By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

October 19, 2015

• The story behind Kellogg’s corn flakes
• Your cereal might be Round-Up ready, but are you?
• Here’s your best bet for breakfast

No matter how much I warn against it, I still have several patients who eat cereal – like corn flakes – for breakfast.

Well, there’s actually a very interesting story behind corn flakes.

John Henry Kellogg, the inventor of this crunchy breakfast cereal, considered sexual activity to be a very unhealthy activity. He also believed rich and flavorful foods increased sexual desire.

So when Mr. Kellogg created corn flakes to be part of a bland diet, he believed they would help decrease sexual urges.

Today it’s easy to laugh about this misguided belief system. But these days, there’s nothing funny about corn flakes – or most other breakfast cereals.

The majority of them contain GMO corn and corn starch. If there’s sugar in it, there’s a good chance it comes from GMO sugar beets. Both of these crops are considered “Round-Up ready.”

This means the crops can be sprayed with as much of the pesticide as the farmer deems appropriate.

While that might sound like a great idea from the farmer’s standpoint, it’s bad news for you. That’s because the main chemical in Round-Up, called glyphosate, is a dangerous poison.

When you regularly eat Round-Up ready foods, it stops your body from detoxifying itself. It destroys healthy strains of intestinal bacteria, and causes overgrowth of some very nasty and unhealthy bacteria. It damages DNA, causes cancer and acts as an endocrine (hormone) disruptor in human cells.

So while older versions of cereals like corn flake might not have dampened your sex drive as Mr. Kellogg believed, there’s a very real chance the newer versions do. After all, who feels like having sex when they’re in toxic overload and their hormones are out of whack?

This is why I tell my patients to toss their cereal in the trash…and avoid the cereal aisle altogether when they’re shopping. Instead, go for the good stuff.

You’ll be much better off eating a full meal for breakfast. It’s the best time of the day to get plenty of protein, something most cereals are seriously lacking in.

Starting your day with a high protein breakfast will keep you from getting hungry throughout the day and prevent sugar highs and lows that can leave you feeling wiped-out.

It will also give you an energy boost that will keep you going all day long.

You could go for a pastured egg scramble with spinach, peppers, onions and other veggies. Maybe a plain Greek yogurt topped with fruits, berries and nuts. Even a small grass-fed steak or organic chicken breast with eggs-over-easy and a bowl of fruit will do the trick. Add a few organic, plant-based carbohydrates and you’ll be good to go.

This leaves the door wide open for your morning food choices…ones that are much healthier than processed and GMO-laden cereals.

I’m alternating days with an organic fruit shake made with one of the non-dairy milks (like coconut, hemp, almond or rice) with one heaping teaspoon each of ground flax seed, hemp hull husks and chia seeds. I add cinnamon/honey too. Don’t be surprised if you start eliminating better, always a plus.

Go ahead.

Ditch the cereal and try eating some real food for breakfast. You won’t believe how much better you’ll feel.

Sources:

Swanson, N, et al. Genetically engineered crops, glyphosate and the deterioration of health in the United States of America. Journal of Organic Systems, 9(2), 2014 ORIGINAL PAPER.

Samsel A, et al. Glyphosate, pathways to modern diseases II: Celiac sprue and gluten intolerance. Interdiscip Toxicol. 2013 Dec;6(4):159-184.

Koller VJ, et al. “Cytotoxic and DNA-damaging properties of glyphosate and Roundup in human-derived buccal epithelial cells.” Arch Toxicol. 2012 May;86(5):805-13.

Gasnier C. et al. “Glyphosate-based herbicides are toxic and endocrine disruptors in human cell lines.” Toxicology. (2009) 262: 184–191.

Ratliff J, et al. Consuming eggs for breakfast influences plasma glucose and ghrelin, while reducing energy intake during the next 24 hours in adult men. Nutr Res. 2010 Feb;30(2):96-103.

Fallaize R, et al. Variation in the effects of three different breakfast meals on subjective satiety and subsequent intake of energy at lunch and evening meal. Eur J Nutr. 2013 Jun;52(4):1353-9.