Can Cheerios Really Reduce Cholesterol?
by Vin Miller
General Mills has successfully marketed their Cheerios brand of cereal to the point of it becoming widely recognized as a healthy breakfast food that helps to prevent heart disease. Are their claims for real, or are they nothing more than marketing hype?
One thing we can be sure of is that General Mills is pushing Cheerios as a “heart healthy” food very aggressively. The Cheerios box proudly boasts it’s cholesterol lowering capabilities and prominently displays the very expensive American Heart Association seal of approval, and just in case you overlook them, there are plenty of Cheerios commercials to make sure that you get the message.
Is Cheerios a Cereal or a Drug?
For several years, the Cheerios box proudly proclaimed that the cereal can lower your cholesterol by 4% in 6 weeks. The FDA took exception and sent General Mills this warning letter back in May indicating that such a claim is in violation of FDA policy and classifies Cheerios as an unapproved drug. This is in spite of the reputation that the FDA has earned for succumbing to political and corporate influence.
According to the FDA, General Mills can still promote Cheerios as a product that reduces the risk of heart disease, and as expected, they’re taking full advantage of the remaining opportunity. Despite how little television I watch, I saw two Cheerios commercials just in the past week, both of which were entirely based on the claim that it reduces the risk of heart disease.
Can Cheerios Really Reduce the Risk of Heart Disease?
According to General Mills:
Oats contain soluble fiber that can help soak up some cholesterol. Too much cholesterol can build up in your arteries and put you at risk for heart disease. Think of oats as tiny sponges that can help soak up some cholesterol and naturally remove it from your body. The soluble fiber in oats binds some of the cholesterol in your digestive tract. This cholesterol is “trapped” and some of it is removed from your body naturally.
This perspective is seriously flawed and based on a symptom chasing mentality. According to the most up to date and unbiased beliefs, heart disease is typically caused by inflammation within the artery wall. In contrast, cholesterol doesn’t stick to artery walls and cause atherosclerosis simply because it’s circulating in the blood stream. A thorough investigation of heart disease research reveals that there is little to no correlation between saturated fat, dietary cholesterol, and heart disease. For more information on how we’ve been misled in regard to cholesterol and heart disease, read about The Cholesterol Myths and the Fat Head documentary.
As a crucial part of the cell membrane, cholesterol acts as a repair agent for damaged cells. As such, when cell damage occurs in the artery wall, the body produces additional cholesterol to repair it. Despite the fact that conventional medicine views high cholesterol as the cause of heart disease, it’s typically just a symptom of a deeper underlying problem that’s causing cell damage. Artificially lowering cholesterol hampers the body’s ability to repair itself, and by neglecting the true cause of the problem, allows it to get worse.
Even if it were a good thing to intentionally lower cholesterol, which it is for only a small percentage of the population, General Mills claims that Cheerios can lower cholesterol by 4%. If your total cholesterol is 300, 4% of that is 12 which isn’t much of a difference at all. In fact, this change is small enough to be considered a testing variance.
Cheerios Can Actually Increase Your Risk of Heart Disease!
There’s good reason why diabetes and heart disease are associated. The high blood sugar that’s characteristic of diabetes also causes the artery damage and inflammation that can lead to heart disease. Excessive consumption of carbohydrates is the primary cause of the blood sugar fluctuation that promotes these problems. As a grain based product, Cheerios is fairly high in carbohydrates, and when combined with other common breakfast foods, the amount of carbohydrate increases substantially.
The primary ingredient of Cheerios is whole grain which is another reason why it’s promoted as a healthy cereal. Although whole grains are healthier than refined grains, they’re still carbohydrates and can still convert into blood sugar rather quickly. Furthermore, Cheerios contains sugar and refined grain in addition to the whole grain which adds to the potential for blood sugar fluctuation.
