Seeking a truly sugarless breakfast cereal

[screamingflea]

My body is getting less and less tolerant of sugar as the months go by. First things like Sugar Smacks became a problem (wonder why?) and then regular granola. Then I found I had trouble with toast (complex carbs and all) but I could eat organic granola sweetened with evaporated cane juice.

Now I'm bonking with that too. On my last trip to the grocery store I looked at the ingredients of all the grown-up cereals like corn flakes, and some variation of sugar was the second or third listed. I've tried plain oatmeal and I have trouble with that as well because it's pure carbs.

I've found myself leaning more toward eggs and meat for breakfast, but of course that isn't all that healthy either. I like conventional breakfast foods, so I don't want to go weird with stir-fry or anything first thing in the morning.

Any ideas?

[Kestra]

Try looking up muesli. It's various grains (often oatmeal based) with nuts, dried fruit etc. You can just make it yourself with whatever ingredients and ratios you prefer. Also, for oatmeal, I usually eat mine with pecans, my husband with almonds. No reason it has to be plain. I have trouble with breakfast stuff too. Toast seems ok only if I have it with non-sugar peanut butter. Sometimes I do fried potatos or hashbrowns with beans/salsa and a little veggies. I always add some type of protein to every meal. I still eat every 2-3 hours, but without the protein I'd be starving in an hour.

[herbgeek]

Another idea is to put protein powder in your oatmeal, to reduce the impact of the carbs.

[Rosemary]

If you don't like the idea of eating oatmeal, I don't think there are any breakfast "cereals" you'll like, either. Since they are almost all made from flour of some type or other, they will be faster-digesting carbs than oatmeal is. Toast is also made from flour. Wheat flour has a higher glycemic index than oatmeal. What kind of oatmeal did you try?

My daughter's favorite breakfast is a bowl of quinoa with a little butter and salt. That's one of the higher-protein grains. When we ran out of quinoa last week she decided to have barley instead - another low glycemic index grain. You could also try wild rice. Here's a recipe for a wild rice porridge that helped to make a Minneapolis restaurant famous. I haven't made it, and would change it significantly if I did to cut sugar and fat, but it might be a starting point for you: http://www.culinate.com/books/collec...nomin_porridge

You can make your own granola with very little sugar. I use 8 c old-fashioned oats, 1 tbsp cinnamon and < 1/4 c each honey and canola oil.

Cinnamon is reported to have beneficial effects on blood sugar - you might want to look it up, because I can't remember the details. But perhaps sprinkling it on your oatmeal would make a difference. Or buy whole oat groats rather than the flakes for slower-digesting food.

I used to make my own muesli and eat it with plain, unsweetened yogurt. I would buy different grains in rolled flake form - many natural foods stores have oats, barley, rye, quinoa, and spelt in this form. I mixed it with chopped nuts and some dried fruit. You could also toast the grain flakes before adding the nuts and dried fruit to make a sugar-free granola-type cereal (without any clumps).

I summarized some data on the glycemic indices of grains and flours here:
http://rosemaryevergreen.blogspot.co...oods-diet.html

[JaneV2.0]

Eggs and meat are a perfectly healthy meal, despite persistent propaganda to the contrary, but here's a recipe for a hot cereal substitute with ricotta and pumpkin--and only one egg you could replace with Eggbeaters if you were so inclined:

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/bre...pumpcereal.htm

I've made something similar without the pumpkin and it was tasty.

[Anne Lee]

Grapenuts. http://www.postcereals.com/cereals/g...uts/#nutrition

[lhamo]

flea,

I just finished reading "Real Food: What to Eat and Why" by Nina Planck. You might want to see if your library has it. Although I don't fully accept all of her arguments, it does provide a good overview of the scientific literature that debunks a lot of commonly held beliefs about diet and nutrition.

Another book you might want to look for is "Urban Pantry" She's got a recipe in there for "Hippy Hotcakes" and another suggestion for whole-grain breakfast cereal alternatives.

lhamo

[redfox]

My DH makes oatmeal every morning, with chopped cashews, dried cranberries, cinnamon, and sometimes dried pineapple & fresh banana. Sooo good!

[puglogic]

If you're eating the little packets of oatmeal filled with junk and sweeteners, then yeah, I can understand why your body wouldnt' like it. Mine doesn't either. GOOD oatmeal cooked and dosed with fruit and nuts it loves.

Other breakfasts I eat: Yogurt with fruit and nuts; shredded wheat with berries; eggbeaters with turkey bacon. I've been meaning to try these too: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/fo...Patties-236930

[screamingflea]

Thanks for the great suggestions everyone!

As to the oatmeal I've been using, it's been generic old-fashioned oats. I usually cook it up with various dried fruits, and chopped almonds and cashews. Sweetened with lower-glycemic sucanat, and watered down with soy milk. I don't think it can get any more politically correct than that.

I like the idea of the quinoa cereal. I might also try brown-rice kheer, again with the soy milk.

I will look up some of these recipes and cookbooks you've offered too. Jane, could you repost the recipe or a link to it? It didn't seem to come through, and I've love a closer look. Thanks all!