While I strive to eat foods that are made from natural ingredients, I am finding it increasingly difficult to find them on store shelves. Most sweetened yogurts, cereals and breakfast-bars are unnaturally flavored and for the discerning consumer it’s frustrating to read words like “Natural” and “Light” on the cover only to find that either artificial sweeteners or various forms of Corn Syrup are the key ingredients.

Now, when I spoke about the “Natural” label sometime back, it’s coincidental that I used Nature Valley’s Trail Mix Bars as an example of misleading box-labeling. “100% Natural”, proclaimed that box, but of course it contained High Maltose as well as High Fructose Corn Syrups.

This is why when I initially set out to review “Nature Valley Oats ‘N Honey 100 Percent Natural Cereal” I was bracing myself for a similar ingredients list. But I was pleasantly surprised: as far as ingredients go, this cereal is indeed 100% natural. So what’s the skinny? Read on …

Disclosure: I was sent one (1) 14oz box of this cereal to try and then present a product review on FitnessMantra. As always you can be assured that my reviews will always be unbiased, irrespective of whether I purchase the product or receive it to review.
Product: Nature Valley Oats ‘N Honey 100 Percent Natural Cereal
Manufacturer: Nature Valley brand of General Mills
Presentation: 14oz standard box with cereal in sealed plastic packaging
Serving Size: 1 cup (56g)
Allergy information: Contains Soy, Wheat and Milk ingredients
Nutrition Information: Here is the nutrition label information for Nature Valley Oats ‘N Honey 100 Percent Natural Cereal (source: Products section of the Nature Valley website):

Positives:

1. Yes, it’s 100% Natural: When it’s so rare these days to find a processed product that can still call itself all natural, I would rate this the biggest positive. This cereal uses a combination of sugar, malt extract, honey and brown sugar syrup for sweetening purposes.
2. A plethora of whole grains: Although rice and rice flour are key ingredients, this cereal also includes the whole grain variety of oats, wheat, corn and also wheat bran and corn bran. This means you get the benefits of fiber as well as longer periods of feeling full (an important requirement of a good breakfast)
3. Calorie-wise this cereal is perfect for breakfast. Prepared with 1/2 cup skim milk, it has 270 calories with just 25 calories from fat.
4. 4g of protein and 4g of fiber: Thanks to the whole grains you get this double advantage of nourishing protein and disease-fighting and bowel-helping fiber.
5. Taste-wise the granola pieces add a delightful twist to the whole cereal-eating experience. They are so crunchy and sweet, I found myself hunting and finishing them off first!

Negatives:

1. In my opinion, nutrition-wise there is only one negative and, to be honest, I would like to make as little a deal of this as possible: the cereal has 16g of sugar. Yes, that is to be expected of a product which is Oats ‘N Honey after all and has granola to boot, but in fact others in my household who tasted this actually commented about how excessively sweet it was. The only good thing (if you can call it that) is this sugar is from all natural sources (especially honey which is a treasure trove of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants) and while I would like to maintain sugar in a single serving to under 10g if possible, I don’t want to be a big naysayer.
2. Although I was not given any price information, business-wire reports that 14oz box retails for $3.99 and Walgreen’s is, in fact, selling it for that much. This is a little pricier than comparable alternatives so that is something to also keep in mind.
3. Finally, this is more of a texture issue than anything related to nutrition so it’s nothing major: While eating the cereal, especially the rice crisps, I could feel a noticeable powdery substance along my teeth and it was consistent across multiple bites. I am just mentioning this so readers can comment and say if they noticed this too or if it was unique to the sample/batch I was sent and something was corrected/modified slightly in later packages.

Conclusion:

Although I did mention the slightly excessive sugar content in the cereal, if 16g of sugar from natural sources is what it takes for people to switch from a Denny’s Grand Slam sausage breakfast to a healthful whole grains one, then so be it. As an aside, a good alternative might be Honey Nut Cheerios, but although it restricts itself to 9g of sugar per serving, you also only get 3g of protein and just 2g of fiber. Also with just 150 calories per serving, I think it might be less satisfying - a good breakfast should probably be more in the 250-300 calorie range and if you achieve that with a glass of orange juice your sugar intake is back to comparable levels with this Nature Valley Cereal anyway!

Bottom line: don’t focus too much on the sugar aspect and if something like a Natural Oatmeal breakfast is too strict, at least begin with all natural cereals like this one and work your way toward even healthier options.

And Finally, Just For Fun:

If you thought food-product-reviews had to be purely about taste and nutrition, think again! Sarah of Hollywood Flakes presents a singularly unique review of this same product and in my opinion, General Mills should hire that little reviewer to be their product mascot. I bet sales would soar! Behold:

- Source: Hollywood Flakes

Technorati Tags: health, nutrition, granola, product review, food review, general mills, Nature Valley Oats ‘N Honey 100 Percent Natural Cereal

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Welcome to “FitnessMantra Weekend”, your once-a-week health news update. As always you can also stay updated with the latest in fitness news by subscribing separately to the Fitness Mantra del.icio.us feed.

This week two complementary posts about the benefits of fruits and vegetables are worth mentioning. First off, surprise surprise - Americans are still refusing to eat their veggies reports an MSNBC article that goes on to say that for more than a decade, less than a third of us are eating the daily recommended quantities of fruits and vegetables - the government wants us to have 5 servings, combined, everyday. (Remember, an easy way to determine serving sizes for fruits and vegetables is that one serving fits in the palm of your hand)

Not only are fruits and vegetables lower-calorie, they also have minerals and fiber that help guard against chronic diseases and cancer, the CDC says.

