Corn flakes: benefits and harms, composition, calorie content


Corn flake production technology

First of all, the benefit of a product lies not in itself, but in how it was produced. In order for the flakes to be beneficial and not harmful, you should carefully read what is included in the composition. It is necessary to be able to distinguish the correct manufacture by the composition on the packaging and the type of product.

Correct production technology consists of the following steps:

  1. Collect the corn and remove the cobs.
  2. Remove kernels and husks by hand.
  3. Wash the grain and send it to the conveyor.
  4. Grind into coarse grains.
  5. Add sugar and malt syrups, salt, water.
  6. Mix all ingredients with a mixer and place in the oven.
  7. Treat with steam. This action will give the cereal a golden color.
  8. The glued and steamed grains will fall onto the conveyor belt. Here the machine will separate clean flakes from lumps.
  9. Dry the product and cool it to room temperature.
  10. Conditioning allows you to make the flakes durable.
  11. Give the final shape to the product.
  12. Fry at 300 degrees Celsius.

Warning! Real cereal without additives, sugar, glaze, or flavor enhancers is healthier.

Composition and calorie content of corn flakes

This product contains the whole range of vitamins beneficial for the body. It contains vitamins such as B, PP, A, E, H. The product is rich in various useful and mineral substances.

Among the main mineral substances that are included in the product loved by children, we can highlight:

  • cobalt;
  • magnesium;
  • sodium;
  • potassium;
  • iron;
  • zinc.

The presence of fiber helps the gastrointestinal tract function in some diseases.

Beneficial properties of corn flakes

The benefit of corn flakes for the human body lies in the amino acids they contain. For example, the amino acid tryptophan is converted into serotonin. It is otherwise called the “hormone of joy.”

The product contains corn starch. It helps form muscle fibers and nerve cells. And with a constant morning snack of such breakfast, waste and toxins are removed from the body.

Doctors recommend this product for use by people who suffer from colitis and gastroenteritis. The pectin they contain helps fight cancer. Glutamic acid improves metabolism and memory.

What are you talking about?

Corn flakes without sugar often appear on the table of modern people. This is a universal snack, nutritious and tasty, with a large number of macro- and microelements. But usually we choose it not for reasons of benefit, but based on advertising. Usually the video features slender, smiling girls, for whom cereal becomes almost their best friend and main “helper” in losing weight.

Corn flakes: composition, calorie content, benefits and harm

And manufacturers also claim that eating cereal helps maintain the balance of vitamins in the body and reduce weight. Unfortunately, everything is not as clear as it seems. So before purchasing, you should seriously consider the rationality of such an acquisition.

Is it possible to lose weight on cornflakes?

Despite all the beneficial properties of this product, Italian scientists have found that its consumption by men and women for five years leads to obesity. The fact is that corn itself does not cause fat accumulation, but the sugar contained in the cereal in as much quantity as it is in the cake leads to obesity. In addition, people suffer from constipation and improper functioning of the entire gastrointestinal tract.

We recommend reading: What are the benefits of rice, properties and contraindications

Nutritionists from Russia also studied the problem. They came to the conclusion that large quantities of corn flakes are harmful for weight loss. The additives they contain: refined sugar, oil are harmful to health and do not at all promote weight loss, as advertised.

Benefits and harms

The market provides consumers with a wide selection of corn flakes: sweet, salty, dietary without sugar, for children, with various additives, etc.

Find out the benefits of oatmeal for the human body.

Advertising suggests consuming them with milk for breakfast, lunch and dinner, emphasizing the usefulness of the product and not saying a word about its shortcomings. Is it as useful as they say, and can it be harmful to humans? More on that later.

What are the benefits of corn flakes?

Benefits of the product for humans:

  1. Normalizes the emotional background.
  2. Improves brain function.
  3. Strengthens nerve cells.
  4. Takes part in the formation of muscle fibers.
  5. Suppresses the development of tumors.
  6. Relieves inflammation and stimulates the activity of the gastrointestinal tract.
  7. Increases appetite.
  8. Relieves the body.

Why are they harmful?

Harmful effects of cereal on the body:

  1. Breakfasts high in sugar can cause tooth decay and diabetes.
  2. Cause psychological addiction in people with weak psyches and children.
  3. Regular consumption contributes to excess weight gain and, as a result, obesity.
  4. A product artificially enriched with vitamins can provoke the development of oncology in a person with a genetic predisposition to cancer.
  5. As a result of frying, acrylamide is formed in the flakes, a carcinogen that promotes the development of cancer.
  6. Causes allergies in newborns, as well as people with individual intolerance to corn.
  7. Excessive consumption of dry breakfasts causes flatulence, nausea, and pain.

