Cereal Bars - Saccharine sweet... (Cereal Bars in General)

Member Name: xxsupergirlxo

Product:	Cereal Bars in General
Date:	19/12/08 (65 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Handy on the go

Disadvantages: possibly quite unhealthy

Cereal Bars - a bar of cereal. Just what it says on the tin. I'm not sure if it sounds totally appetizing. I have disliked cereal ever since my grandmother shovelled it down my throat when I was a tot; but amazingly I quite like cereal bars. The humble cereal bar ranges from something plain and simple like a Kelloggs Special K bar, to a sweet and sickly Rice Krispies squares bar. There's a choice for more or less everyone out there, even the muesli lovers - ever heard of 'Eat Natural' bars? (They're gorgeous by the way!). There's no arguing that most kids absolutely love them. They're easy to slip into a lunchbox or put one in your bag or pocket for later. They're easy and simple, but is there something sinister hidden inside the shiny little wrapper? Oh yes there is.

Next time you have a cereal bar, look on the back in the ingredients section. FAT. SUGAR. CARBOHYDRATE. All great in moderation but it's usually excessive in cereal bars. They've got much higher sugar than in a cereal itself. They are - in fact - more like sweets than cereal. Therefore, you should eat them/give them to your kids in moderation.

Quoted from the BBC website,
"Coco-Pops Cereal and Milk Bar - fat 32%,saturated fat 24%, sugar 41%
Rice Krispies Cereal and Milk Bar - fat 35%,saturated fat 29%, sugar 33%
Fruit and Nut Break Breakfast Bar - fat 25%,saturated fat 6%,sugar 22%
Nutrigrain Apple Morning Bar - fat 20%, saturated fat - 4%, sugar 32%
Tracker Breakfast bar (banana) - fat 43%"

Do you not think that these figures are a little scary? Next time you pick up a 'low calorie' cereal bar, think twice. These cereal bars could be causing the stubborn love handles on your middle that you just can't get rid of. You could make healthier snacks for a lot less money, like carrot sticks or a healthy sandwich. These will sustain you for a lot longer without the sugar.

My opinion: I think cereal bars are very handy as (shock) I don't eat breakfast. This is because I am definitely NOT a morning person and I have a metro to catch in the mornings. Therefore I can't waste time fluffing around in the kitchen, so I grab a cereal bar. This might be a contributer to the reason I am a little chubby, even though I do a lot of exercise and eat pretty healthily. I'm not blaming it all on cereal bars, because I know that's silly. I just believe everything in moderation is fine, so go easy on the cereal bars; it's a lot better just to eat a bowl of that cereal.

Summary: A bit of both worlds. Handy but unhealthy