Cereals & cereal products

Key Points How many serves can I have daily? a variety of FIVE serves (if you are very physically active you can have up to 12 serves) About 5 serves a day is fine; if you are physically active then you can eat more; if you are trying to lose weight you may wish to have 3-4 serves a day, but it is best not to eliminate this group because you need some carbohydrate to metabolise and oxidise dietary and body fat. 1 serve = 1 slice of bread (preferably wholegrain with seeds and soy, and reduced in salt e.g. Pritikin bread, Burgen Soy linseed, Country Life and some Fruit bread. 1 cup breakfast cereal (preferably wholegrain) 1/2 cup natural muesli 1 cup cooked pasta, noodles, rice, couscous, polenta, semolina Can eating too many cereal foods be undesirable? MAYBE, if the majority of the cereals you purchase are white/refined/highly processed, not reduced in salt, have a higher glycaemic index and if they tend to be consumed in preference to fruit and/or vegetables Read the HEC fact sheet on cereals & cereal products

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Audio Transcripts

Can eating too much bread/cereals/rice/pasta be undesirable?

Cereals, especially bread and some breakfast cereals, are a major source of salt in the Australian diet. Many food guides recommend we 'eat most' of bread and other cereals compared to other food groups and advise to avoid adding salt to our food - this is a paradox and of doubtful relevance when a single staple food is recommended in large quantities and which contributes so much salt in its present form. It is therefore advisable to consume a variety of cereals from this group e.g rice and pasta which have no salt. Low salt breads include Pritikin bread, Country Lifebreads, Soy Linseed breads, Burgen bread and some Fruit breads.

Emphasis needs to be on whole grain cereals of various kinds, since they have different and important micronutrient and other phytochemical profiles of health relevance. Refined grains and cereals such as white bread are not sufficiently rich in nutrients and phytochemicals for increasingly sedentary populations, who may not be able to eat enough food without energy (calorie) excess. They have also been linked with stomach cancer, obesity, diabetes and heart disease. At the same time, enough "food space" in the diet needs to be retained for other protective foods like fruit and vegetables, fish and for low fat meats and dairy products.

It is recommended to eat a variety of breads/cereals and include at least half that are wholegrain, like wholemeal bread and rolled oats. It also recommended to include breads/cereals with a low glycaemic index such as grainy/seedy bread (e.g Burgen soy linseed, Taylors bread), basmati/doongara rice, breakfast cereals with bran/hi-maize/oats (e.g hi-bran soy linseed weetbix) (see on-line GI table).
Low GI foods may help you lose weight and may help you control blood sugar levels, which is important if you have glucose intolerance (the condition between health and diabetes) or diabetes.

For these reasons the Nutrition Australia Pyramid has placed cereals, fruit and vegetables altogether in the bottom tier to indicate that they are equally important. In contrast, other food guides (12345+ pyramid, or the New Australian Food Guide which is in the shape of a plate) have cereals alone in the bottom tier or represented as the largest segment of the plate, suggesting that these should be consumed in larger amounts than fruit and vegetables. This recommendation could be detrimental if consumers select more refined cereals (instead of wholegrain) high in salt and if reliance on cereals results in reduced intakes of other plant foods.

Please read this summary on new evidence regarding recommended intakes of cereals

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