 By Rob Holston September 05, 2006
Inside my new box of Kellogg's Sugar Frosted Flakes I found a toy. Oh Great! Just what I needed! A skull with a little red light that flashes on and off as if it was a warning. How inappropriate that the skull and red warning light were not attached to the outside of the box to warn parents and children of the impending danger of actually ingesting this product on a regular basis.  Artist Bob Englehart , The Hartford Courant Distributed to subscribers for publication by Cagle Cartoons, Inc.
I used two basic sources of information to draw my conclusion of why this product should not be fed to people of any age. I read the Nutrition Facts panel on the box of Frosted Flakes and consulted a nifty little booklet with a great section under the heading of Glycemic Index of Foods. This 85 page booklet is entitled The Bible Cure for Weight Loss & Muscle Gain and given it's size, it could be called the Pocket Bible to Healthy Eating! This book is written by Dr. Don Colbert and is available on the Internet for about $8.00. When it comes to obesity and diabetes, "...the higher the glycemic index number, the worse off you are." Says Dr. Colbert. Few experts in the field will argue this point so let's look at the product and see how it adds up on the scale of the 1-10 "worse off" scale. The "ingredients" list starts off with the most abundant in the product and works it's way down to the least. First on the list is "milled CORN". So let's check the glycemic index and see where corn stacks up. All foods are compared to pure glucose, which sets the standard at 100 points. Dr. Colbert's glycemic index categorizes foods into EXTREEMLY HIGH@>100 points, HIGH @80-100 points, MODERATELY HIGH @60-80 points, MODERATE @40-60 points & LOW @< 40. Corn is in the EXTREEMLY HIGH category. According to Dr. Colbert, eating foods from this category will put you on the fast track towards obesity and diabetes. The next ingredient on the list is SUGAR, then malt flavoring, then HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, another type of sugar. Dr. Colbert states "one of the most important reasons for our epidemic of obesity is our high intake of refined sugars and starches." He states that the average consumption of refined sugars in the USA is one hundred and fifty pounds per person! The other ingredient of Kellogg's "Sugar" Frosted Flakes that adds to the problem is fiber, the LACK of it! This kid's breakfast cereal has only one gram of fiber per serving, making it score near the bottom of the league with only 1 gram per serving. There you have it, Extremely High Glycemic Index: STRIKE ONE! Way too much refined sugar, STRIKE TWO! Not enough fiber, STRIKE THREE! YOU'RE OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUT! So when Tony the Tiger and Derek Lee tell you that Kellogg's Frosted Flakes is part of a healthy breakfast, realize they are partly true but it's only the milk that is healthy. My advice is to use the milk on a bowl of cereal that DOES have some nutritional value, lots of fiber and less refined sugars. Find a serving with at least 3-8 grams of fiber per serving and made from grains that are more natural and less refined. Shredded wheat, oatmeal and Kashi come to mind.
On the Web: Contact Rob at holston[at]kpunet.net ©2006 Publish A Letter on SitNews Read Letters/Opinions
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