A 1 cup serving of Cheerios contains 20 grams of carbohydrates. However, 1 cup isn’t much and most people are likely to eat 2 or more cups in one sitting which at least doubles the amount of carbohydrates. By adding a cup of milk and a modest 8 ounce glass of orange juice, the meal quickly approaches 100 grams of carbohydrates which for many people is enough for the entire day! Although many people would consider this type of breakfast to be healthy, it’s bound to cause blood sugar fluctuation and have a negative impact. In comparison, it would be quite a challenge to get this much carbohydrate from a truly healthy meal based on natural whole foods such as meat, fish, fruit, and vegetables.
Carbohydrates Aren’t the Only Concern
Partly due to the misguided criticism of saturated fat, grains have become the most popular food in the modern diet. However, they’re not as healthy as food manufacturers would like you to think. Grains have only been part of our diet for about 10,000 years which is less than 1% of our history. Research has shown that our height and brain size have decreased in association with this transition. Although some people can do well on whole grain foods, many people have trouble digesting grains, particularly the gluten that many of them contain, and encounter significant health problems as a result.
Do Your Food Choices Pass This Simple Test?
With all of the misleading marketing and conflicting information that exists in regard to food and health, trying to make healthy food choices can be overwhelming for the average person. Fortunately, there’s a simple way to get around this. If a food doesn’t come from the ground, an animal, a tree, or a plant and was unlikely to be consumed by humans more than 10,000 years ago, then it’s most likely not a healthy food. Considering how common processed food has become, most people are shocked by how much food this eliminates. As a result, they often fail to realize that there’s still a wide variety of delicious meats, fish, fruits, and vegetables to choose from. In contrast to Cheerios, these are the foods that a truly healthy and natural diet is based on.
This article is part of Real Food Wednesdays.
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“Think of oats as tiny sponges that can help soak up some cholesterol and naturally remove it from your body.”
So ridiculous!
Cheerios as a functional food? Interesting, my how these companies selectively point to a supposed benefit on the one hand and ignore the fact that their product is loaded with sugar and refined grains on the other which are hardly heart friendly.
Well done Vin Miller for pointing out the “hole” in their product!
Thanks for this clear explanation about cholesterol. It’s amazing how misunderstood it is!
Cheers,
~KristenM
(AKA FoodRenegade)
Great post! I gave up boxed cereal years ago and almost never miss it. When I do eat it I know what I’m getting into – junk food! If you want to take care of your heart, and brain and guts and endocrine system then eat some eggs for breakfast!
Thank you for sharing the truth. Slowly, but surely, the word is finally getting out about this age-old myth that dietary fat and cholesterol play a causal role in heart disease. The drug companies are bad enough, we certainly don’t need a food company spreading these lies about the benefits of lowering cholesterol too!
The cholesterol myth is the biggest medical scam of our time.
After my doctor told me my cholesterol was high 7 years ago, then threatened me with a lipitor prescription, I decided to do some research and am so glad that I did. None of these dozens and dozens of lipids study prove a cause between high cholesterol and heart disease. In fact, the Framingham study and other studies showed that mortality rates rised with lower cholesterol levels. Yes, believe it or not. Those with higher cholesterol live the longest.
It’s not our cholesterol levels that needs lowered, it’s our cholesterol fears:
http://productreviewratings.com/2009/01/how-to-lower-cholesterol-fears/
Thanks again,
Rob
Thanks for the comments guys!
Ann Marie – I completely agree!
Stephen – Sad but true. Cheerios certainly isn’t the only or the worst offender. Thanks for the compliment!
Kristen – Yes, amazing and very unfortunate, but that’s what we’re here for, right?
Alyss – Exactly! Although it takes some people a while to get used to, meat and vegetables are perfectly healthy breakfast choices as well. After all, it’s just another meal!
In regard to boxed cereal being junk, I recall reading about a study in which a group of rats were fed cereal, another group fed nothing, and the final group fed the cardboard box that the cereal came in. The group fed cereal died first and the group fed the cardboard lasted the longest! My wife loves cereal and I always ask her if she’s going to have some of the box.
