Is Cereal or Oatmeal Better for Breakfast?

Beyond nutritional content or composition, the structure of food has a remarkable impact.

Food structure, not only nutrient composition, may be “critical for optimal health.” As you can see in the graph attached and at 0:12 in my video Flashback Friday: Which Is a Better Breakfast: Cereal or Oatmeal?, corn flakes and rice products cause a much greater spike in blood sugars than rice or corn on the cob, but it’s not just because of the added sugar.

“Even with identical chemistry [the same ingredients], food structure can make a major difference to biological and health outcome.” For example, if you compare the absorption of fat from peanuts versus the exact same number of peanuts ground into peanut butter, you flush more than twice the amount of fat down the toilet when you eat the peanuts themselves. Why? Because no matter how well you chew, small bits of peanuts trap some of that oil that makes it down to your colon, as you can see in the graph below and at 0:35 in my video, and the physical form of food not only alters fat absorption, but it alters carbohydrate absorption, as well.

Keep reading this article on NutritionFacts.org.