You Won't See Cereal 🥣 the Same Way Ever Again
May 15, 2021
Crying over spilled milk?
All I did was water down the sweet pleasures of a common sugar trap?!
Oh Snap! Crackle! Pop! (rice krispies)
Let me tell you something you probably already know as amazing followers of my Newsletter – I’m not a fan of the insanely fabricated foods, manufactured monstrosities that we are so often marketed to and enticed to feed our families.
Additional Resources:
Michael Moss - new book, Hooked: Food, Free Will, and How the Food Giants Exploit Our Addictions
- the companion Workbook to work through those food relationships, highly recommendMichael Moss - Salt, Sugar, Fat - How the Food Giants Hooked Us
- one of the first books I ever read on the topic
After today, you won’t ever see cereal the same again, and no trix here… and that’s a good thing because I’m ‘bout to call a spade a spade as midwestern farmers say, pull back the curtains and spit some bitter truth in your direction.
But before I do that I want to ask you a quick favor as a reader and follower - to simply share this post or this newsletter with a friend. If you believe this Newsletter brings you value, then I sure hope it will do the same for someone you know and perhaps someone you love.
Please do us all a favor and share these words with 3 people you know to share these good messages for health and empowerment 💪 😁 🌱 👏
Okay, now for this week’s conversation,
Let’s go!
Oreos for Breakfast – might as well right, “milk’s favorite cookie”
A big bowl of Hershey Kisses with milk to start the day – ohh yayyy!
I have several serious concerns for these serious serial cereal offenders… and if you have known me for any amount of time in my past, you might be questioning this whole post like, “But Jon, I thought you loved cereal!!?? Like, I’ve seen you eat it a million times?! What gives, you hypocrite!"“
Trivia Time:
How many of these characters do you know and cereals can call out!?
Lucky who hunts for gold with an Irish accent and escapes little children as he chases the rainbow? ☘️ 🌈
Tony the Tiger who boldly and proudly belts out, “they’re greeaaat!” 🐅 🐯
a strange Captain of a Ship lost at sea, who had a crazy love for crunchy cereals himself. 👨✈️
Toucan Sam who has fun in the tree tops flying around his colorful loops of fruit falling from the trees?
a similar Bird who was pretty crazy if you ask me, he was more than a little cuckoo for puffs of chocolate for breakfast (I wonder why?) 🍫
a Silly Rabbit trickster who couldn’t keep his grubby little paws off the kids’ cereals, no matter how many tricks he played! 🐇 💨
Buzz the Bee, flying around like a sweet little cherubim to brighten our day, and also our morning breakfast with just a hint of honey? 🍯
The 3 Elf Brothers (at least they look the part, either that or Musketeers) who delight our taste buds and whisper in our ears, Snap! Crackle! Pop!
The whole Stone Age Family who were the only ones I know to actually host a whole television show cross-marketed into a cereal most known for it’s fruity stones
The Count Dracula knock off character who spoke wonders of spook as he shows off his fondness of chocolate! 🍫
Puffs of Chocolate and Peanut Butter combined together – primarily marketed to BIPOC families for reasons you can estimate for yourselves.. 🍬 🍫 🥜
Looking back at these nostalgic and notable characters commonly thrown into children’s programming for enticing advertising spots today, I can’t help but laugh… the answers are clearly scripted in the scenes themselves, cast behind magical melodies, bright colors, and cute and cuddly cartoon animals that resemble their favorite Saturday Morning Cartoons’ friends!
Food Addiction and addictive behavior was showcased to us clear as day, right before our very eyes!
Trix the Rabbit – would go out of his way to deceive children in order to grab what was not rightfully his..
The Cocoa Puffs Cuckoo Bird – who was just insanely crazy and kookoo about those Cocoa Puffs 🦅
Do they show signs of addiction to the cereal perhaps….? You be the judge.
I recently went on social media sharing some photos of cereals I found at a local grocery store.
I found candy-cereals, like legit candy and cookie cereals – [find the whole post here] and boyyyyy, did I start get some hate-mail / trolling messages. Some were defensive, some were empathetic and some were just throwing random comments of dismissive ideologies with respect to the credible truths for nutrition I lead my career to serve for others.
“Who cares as long as it tastes good??!”
“Hey! These taste good though, so your loss!”
“Don’t be the food police” 👮
“Let people have what they want if it makes them feel good for a little bit. The world’s going through a lot right now..”
If you know me at all, you probably know I care about people deeply, and strive to serve with an empathetic heart and a call for leadership.
You might also know that I’m somewhat of an idealist 💡
I’m also someone who loves to educate, debate, discuss, and bring topics to light in order to truly enlighten and empower the common consumer. And as it pertains to cereals… I GET IT!! IT SUCKS TO HAVE THIS CRUCIAL CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCE BASHED BY SOME GUY ON SOCIAL MEDIA. It took me probably close to 5 years to fully phase out most of my cereal consumption. It’s not the devil, but it definitely ain’t our savior --- and let’s not fool ourselves people.. candy cereal is obviously candy cereal, and honestly, most other cereals are just random hodgepodges of glyphosate grains stripped of their biology then sugar coated and splashed with another far too processed “food” of dairy milk. In other words, most cereals are just a mixture of wheat, corn, oats, or other monocrop grain with tons of added sugars and sweeteners, sometimes flavors, and a sprinkle sodium.
