Ce"real"

Photo Credit: The Huffington Post

I could bet that most of the time, you start off your day with a nice big bowl of cereal and milk.  What you probably didn't know, is that regardless of what you've been told over the years, that probably isn't the smartest way to get your day going.  So, the question: is the cereal you're eating real? The answer? Probably not. But don't get me wrong, it highly depends on what kind you're choosing to indulging in.

As most of you reading this probably already know, cereal has an insanely long shelf life.  Most foods with a shelf life over a year have one thing in common: preservatives.  Two specific preservatives, BHA and BHT (Butylated Hydroxyanisole and Butylated Hydroxytoulene), are the ones that you should be keeping an eye out for.  Yes, their use is still allowed through the FDA, but that could be changing in the near future.  A study was done on pregnant mice to see the effects of these two extremely common preservatives.  Guess what? The offspring of the moms exposed to BHA and BHT were born with brain malfunctions.

The always-appealing cereal isle definitely isn't appealing to your insides. It's better to stick to the cereals that are all natural, and stay away from the ones that have ingredients that you can't pronounce (or spell!).

Make sweet choices--in food and in life.