Rob – It’s great to see that you chose the natural route and took responsibility for your health!
I see you’ve read Dr. Uffe Ravnskov’s book. It’s such a great book and am thankful for all the work he’s done. Yes, there are several aspects of the Framingham study that contradict conventional knowledge, but despite this, people still reference it to support the same old dogmatic perspective.
Vin, another winner. Thanks! Your explanation of the food myth crap that is spread all over the place warms my heart. I love it. I’ve read so much research for so many years that conflicts with common “knowledge” that I barely trust anybody any more.
Vin, I love your guideline of not eating food that would have been consumed 10,000 years ago. I’ve been using 50-100 years as a guide, but now that we are giving up grains I really need to rethink that. Good, informative post!
great point, i hope some people who believe the lies the tv tells them will read this and learn something. sadly cheerios have less crap in them then so many other boxes of cereal on the shelf. but a cure for high cholesterol due to their “spongelike” quality? eww and as Cheeseslave said, ridiculous. we just no longer have cereal in the house except maybe every few months for a treat for the kids, and then its kashi or whole foods brand or something. but fried eggs for breakfast fill a person up for so much less money and they are so much more filling and better for you.
Thanks you all for the comments!
Stephen – I’m glad you’re enjoying it!
I agree that it’s hard to trust anyone. We still have so much to learn and even experts with natural and holistic beliefs. This is why I’m such a big promoter of taking responsibility for your health and educating yourself as much as possible so that you can make informed decisions.
Cathy – I’m glad to hear that you like the guideline and think it’s great that you’re reevaluating the role of grains in your diet. I hope it brings you many improvements!
Emily – Yes, there’s a lot of brainwashing in television commercials and few people realize it. This is one of the many reasons why I don’t watch much of it, and when I do, I am reminded of how ridiculous some of the food and drug commercials are.
Since the middle of May 2009, I have been soaked up with the entertaining information in this site! and this is my first comment.
The more I know about how ridiculous agribusiness, big pharma and other entities that try to destroy our freedom, it just gets funnier and funnier that I am very amused. This should be the kind of entertainment everybody should be getting! BUT… it depends on the ego, personal preference and how encouraged or interested the person is.
Most of the music and movies I hear about today seems like a complete waste of time to me. Well, the media wants to distract us from the harsh reality through that, I realized. That’s why I don’t usually go to the movies or play video games. When I watch TV, I go for the documentary channels, but that is rare (but not health documentaries…). Instead, I spend a large fraction of my free time reading sites like this. You can tell I’m not fond of pop culture. Useless entertainment is just too much these days.
For my health:
• gave up soda and candies at 10 years old (2001)
• gave up sugar loaded breakfast cereals (July 2005)
• hated margarine [avoiding it as much as I can] (2004)
• ate less* white rice (now considering brown rice) (May 2008)
• exercising regularly [3x/week] (May 2008), barely any exercise before that.
• gave up pasteurized milk (May 2009)
• gave up fast food (June 2009)
• gave up whole wheat bread and most wheat products (June 2009)
• while increasing amount of whole foods you mention (they dominate my plate) (started May 2008)
• drank water 3.2-4% of my weight a day (in kg) [density of water 1 kg/liter] (April 2009)
* info: the average Filipino will eat >2 cups of white rice per meal, while I go for <1 cup.
* all of the ‘gave ups’ mean very rarely (0.3-2% probability)
anyway, more health milestones to come…
I wish this site very well, and let’s continue ridiculing those big entities by using the truth.
Everybody ultimately gets what they deserve.
Keep us health enthusiasts amused and entertained!
Again, wish you well,
Ægil
ps. Why do not you write something about the link to more useless entertainment and health?
