The most common reasons that have led to the increasing adoption of breakfast cereals in India is that they are easy to make, quick, instant and convenient. Many of us prefer muesli for breakfast as the "perceived health factor" is higher. We might even choose the sugar-free version.
Muesli is typically made with grains, nuts and dry fruits in the proportion of 80:10:10. Let's look at the ingredients list of 3 popular diet/unsweetened muesli brands.
Baggry's no added sugar - diet muesli doesn't contain any nuts or dry fruits. Rolled oats and wheat flakes are the primary ingredients but the dietary fiber is only 3 gm per 30 gm serving. This is because the two ingredients are so highly processed that they are stripped off most of the fiber. Also, there are a couple of antioxidants that might increase the shelf life of the pack but what they do to our body needs to be understood.
Kellogg's muesli no added sugar contains a mix of grains with wheat and corn contributing to 40%. The dietary fiber here is only 2 gm per 40 gm serving. Do note that sulphite is added to dry fruits to maintain color. Sulphites are a trigger of asthma attacks.
Soulfull's diet millet muesli contains only 10% ragi. It contains unwanted ingredients in the form of stabilizer, palm oil and antioxidants. No nuts or dry fruits present. Though the brand claims that it contains 50% rolled oats, the dietary fiber is only 2.8gm per 30 gm serving.
In all these 3 brands, the sucrose value might be 0 but what about other forms of sugar - glucose, fructose, dextrose etc?
Highly processed, super expensive, low fiber, unwanted synthetic ingredients. Is this what we want to consume for the sake of convenience?
What's the alternative, you might ask? I have a super quick, filling, healthy and local recipe. 5 min is all it takes to fix this bowl of breakfast.
1/2 cup of organic red poha - wash and sprinkle water on it. Let it rest for 2 min.
Meanwhile, chop 2 bananas and an apple.
To the soaked poha, add grated coconut, 1 TSP of organic jaggery powder. Mix well, add chopped fruits, raisins, soaked chopped almonds and cashews. Filling and healthy no-cook breakfast. You can also add crushed, roasted peanuts.