Granola is healthier than most other cereals

[Aliceisagooddog]

Ongoing argument with dh. He thinks granola is bad because its high sugar. I think it's not as bad as cornflakes etc because it's much less processed, you can actually see what it's made of.
Who's being unreasonable?

Although I've just remembered I used to make one from an old Nigella book which used applesauce to bind. I really liked that and am going to make it today!

Some of the granolas are essentially a crispy flapjack! The presence of a sunflower seed doesn't make it healthy...

Dd makes her own granola with oats, dessicated coconut, almonds, chopped Brazil nuts , maple syrup and oil, mixed and baked in the oven. I'm not sure if it's any healthier but it's probably less processed

Make your own. So much cheaper and healthier. Some granolas have more sugar than high sugar cereals.

I don't think any cereal is that healthy on it's own but I would say the best one is with the best nutrients added in

I would say so too, but it's what he prefers. I don't eat cereal at all so this is all his domain.

Less healthy than shredded wheat, more healthy than coco pops.

i like it, on top of fruit and yoghurt
but i try not to have too much as i know it is a sweet treat

I think it is UPF because of the unidentifiable ingredient of "natural flavouring".

What even is that?

Depends on the respective granola and cereal.

Shredded wheat or weetabix v cheap sugary granola roasted in palm oil

Wholefood shop no added sugar mix of nuts , seeds and whole grains and oats v Chocolate Krave

TRYING to justify it!

I would say it's better but only because it has some actual substance. To me, most breakfast cereal is like eating air, does nothing for me whatsoever (Weetabix and Shredded Wheat aside).

Depends on your criteria for 'healthy' and what's in your granola.

He is right if you are measuring according to high sugar or high calorie. It’s mostly higher calorie, higher sugar and much more calorie dense than other cereals. It’s also upf just like other cereals.
If calories or overall sugar content don’t matter to you then ok.
Cereal isn’t really the healthy breakfast it’s been marketed as.

Another one for make your own! It's really quite easy, much nicer than the shop bought ones and you can control what you put into it. Want to dial down the sugar, add more nuts instead. Want to push up the fibre content, add dates. You can also tweak the ingredients to make it seasonal. But yes, I do tend to use dried fruits and honey in mine, so am always conscious not to have too much.

As others say it depends on the granola. I use Tesco Finest Super Nutty granola as a yoghurt topper and it is one of the better ones.

Granolas like Kelloggs are at the other end of the scale, a special treat type of food packed full of sugar, not really suitable to be eaten daily.

Which one are you eating?

It's impossible to answer these kinds of questions unless you have a consensus on what 'healthy' means. For some it means low-calorie. For others it means minimally processed. Or low in sugar. Or low in fat. Or high in protein. Or high in natural fats. Etc.

Lots of granola is high calorie, high sugar, high in (not very natural) fats and UPF. Some granola less so. It's very moreish, and you probably eat more than the stingy portion it states on the pack, and more calories than you would eating cornflakes. Cornflakes are crap though. Not much in the way of nutrition in them beyond the artificially added vitamins, I imagine.

I don't eat breakfast any more, as a way of intermittent fasting, so fortunately I avoid this minefield! Anyway, sugary breakfasts make me have a huge hunger crash by 10 a.m.

Yes I make my own too and I'm really not a make-your-own kind of person but it's super easy to do and lasts ages.

With milk? Please tell me there's milk!

I make my own granola-have perfected the recipe over several years and yes I think it’s pretty healthy. I do put maple syrup in it but it only works out at about 4 to 5 grammes of added sugar per serving. It’s delicious.

Try Sainsbury's own Nutty Granola , only 1.4g sugar per portion .

I'm listening to Ultra Processed People at the moment, with a sinking heart. If the yoghurt is 0% fat, what else is in the yoghurt to hold it together. The jury is out on emulsifiers but modified anything isn't good. Protein powder probably UPF as well. It's sooooo difficult.

There is no single definition of “healthy” so it’s impossible to answer your question. Both are shit breakfast, if you ask me. I much prefer a couple of eggs, ham and a slice of rye toast.

Greek yoghurt (not Greek style) 0% is perfectly healthy as the texture is through straining not adding emulsifiers-so if you want 0%, that’s the way to do it. Fage 5% is the nicest though.

I don’t think any cereal is as bad as some of the hand wringers on here seem to 😂