Food marketers are all liars!!!! Like Michael Pollan says in his book, In Defense of Food, if a product has to make a claim to its health benefit than more than likely it is not healthy. Cheerio’s isn’t even a real food so how on earth can it be healthy. Vin I would love for you to write about food marketing, or have you already? Thanks for another great post.
Thanks for your comments!
Ægil – Thank you for the compliment, I’m glad you’re enjoying the site! It looks like you’re doing some great work to promote optimal health. Keep up the great work!
The information that we get from the media in regard to health and nutrition can certainly seem entertaining to someone who is knowledgeable. However, people who are less informed are falling for this stuff and it’s very unfortunate. As such, I tend to find the political and corporate influence on modern lifestyle to be much more infuriating than entertaining.
Thank you for your wishes! I already have discussed certain aspects of the political and corporate influences that I just described and will certainly continue to do so. However, ridicule is never my motivation. I talk about these things to help people make better decisions and improve their lives.
Don – I absolutely agree! Unfortunately, that’s the nature of most marketing and our food is a particularly bad place for it. Capitalism inspires growth in many ways, but healthy nutrition is certainly not one of them. To the dismay of large corporations, nature doesn’t lend itself well to marketing, patents, or efficiency.
I’ve written a good amount about political and corporate influence, but not marketing specifically. I’ll definitely write about it in the future, but will have to read up on it more first. Thanks for expressing your interest!
Vin, I get you, direct ridicule should not be the thing! What I mean is that if more people are informed about the truth, and act according to it, the big entities will truly get what they deserve, slowly but surely. I think you are doing a good job! I use words without thinking sometimes… sorry.
It does infuriate me a lot also, but at the same time entertained, because I am not very exposed to pop culture. It can also make me feel trapped sometimes because of my tender age (I do not know what do sometimes), but I believe in baby steps.
So I believe in:
Step by Step, slowly but surely, we’ll get to the goal! Do not worry about failure but use it as a tool to success. Be in the present moment with positive thinking! Be brave and healthy!
I surely have learnt a lot from the the links this site provides. Like Bud’s site, embraceliving, rat race trap, and zen habits. the tree effect has just occurred to me! the tree will continue growing!
Vin and friends, I thank you all for planting seeds of good health, but it depends if the person’s mind is fertile (ego). You all have done a good job for me!
The best of things will surely come to all of you, which means us.
I realized that do not need to wish you all well but I assure all of you: you all WILL truly do well!
I have never been that proud in my life! You all get an infinite amount of my support.
ps. I am currently adapting my family to the Diet Solution Program by Isabel de los Rios since April 14, 2009. This site has been a great help because it truly agrees!
But getting truly organic food in Malaysia can be a problem, anyway I’ll keep informing myself. Probably my family is eating ≤40% organic at this time. The future will be organic anyway…
There’s no way, as a diabetic, I could eat cheerios every day and have my cholesterol go down. Unless I had one cup and no other carbs with it, it would give me high blood sugar which would lead to increased triglycerides. No way, thanks.
Ægil – No need to apologize! I’m glad your finding this site to be helpful as well as the other great sites you mentioned. You are doing a great thing for yourself and your family and certainly have something to be proud about!
I know Isabel and her Diet Solution Program is excellent. In regard to the amount of organic food that is available to you, just do the best you can and don’t stress yourself out about it. That would be counterproductive to your health and happiness and would defeat the purpose.
Lisa – Thanks for sharing your experience and supporting my point.
It’s also encouraging to hear that you’re handling your diabetes responsibly. I know too many people who use an insulin pump and eat a lot the foods that got them into trouble in the first place.
Just curious, Vin:
How long do you think it will be before the fraudulent theories on fat and cholesterol come to an end once and for all? Sometimes I will feel encouraged and other times, I think we’re just as far away as ever.
The mainstream news media and press, with the help of big pharma just seem to get louder and louder whenever the truth steps in their way. The public just doesn’t understand this stuff as well as we need to.
