Granola is healthier than most other cereals

All cereal is basically confectionery…that’s why it’s so nice 😊 ! Porridge or all bran is best but Boooo….😝

"Fruit in general is FULL of sugar but you can eat as much of that as you like!"

LOL no.

I make my own and it’s really incredible. I have a sprinkling of it over full fat Greek yoghurt and berries every morning without fail. Keeps me satisfied until lunchtime. I don’t feel the need for a mid morning snack at all.

Ive grown up in an era where we look at all cereals to be a processed food and therefore not the best

When I was a kid, dogs ate scraps, There was no processed pet foods, They the big companies realised they had a shit load of by products going down the drain - and lol - kibble was invented.

Now we have dogs with behaviour problems and skin allergies

Cereal was "new" when I was a kid and luckily we were too poor to jump on the band wagon, We went to school on porridge or an egg , think mum used to boil the eggs and then use that water to heat her rollers tbh

There were no fat/obese kids in school in the 60's unless they had a medical condition

I'm not so sure that it's a good idea to eat lots and lots of fruit. I love it, but that combination of acid and sugar is not great for the teeth.

Also you can't eat too much fruit . Unless you're eating it to the exclusion of all else. Or eating only one type of fruit. But, say, ten different pieces of fruit per day alongside a variety of protein and fat sources would be a very healthy diet

You are wrong about this.
The body deals with complex carbs differently from free sugar.
Complex carbs take longer to digest and release the sugar.

Isn't this exactly what the coloured labels with calories, sugar etc are for?!

I don’t even eat cereals, so I have no particular axe to grind! Usually I have coffee, Greek yoghurt and fruit. DS has home made porridge or bircher muesli with fruit.

Just correcting the usual MN “grapes are little bombs of sugar, apples are worse than mars bars, anything other than steamed fish and a substantial salad is literally poisonous, I don’t know how anybody manages to eat a whole bowl of cornflakes to themselves, one flake is enough for me” stuff.

No but they are UPF and the theory is UPF screws with the ‘feeling full’ part of the body system. You are talking the the mum who gave her daughter chicken nuggets for breakfast cos sh could eat them in the car on the way to nursery. I am no icon of perfection!

No, but they aren’t “literally as bad as a mars bar” because they contain carbs 🤷‍♀️

Cereals like cornflakes and rice crispies aren’t great.

Complex carbohydrates are not the same, nutritionally, as refined sugar. They are not digested in the same way, and don’t cause the same blood sugar spikes or insulin release.

Do you think a bowl of pasta is also “no better than a mars bar” because it contains carbs?

OK... whatever. I don't need to explain anymore, then, you obviously know better.

Anecdotally, though, I've ditched sugar in favour of natural 'sweeteners' and, guess what, I've lost weight (now 9st) and am in generally better health.
So you can split hairs about what's better if you want - but ditching refined sugar has been better for me. 🤷‍♀️

Yes, but you've not explained exactly how it's better. You've simply said because it's 'natural' therefore it must be better.

Raw cane sugar and honey may contain some trace nutrients that white sugar lacks. But the amounts are so tiny as to make no appreciable difference. Your body doesn't really care if the fructose comes in the form of 'natural' maple syrup or 'refined' table sugar.

It’s basic chemistry regardless of your opinion.

Sugar is two molecules… glucose and fructose. Whether that comes from potatoes, honey, carrots, cake, milk and ice cream (lactose) etc. etc. your body doesn’t care. It all becomes sugar.

Every carbohydrate is broken down to simple monosaccharides … glucose, fructose, galactose regardless of the source.

I get Lizis low sugar granola. It’s not UPF and has only a very small amount of added sugar (less than 3g per 100g).

Sugar isn't good for you, obviously. But in its rawest form it's not as bad as refined sugars and/or added sweeteners.
That's all I've been saying.

You can't really consume 'too much' fruit - it's nutrient and volume dense, a little fills you up quickly.

We're talking about sugar. Which is not.

Broadly I'd agree but eating too much fruit is bad for you. Especially as a lot of fruit and some veg have been modified to be sweeter over the last 5 or 6 decades. (Try buying sweetcorn that isn't super sweet).

Also cooking isn't really natural but does improve the digestibility and health benefits of lots of food - such as carrots, which are much better for us cooked (nutritionally, at least).

The only problem with the low sugar ones are they're full of sweeteners (generally). It's much better to get the maple syrup ones which sadly are now very expensive.

There's a chap near me that supplies really decent granola with dark chocolate and a nice mixture of nuts and seeds. Much better than even the most expensive supermarket ones.

Some foods are only digestible because of processing, e.g. olives, all oils. Cooking, which is processing, makes many foods more digestible and/or safer.

But the 'quick Google' tells us nothing.

Like I said, honey, syrup and raw cane sugar are all very high in fructose, which numerous studies have shown to be very bad for our health. Simply because a product is 'natural' doesn't magically transform fructose into a healthy ingredient. Many extremely potent poisons are 'natural' after all.

A quick Google search says this:

'While table sugar is white, raw sugar is light brown because it is less refined and, as a result, contains more of the natural molasses present in sugar cane.
Table sugar that is made from sugar cane undergoes additional refining to remove molasses.'

It's not about how your body processes it - it's about what you're putting in your body to start with. Food in its most natural state will always be better.