OK. So let’s say you are now convinced and are all set to grab those pesky fruits and vegetables by the horns, err…. stalks. But then, it’s the old I-don’t-have-time problem again: no time to select them fresh from the market, no time to store them carefully (and use these perishables on time before they expire), no time to peel them, no time to cut them - it’s an endless stream of “no time”s.

Now, canned stuff would have been easier if only they were healthful, right?! Well, guess what? Canned Fruits, Veggies Are Healthy, Too, according to a WebMD article. Multiple studies contend that at least in certain cases, the canned variety is actually better for you! Consider:

Fresh tomatoes have less available lycopene than canned tomatoes or tomato sauce. According to one study included in the review, tomato paste has more than six times the lycopene of fresh tomatoes.

Another study from the late 1990s suggested that vegetables such as green beans and spinach lose about 75% of their vitamin C after being stored in the refrigerator for a week. The research suggested that the canned or frozen versions of these vegetables may be more nutritious than their fresh counterparts that have been stored for many days.

In other words, while in most cases, the best way to eat fruits and vegetables would probably be on the same day, fresh of the farmer’s market, most of us end up refrigerating a bulk of our purchased produce anyway and in such cased we are actually better off with the canned variety.

“Fresh produce is nutritionally better when it is used within a few days of picking,” the statement read. “Canned produce is picked and canned at its peak, so even though the heating process destroys some vitamins, the majority of the nutrients remain.”

So get your 5 servings of fruits of vegetables today (and don’t worry too much if these days you are not using a vegetable peeler as much as you are a can opener!)

Now, onto the week’s top health and fitness stories:

1. Canned Fruits, Veggies Healthy, Too: Think fresh fruits and vegetables are always the most nutritious? Think again.
2. Breast cancer another reason to limit beef: A major new study analysis suggests that eating too much red meat raises the risk of breast and colorectal cancer at least for some women.
3. Diabetes soars in the under fives: The number of young children with Type 1 diabetes has risen dramatically in the last 20 years, a study suggests.
4. Obesity May Up Prostate Cancer Deaths: Obesity may more than double the odds of prostate cancer death among men newly diagnosed with the disease.
5. Enjoy Food Dates Without Wrecking Your Diet: Try these tips to make those romantic food dates less fattening.
6. Surgery Risks Higher for Obese: Obese people have a much higher risk of potentially deadly complications following surgery, a new study shows.
7. Gaining Ground on Weight Gain: The belt has to go up a notch; your underwear elastic is forming a geometric pattern on your waist; the dryer seems to be shrinking everything. It’s weight gain!
8. Tricks to Lose Those Last 5 Pounds: You’re eating a healthy diet and getting plenty of exercise, but no matter what you do, you can’t seem to move the needle on the scale.
9. Heart-Healthy Diet and Exercise: Lower High Blood Pressure and Cholesterol Naturally: Perhaps you’re wondering: Why can’t medicine alone do the trick? Does lifestyle really make a difference?
10. Cocoa Boosts “Good” Cholesterol: Drinking cocoa each day may boost levels of HDL (”good”) cholesterol, Japanese researchers report.
11. Americans still refusing to eat their veggies: Less than one-third of adults eat recommended daily servings, survey shows
12. Purple grape juice best among all juices: Many people start their breakfast with a glass of orange juice. But a new study published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry suggests that a glass of grape juice may be better than any other juice.
13. Spain bans skinny sizes on mannequins: The program is aimed at changing the perception that super-skinny women are fashionable — an image some believe contributes to eating disorders.
14. Teens’ diets may lead to weight gain: Teens who go on diets to drop some pounds are more likely to skip breakfast and binge eat, which may at least partly explain why they put on more weight over time than their peers who don’t diet, a new study shows.
15. Exercise gives a boost to brain cells: Exercise boosts brainpower by building new brain cells in a brain region linked with memory and memory loss, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.
16. Even Light Exercise Helps Smokers Quit: Even short bouts of light exercise such as strolling can help smokers quit by reducing cigarette cravings and withdrawal symptoms, say scientists at the University of Exeter in the UK.
17. Weight gain can speed testosterone decline: Gaining too much weight can accelerate the decline in testosterone levels that accompanies aging, a new study shows.
18. Parents ‘don’t recognise obesity’: The government is launching a plan to tackle obesity by helping parents recognise the warning signs that their children are overweight.
19. Obesity reduces odds of going home after stroke: Obese individuals who suffer a stroke are significantly less likely to be discharged home and tend to stay in the hospital longer than lean individuals who suffer a stroke, researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles have observed.
20. Sally Squires - And the Winner Is . . . Well, Nobody: Just because a new study finds that the high-protein Atkins diet doesn’t appear to cause the heart disease once feared is no reason to celebrate by loading up on high-fat fare.
21. Fizzy drinks associated with diabetes - study: There is no denying that sugar-loaded soft drinks are having “a negative impact on health”, Dr Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Centre for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, said
22. Eating Disorders: Not Just for Women: Males, they now believe, appear to be vulnerable to social pressures to achieve the perfect body similar to those that have long plagued women.
23. Memory loss fear over obesity ops: Weight loss surgery could lead to a condition which can result in memory loss, according to US research.
24. Diabetes: a growing problem in newly-rich Asia: A cheese burger one day, lasagna the next and chicken nuggets instead of a bowl of noodles.
25. Fast-food chains to curb trans fat: FAST-food chains in Australia have voluntarily agreed to reduce the amount of harmful trans fats in their products, averting the possibility of government intervention.
26. Chemicals May Play Role in Rise in Obesity: Too many calories and too little exercise are undeniably the major factors contributing to the obesity epidemic, but several recent animal studies suggest that environmental exposure to widely used chemicals may also help make people fat.

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Have a great weekend!

Technorati Tags: health, fitness, health news, fitness news, health links, fitness links, del.icio.us, fruits, vegetables, serving sizes

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