Hi Rob, thanks for your comment!
As long as big industry and it’s government friends continue to neglect welfare of the general public, I think we’ll continue to see fraudulent theories like what we see with cholesterol, saturated fat, and heart disease. However, the general public is not free of blame. We need to educate ourselves and start making more informed decisions that will discourage all of this from happening. For the most part, it seems that industry will follow what the consumer wants and government will follow what industry wants. As long as we continue buying low cholesterol and low fat food that’s full of sugar and chemicals, we’ll continue to get it!
Some of the things in this are true, like the fact that atherosclerosis is caused by small tears in the walls of arteries (due normally to stress) that then accumulate plaque. But the claim that cheerios is particularly bad for you seems a bit off. The claim is that for some people 100 grams of carbohydrates is enough for the entire day. Maybe this were true if we were speaking of an extremely underweight adult, but most people need about 50-60% of their calories to come from carbohydrate. 100 grams of carbohydrates x 4 kcal/g CHO = 400 kcal from CHO, which is only 20% of a 2,000 kcal per day diet. I would reconsider the original statement, and personally I think that the statement was misguided and intended to serve your purposes (which from what I gather is exactly what you’re accusing the industry of–being self-serving).
Hi Jane, thanks for sharing your opinion.
My point is that excessive carbohydrate consumption in general is bad and that Cheerios contributes to it. Furthermore, cheerios is a processed food that is very likely to be much less nutritious than most natural whole foods. I’d agree that there are much worse things to eat for breakfast, but there are also foods that would be much better.
I’m an active athlete and do very well on fewer than 100 grams of carbohydrates per day. So do many others. What’s important to consider here is nutritional individuality and that while some may thrive on 300 grams of carbohydrates per day, it may be far too much for others.
My intent is to help people learn how to take better care of themselves. General Mills’ intent is to sell cereal. In my opinion, these intentions are drastically different and I’m certainly not paying lobbyists to promote mine. However, it doesn’t really matter because everyone should embrace the importance of evaluating the information available to them and making their own informed decisions.
Um…my mom and I have lived on a high protein, no sugar, no carb (except veggies) diet for about 7 years now. We ate many things very high in cholesterol and now my mother is in a hospital at age 65. She had a massive heart attack, died twice on the table when they were trying to put stents in her heart., and will need open heart surgery if she survives long enough. Although, I agree about the high sugar/carbohydrate content in most of our foods, I’m not so sure I can agree that cholesterol is not related to heart disease. I suppose I’ll be able to make this determination once I get my LDL checked out. I feel responsible for switching her diet from carbs/low fat to high protein. It helped her lose weight, but who knows how it has affected her internally. I saw her heart. Every artery is narrowed at 90% and we have no heart disease in our family. I blame all the eggs, cheese, dairy, red meat, etc. I’m only 30 and I’m scared to find out what this diet may have done to me.
Hi Jenny,
I’m sorry to hear about your mother and I wish her the best of luck.
I can appreciate the concerns you have about what you’ve been eating. Here are two articles that I suggest you read in regard to the association between fat, cholesterol, and heart disease.
Busting the Cholesterol Myths
Hey Fat Head, You’ve Been Fed a Load of Bologna
The first article is based primarily on a book called The Cholesterol Myths by Dr. Uffe Ravnskov and includes a thorough review of research.
We each have to decide for ourselves what’s best to eat, and regardless of what you choose, I encourage you to learn more and make an educated decision.
Since your dietary decisions seem to have been based more on weight loss than health, it’s important to realize that there are many other factors to consider such as the source and quality of the food, if and how it’s been processed, and how it’s been prepared. For example, oxidized polyunsaturated fats are believed to increase the risk of heart disease, and this is something that applies to most fried and processed foods. Trans fat should be a concern as well. Regardless of whether a diet is low carb or low fat, it’s still extremely important to choose high quality natural whole foods.