This is interesting: Sausage cheese: harm or benefit

Did you know? In the West, corn is better known as maize.

Are corn flakes good for breakfast?

The myth that this product saturates the body and is beneficial if eaten with breakfast has been dispelled. In fact, its high glucose content is especially dangerous for diabetics and causes type 2 diabetes.

When you consume this product in the morning, insulin instantly increases. As a result, the feeling of hunger occurs much faster than after eating regular food.

Advice! You should not include the product in your breakfast every day.

The presence of this delicacy in the diet, as a simple snack, will be much healthier than eating it every day. The benefits of sugar-free corn flakes will be much greater than those sprinkled with syrups or frosting.

Good breakfast

In many ways, the usefulness of breakfast cereals depends on production technology. The simplest and most useful - ordinary bran - is no longer in demand. Breakfast cereals have largely lost their value, turning into a delicacy. In pursuit of consumers who prefer sweet, tasty and beautiful things, manufacturers began to produce a product that can only be called breakfast.

Today you can find the following types of breakfast cereals in grocery stores.

  1. Flakes. These are, as a rule, processed cereal grains that are ready for consumption if they are poured with milk or fermented milk drinks.
  2. Muesli. Available in flake form. May have additives. Sold with pieces of dried fruits, nuts, candied fruits.
  3. Snacks. The shape is varied - balls and stars, as well as pads. The basis of the snacks is cereals that have been treated with steam pressure.
  4. Granola. These breakfast cereals take whole grains and bake them with honey and nuts. Chocolate and caramel may be added. These are the most high-calorie breakfasts and the most popular.

The healthiest cereals for breakfast

Based on the results of an inspection by Roskontrol of the largest segment of breakfast cereals on the Russian market - chocolate balls - it was found that only 12 out of 18 brands meet safety requirements. In the top five:

  • dry products of extrusion technology, corn and chocolate balls - manufacturer Globu;
  • Schär chocolate balls;
  • multigrain balls;
  • extruded breakfast cereals with vitamins from Krosbychocoballs;
  • curly breakfast cereals with chocolate “Cow”.

There is also a blacklist. These breakfast foods should never be eaten as they contain dangerous ingredients. Thus, a toxin was found in Nesquik chocolate balls - ochratoxin A; in Disney breakfasts, in addition to ochratoxin, they found that the level of sucrose and table salt exceeded the norm. Dansonia is also on the blacklist.

1st place – crispy muesli with pieces of fruit from Emko Tula LLC.

2nd place – AXA muesli, honey with fruit and vitamin E.

3rd place – “Era of Cereals” muesli with tropical fruits, .

4th place – “Wow!” muesli, baked breakfasts with tropical fruits.

5th place – Dr. Oetker muesli, fruity, without sugar.

The benefits and harms of natural coffee for human health

At what age can corn flakes be given to a child?

Children with a still unformed gastrointestinal tract may vomit from such a breakfast and may develop allergies. Therefore, doctors advise delaying the first feeding of quick breakfasts until 3 years of age, when the stomach is ready to accept such food.

This is best done after consultation with a pediatrician. Since the product can provoke bad habits and cause diabetes at a later age. It is recommended to give corn flakes to older children no more than 1-2 times a week.

Features of eating corn flakes

Those people who suffer from diabetes mellitus and pancreatitis need to monitor what is included in their diet. After all, corn flakes can be equally beneficial and harmful to health.

For pancreatitis

The use of this product has a negative effect on the pancreas. Such food puts additional stress on the organ, so corn porridge is recommended for patients with pancreatitis. But dry quick breakfasts are strictly prohibited.

For gastritis

For gastritis, there will be more benefit from corn boiled in water than from breakfast cereal. In addition, this product will be deposited in the form of subcutaneous fat. But the flakes do not contain the vitamins and fiber necessary for patients with gastritis.

Therefore, it is not at all recommended to eat such food if you have a stomach disease. Manufacturers often add gluten to corn flakes. Gastritis “loves” foods with gluten. Therefore, such food can cause a relapse, and the patient will have to go to the hospital urgently.

For diabetes

Such food is not prohibited for diabetics only if it does not contain artificial additives. Because they promote the production of insulin.

Important! If you have diabetes, you should not overeat even corn flakes with honey.

And for type 2 diabetics, the product will be useful during light snacks.