These are definitely not “part of a healthy breakfast,” yo.
Like, I knew Cooooooookie Crisp and Reese’s Puffs were the most famous elders in this space as long time notoriously candy and cookie cereal candidates, but it seemed as if they were the only ones… until I began to look a little closer and pay a little more attention.
And if you remember from weeks’ past – if oftentimes is rewarding when we pay a little more attention, meaning we reward ourselves if we just look a little closer, think a little deeper.
I found brand new cereals to me that give parents just another excuse to give into their child’s cries for sugar every meal of the day, or even to indulge in themselves for a sweet late night treat.
But let me tell you, we just as often don’t fully grasp the long-term consequences of our every day decisions, especially as it pertains to our nutrition and its impact on our health. That is, if you want to call candy cereals as “part of our nutrition.”
I even started to see old cereals in a brand new light…
Pop-Tarts Cereals – this one is self-explanatory – “tart” aka pastry aka highly refined manufactured food product dessert for breakfast
Cinnamon Toast Crunch – Glorified crunchy Cinnamon Roll Churros (duh, how could I overlook this one)
Cinnabon Cinnamon Swirls – again, self explanatory – cinnamon rolls for breakfast is a quick path for energy crash and late morning nap or “hey mom, can I go back to bed…?” or “Why am I so tired again?” right after eating.
Then a few days later an old friend sent me a photo of Little Debbie Cosmic Brownie Cereals – and I almost lost it. I went online and found Little Debbie done took over the cereal aisle now!! She’s got a whole line of Little Debbie Snack Cereals now! How messed up is this…
Now, I get the fanciful food creative craft, but please oh please can we be honest about the different effects of foods like these and real whole food ingredients…? I’m all about culinary inspiration, but there’s a much larger issue here that no one seems to be having.. especially amidst the pandemic where social isolation, metabolic disease, death and depression, and mental health all were part of a global debate for the first time in history.
You see, these Little Debbie Snacks were pretty famous around my household. Sold dirt cheap, often dumped to food pantries by the truck loads, and guess what.. they are super quick pleasure traps.
Every person in my family has struggled with some form of ultra processed food addiction I would say, and I can point to clear complicated relationships with Little Debbie Snacks (or similar brands) for each one. (maybe you can relate, and that’s okay for us to speak the truth about these things, so feel free to share)
For my mom and my aunt, it was those famous Oatmeal Crème Pies, another aunt, the Nutter Butters . And my brother, Zebra Cakes, and for me.. well those dark chocolate cosmic brownies were one of my favorites. But here’s the kicker right.. most of the time I never had just one, and I bet you can relate to this, but I couldn’t have just one…
I was fond of the oatmeal creme pies and ding-dongs and hostess cakes too, but I never ate just one..
No, I’d end up eating a whole box.
Along with the other chocolate snacks of Ho-ho’s and ding dongs, swiss rolls and chocolate cupcakes filled with crème. I would freeze them and enjoy them cold for richer enjoyment, pleasure.. and deeper darker traps of food addiction I didn’t even know could exist. Like I said, I wouldn’t eat just one.. I would end up eating a whole box…
I can still recall the sick feelings in my stomach I would get after eating them and I would feel sick for 2-3 days and after a week or two, I would forget the whole event occurred and go back again
And again
And again
Now looking back, the sickening disgust hits me in a completely different way.
I’m now here preaching for protection while these products are profiting from overlooked biological addiction to ultra-processed food junks lined on grocery store shelves (and cereal aisles) to feed families. How disgusting…
Now, as I briefly mention in my original post, I have several concerns for these serious serial cereal offenders…
Mental health
Diabetes & Obesity
Childhood Obesity and Juvenile Diabetes and NAFLD in children
Addiction and Learned Addiction Behavior
Eating Disorders and Disordered Eating
Depression and Anxiety, Mood Irregularities
ADHD/ADD, OCD and others
Sensory Processing
And more
High consumption of sugar (especially for breakfast) can lead to cognitive and behavioral challenges for the rest of the day, especially for children, delaying their success in school & even their emotional stability, stress response and so much more…
Mental Health issues have been on the rise, and high consumption of sugar can lead to hormonal dysfunction, high hits of #dopamine, crashing lows & strongly impact rates of depression, anxiety, irritability, decision making
I could go on, but you know I’d rather host a discussion instead of ranting here alone 💯
Let me know how you really feel about this topic and feel free to share with a fellow health advocate friend or family member. 💙
Every new season brings new delight and new challenges. This is the ebb and flow of life and our values will continue to be our guiding compass leading our steps forward.
We Zig and We Zag, as we learn to adapt. We need help, and we’re in this together! 💪 🤝
