Health Care

The right cereal makes all the difference

By Eileen Behan, R.D.

Hot or cold, a bowl of whole grain cereal with fresh fruit and skim milk starts your day the right way. It may even help lower your blood pressure: The National Institutes of Health’s key study, DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension), found that a daily diet low in saturated fat with plenty of fruits and vegetables and two to three servings of nonfat or lowfat dairy lowered pressure in those with elevated levels. But the version of the DASH diet that yielded the biggest drop also kept sodium to 1,500 mg per day. (The American average is 3,300 mg.)

A low sodium diet means fewer canned foods, salty snacks, fast foods—plus carefully chosen cereals. Popular breakfast cereals may contain 300 to 350 mg of sodium per small bowl; a cup of milk has 140 mg. So it’s easy to begin your day with nearly a third of your daily allotment of sodium.

It helps to switch to calcium-fortified soy milk (26 mg per cup), but the real key is lower-sodium whole grain cereals such as shredded wheat and oatmeal. Add fruit, rich in potassium, which neutralizes sodium, and you’re golden.

What to Do
Read labels to find a whole grain cereal that is low in sodium. Look for one that has less than 140 mg per serving.


Sources: New England Journal of Medicine, Jan. 4, 2001; American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, March 2003; National Institutes of Health, Publication No. 06-4082.

source:www.healthyupdates.com