Kellogg’s SmartStart: The Dumbest Start You Could Make Each Day?

The TV ads look simply amazing: a woman sitting on the floor and eating her cereal and explaining how easy it is for her to stay healthy. The secret, you ask? Why, she simply stuffs herself with Kellogg’s so-called “SmartStart” cereal every morning and she is sure to stop heart-disease right on its tracks.

Well, not so fast. Although Kellogg’s is one of a limited number of top “Breakfast Brands” like Quaker, General Mills or Kashi, it still lags far behind the rest in terms of healthful ingredients and is one of the biggest users of artificial sweeteners and trans fats in its products. Read on to know what these harmful artificial ingredients are and how they could be doing the heart more harm than good …

First take a look at the Kellogg’s Smart Start Healthy Heart Cereal’s Ingredient List and Nutrition Information: (adapted from the official website):

Isn’t it amazing that after everything you’ve heard and read about trans fats being bad for you and even recent news that High Fructose Corn Syrup being bad for your arteries, Kellogg’s continues to thumb its nose at you and other consumers and includes these ingredients in their high profile products. Note the presence of partially-hydrogenated soybean oil in the oat clusters and remember 0g trans-fat simply means that trans fats are between 0 and 0.5g. More than one serving a day and you are already increasing your risk for the heart-problems associated with trans fat consumption.

Also, while the good news is that SmartStart contains a very good fiber profile (5g total with both soluble and insoluble parts) and a healthy quantity (7g) of protein, watch out for the insulin rush as 17g of sugar invade your bloodstream from just one serving. It’s no surprise really since we have sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, molasses, honey, malt, corn syrup, polydextrose (you didn’t know that was a sweetener, now, did you?!), cinnamon and vanilla-flavor (count them - that’s 9!) all contributing to the product’s sweetness! Since when did we need this kind of a tongue-melter first thing in the morning?

It’s high time Kellogg’s stopped taking consumers for granted. It’s no surprise that all the women featured in the SmartStart website are holding onto their hearts (for dear life, I presume!) Fitness Mantra wishes their hearts the best of luck. If they are “Smart”, they will “Start” by dumping this cereal and grabbing some good old fashioned oatmeal or Cheerios and top it with a few nuts and berries. Now that is a breakfast that will actually do your heart some good!
[tags]Kellogg’s, SmartStart, breakfast, cereal[/tags]