grams of fiber per bar, though the carbs might be too way out there--I don't know what the goal is.
Anyway, isn't it a bit more expensive to buy milk that way? Milk can be frozen, though it might separate and the texture might be a bit different. The lower the fat in milk, the better it freezes. You might try freezing a cup and try it. If nothing else, it would be good for cooking, and maybe cereal, and then you can save the more expensive smaller bottles for drinking. :)
Oh yes, per unit it's much more expensive to buy it in the little bottles, but I'm not so good on the planning ahead, freezing and thawing thing at this point. And one of my friends had nicknamed my refrigerator the "dead milk vault." So I buy it in the smaller amounts that I'm more likely to actually use before it goes bad! (This same friend also told me I could buy bananas one at a time. Who knew!)
LOL--yep, there are a lot of things you can buy partials of in the produce section. :)
I'm a fan of the Fiber One Honey Clusters cereal. I like to eat it with a little bit of splenda on it.
I discovered plain, old-fashioned steel-cut oatmeal. I found an American brand that's really cheap. I cook it with 1% milk, instead of water. It takes about a half-hour to cook, which is the main problem with it.
The instructions say that you can soak it in water overnight and it will only take 10 minutes. I'm going to try soaking it in milk in the fridge and see if that works. But put a little maple syrup, some cinnamon, and a teeny bit of vanilla and it's super good.
The one thing they don't tell you is that you should put a pinch of salt in it. It tastes really, really nasty without it. And you don't need very much to fix that problem. I literally pick up a pinch in my fingers and put that in.
I like it because the oatmeal and a banana last me all morning, unlike any cold cereal I've ever tried.
Linda
Good recommendations, guys! I'll try those things too. Breakfast is my most difficult meal, but I know how critical it is so I'd like to be able to do it well.
Post a Comment