– The importance of cereals in your diet.
– Ways by which cereals help us to stay healthy.
A cereal is a type of grass such as wheat, oats, rice, etc that farmers cultivate because of its healthy and edible grains.
A cereal is also a staple food that many of us eat in our various homes.
Also, grains or cereals belong to the monocot families ‘Poaceae or Gramineae’ and people grow them because of their edible components that we can call fruits or seeds.
Different types of cereal exist and they are everywhere in different countries. Hardly will you find any home that will not have cereals on their food items.
Cereals have diverse health benefits that they contribute to the health. They are energy giving foods because they are rich in carbohydrate.
Also, they contain essential nutrients, vitamins, and phytonutrients that the body requires for healthy living. they also contain an amount of protein that helps the body health.
Examples of cereals include the following;
- Rice ( white rice and brown rice)
- Maize
- Oats
- Sorghum
- Wheat
- Barley
- Millet
- Rye, etc
Cereals have rich fiber content, they are also rich in niacin, iron, riboflavin and thiaminne. They also contain magnesium, potassium, and calcium.
There are many health benefits of eating cereals, they include the following;
1. Cereals are good sources of carbohydrates, thereby, they are energy giving foods. They supply adequate energy to the body.
2. Also, cereals contain enormous fiber and this helps the body health in a variety of ways, fiber is one of the essential nutrients that the body needs for proper functionality.
The fiber content also helps us to maintain a good blood sugar level.
3. They also contain flavonoids and antioxidants that help us to fight cancer.
4. Another benefit that we can derive from eating cereals is that they have a high mineral content. These minerals include calcium, magnesium, potassium as well as phosphorous.
5. Eating cereal also help us to prevent constipation.
6. Eating cereal is also good for cardiovascular health, it also promotes heart health, liver health and blood health.