Today is

By: Ikedi Ani-okoye.

Baby and Cereal

Many parents have been adding cereal to their babies bottles with the hopes that baby will sleep better through the night or because they feel the baby is not getting enough to eat. If you've heard the statements, "Add cereal to your babies bottle and he'll sleep for 5 hours" or "If your baby constantly wants to nurse or seems hungry, add cereal to the bottle," know that those are myths and not facts.

Your baby gets enough nutrition from breast milk or formula for the first 6 months of life. In fact, many medical experts agree that introducing cereal before 4 months of age can cause food allergies. Additionally, adding cereal to your babies bottle is a bad idea. Period.

Cereal and fibre

Cereals are a great source of fibers and are used mainly as a breakfast meal. In the past most of the high fiber cereals were tasteless and people often described them as chopped cardboards. Recent studies have shown that using whole grain in high fiber cereals makes its taste pretty good and is very good for health.

Keeping in view the previously described studies many cereal producing companies started producing high fiber cereals. With this advent today we have a very good choice of selecting high fiber cereals which are full of taste and health.

Testimony about Cereal

When I have cereal for breakfast it makes me depressed. How come the Doctor doesn't know to tell me that? I haven't had cereal for breakfast for over 6 years. Not porridge, not low GI muesli, not flakes, biscuits or bubbles. Only 3 generations ago there was no such thing as a breakfast cereal but now most people can't imagine what you would have for breakfast if you couldn't have something in a bowl with a white liquid on it.

I am not suggesting that everyone skips cereal for breakfast (although I could probably justify it). The important thing is to find out what works for you. Some people do better starting the day with protein, some with carbohydrates. Try something different for a few days and see if your depression lifts.

CONCLUSION

Some common cereals with high fiber content include all-bran, bran-buds, corn-bran, shredded wheat, wheat chex, wheaties and wheat germ. People who do not like these cereals can simply take any cereal of their choice and mix it with different cereals. Dry fruits like nuts and raisins can be added to the cereal mix to make it more tasty. These also have fiber content. Alternatively, one can also buy the High Fiber Cereals available in the market. These are available in different flavors and are equally nutritious.