AIBU to ask if muesli is really unhealthy?

[Sleepthiefismyfavourite]

I get obsessed with certain foods, and at the moment is this brand of muesli

I can eat a full pack in a day

Is this really unhealthy, or better than eating loads of junk food?

What’s the sugar content?

Better picture

A pack a day might be harsh in the stomach. A small bowl keeps me regular.
Like everything it is ok in moderation. I magine if I ate a full pack I'd be farting now stop.

373 calories per 100g would be 1,865 calories for a 500g pack.

What else are you eating in a day?

There's a lot of sugar in 500g of muesli.

It’s not the worse thing to eat but also probably not the best to eat a whole box . A 40g serving as breakfast would be good and then if you want it as a snack (this is what I do)- later it with natural (full fat) yoghurt in a little pot overnight , keep it in the fridge, then when you eat it the oats slightly expand and it’s so filling and so tasty !! So you can have less of it but still feel the benefit ! It’s like overnight oats . The best bloody thing out there I tell ya . Makes you trump though

Most muesli is quite sugary. You’d be better off making some work self so you know exactly what is in there.

Well, practically any food will become unhealthy if you eat too much of it. That muesli has almost 5g of sugar per serving, which would be OK if you just have the one serving for breakfast, but if you eat the whole pack you're probably looking at almost 50g (assuming the box is 500g). You can eat what you want, of course, but it's not necessarily better than eating a load of junk food if you're bothered about your sugar intake.

It looks yummy!

Maybe have it a couple of times a week and some porridge or home made muesli on other days?

I sometimes remove some of the dried fruit from muesli I and add more nuts/seeds to make it more balanced. An option?

It’s quite a lot of sugar to be having, and I would be worried that you’re filling yourself up with muesli and not eating proper meals, so not getting enough protein or veg. It’s not likely to do much damage if you’re only eating like this for a few days, but if it went on you could develop nutritional deficiencies in the long term. It would be best to cut down to one bowl a day if you can.

Well it's like any food. Take juice, Mumsnet's favourite food to hate. My DF has one small glass of fresh OJ every morning. It's the only sugar he has. No fruit, chocolate, snacks, nothing.

Some people give their kids a whole carton of UHT OJ everyday. They don't brush their teeth properly and they have biscuits without.

One is fine, the other isn't.

A whole pack of cereal every day probably isn't.

I was obsessed with muesli when I was pregnant - specifically the Dorset Cereals spelt one I needed a huge bowl the instant I woke up, and once or twice I got the absolute rage at DH for finishing the last of the pack.

45g is a tiny amount, i need 90g bowl minimum

I do eat healthily most of the time and work out regular etc.

Just had a 200g bowl for breakfast im going to have to stop buying it, i have hardly any calories left for the day now!

Cereals vary- muesli is wholegrain and really healthy if you choose one with a low sugar content.

The sugar content is 4.7g per 45g, is that good or bad on the whole?

Cheap mueslis are like 50% wheat... which would be ok if you didn't also eat a fat sandwich for lunch & pasta or pizza for tea (which meany do). In which case that would be what as the overwhelming source of calories 3x/day. Not so ideal.
In addition to high sugar content.

It's up to you, OP. I could imagine mixed your fave muesli with plain porridge to reduce the sugar concentration.

That makes it about 10% sugar which is pretty low for cereals/ muesli.

Do you have milk on it or plain?

Variety in diet is the best thing to do. This is fine but not a box a day!

On the back what does it say the sugar content is per 100g? That’s the one to go on. Ideally you’d be aiming for less than 10g of sugar in 100g. But the rest of your day matters too, if that’s full of processed white carbs maybe worry, if it’s full of protein and good fats and veg worry less? Oats and whole grains are great for your gut microbes so getting them in will always be a good thing

Define 'healthy'

In a nutritional sense or in a low fat low calorie sense?

That looks delicious. What about buy the ingredients separately and making it yourself? If you use whole or even frozen berries and grated apple it will be more filling and less sugary than dried fruit. I might do that myself as it looks like a tasty combination.

It's over 10% sugar, so depends what else you're eating. I prefer granola and I have a couple of favorites that are less than 5g of sugar per 100g, they have lots of nuts and seeds rather than dried fruit.

I take the raisins out as I don’t like them, so that reduces the sugar slightly.

The rest of the time I eat mainly vegetables and salads with a small amount of white meat, but at the weekend I’m more relaxed and will have treats like crisps, chocolate, pastries etc