Recommended reading: Benefits of legumes

Historical reference

The story surrounding the appearance of corn flakes could form the basis of a novel.
In the American state of Michigan in the nineteenth century, there was the Battle Creek Sanitarium, owned by the extremely pious brothers John Harvey Kellogg and Will Keith Kellogg. The Kellogg brothers were Seventh-day Adventists and believed that a leading role in restoring the health of their patients should be played by diet - and not an ordinary one, but one that would help sanatorium guests renounce everything earthly, completely suppress libido and tune in to divine grace. Therefore, the most common dish on the sanatorium menu was porridge with water.

Naturally, patients soon began to grumble, demanding a diversified diet. The brothers began experimenting with cereals, trying to develop some new dish. It was supposed to be a flatbread made from wheat flour, prepared in a special way: boiled wheat was passed through special rollers, and the resulting mass was baked.

Once wheat was replaced with corn. The layer of dough formed after the grains were passed through rollers was crushed, fried and served for breakfast with milk.

The guests of the sanatorium appreciated the new dish, moreover, they told their relatives and friends about it. Brothers began to receive orders for the unusual product from all over the United States. Will Keith Kellogg turned out to be a born entrepreneur.

To make the product even more attractive to customers, he took the initiative to add sugar to the recipe.

However, his brother John Harvey was against it, saying that sugary cereals would not have any beneficial effect on moral character. The brothers quarreled, after which Will Keith founded his own company and began experimenting with the composition and coming up with new advertising moves.

In particular, he is the initiator of the famous advertising slogan “Wink to the seller.” Those who fulfilled this requirement received the opportunity to try the new product for free.

In addition, Will Keith found that sugar not only has a positive effect on the taste of the cereal, but also helps it last longer in water or milk - and it’s the tempting crunch of the new product that has won so many hearts! As a result, the cereal was patented in its sweet version.

Are cornflakes harmful?

Not everyone can benefit from eating treats. Since all the basic, beneficial properties that fresh corn has are destroyed during production.

The delicacy will not harm those who suffer from liver diseases. It will be useful for people with epileptic seizures.

Advice! It is necessary to take into account the ingredients listed on the packaging of the product when purchasing.

Such quick breakfasts are harmful for children, as they lead to unhealthy habits and obesity in the future.

How to make corn flakes at home

Corn flakes with milk will be more beneficial when prepared at home. In addition, they can be prepared with jelly, vegetable or fruit juice. True, you won’t be able to follow a diet based on corn flakes, because they have a high sugar content.

Ingredients you will need:

  • corn grits;
  • sugar;
  • water.

Preparation steps:

  1. Pour sugar with water in equal proportions.
  2. Cook until thickened.
  3. Pour in the cereal and cook for several hours until a dense mass is obtained.
  4. Leave to cool and then roll out with a rolling pin.
  5. Cut into pieces.
  6. Fry in the oven. Maintain the temperature around 300 degrees. Fry until golden brown.

This way you can make your own corn flakes.

Application

Corn flakes should be consumed in the same way as muesli, that is, simply by pouring milk over them. In addition, these flakes make quite tasty puddings and even cakes. They can also be used for breading and making hearty pancakes.

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How to choose the right corn flakes

Since all the beneficial vitamins are added artificially to this product, it is best to choose a product that contains a minimum of ingredients, without the addition of glaze and other components that are harmful to the body.

The composition should include only cereals, salt and a minimum of natural dyes. Sugar and cocoa improve the taste, but do not add value. It's better to buy plain flakes. Then you can add jam or honey.

Use in cooking

Of course, the main way to use corn flakes is as a so-called “breakfast cereal”. You can add milk, yogurt, juice to the product, and berries, pieces of chocolate, nuts or honey can help diversify the taste.

However, this product can also be added to:

  • salads;
  • jelly;
  • puddings;
  • Dessert.
  • For example, skilled chefs prepare pastries and cookies, as well as cakes, from candy flakes.

    In addition, this product can help you out if you are going to cook breaded cutlets, chops, meat or fish, but forgot to buy crackers. Simply grind the corn flakes into crumbs - and as a result, your dish will have a golden and crispy crust.

    What can you make from corn flakes?

    This delicacy can be used to make

    • cookie;
    • chicken fillet in flakes;
    • muesli;
    • fried corn flake ice cream;
    • cakes.

    Cookie recipe. You will need the following components:

    • corn flakes – 1 tbsp;
    • sugar – 4 tbsp. l.;
    • eggs – 1 pc.;
    • dried cranberries – 1 handful;
    • liquid vanilla – 1 drop;
    • butter - a small piece;
    • salt - a pinch.

    Cooking steps:

    1. Break the egg, beat the white into a stiff foam, remove the yolk.
    2. Add sugar, add vanilla and beat again.
    3. Add cranberries, flakes, yolks. Mix.
    4. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
    5. Place the cookies on a baking sheet and place in the oven for 40 minutes.

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