Good muesli: which is the healthiest choice?

To ensure that we are actually doing something good for our bodies with the muesli we eat, we should take a look at the list of ingredients when shopping. There can be a real sugar trap lurking in some mueslis: there is often a lot in the popular crunchy mueslis. Sugar is caramelized during production, which gives the muesli its crunch.

In addition to the sugar content, you should also take a look at the fat content of the muesli. It is better to avoid unhealthy, saturated fats such as palm oil or coconut oil. Unsaturated or polyunsaturated fats, on the other hand, are health-promoting and can be eaten preferentially. They can usually be found in natural ingredients such as nuts or seeds.

It's worth taking a look at the fiber content: with muesli we can cover a large part of our fiber needs. Fiber has a positive effect on our intestinal microbiome and thus strengthens the immune system. In addition, foods rich in fiber, such as the grains in muesli, keep you full for longer and protect against cravings.

Cheap and healthy – make good muesli yourself

If you like it crunchy but want to keep the sugar content in the muesli low, you can make your own muesli and use erythritol instead of sugar, for example. Nuts and seeds provide many of the healthy unsaturated fatty acids and can be used generously. In addition to the crunchy muesli, you can also easily make a basic muesli at home. You usually save money with DIY muesli and you can decide for yourself which ingredients go into the muesli. This way you avoid excess and hidden sugar and always meet your own taste.

Which muesli is best for the environment?

For good muesli, it's definitely worth paying attention to organic. Because questionable pesticides are repeatedly detected in conventional cereals. Oat flakes are almost indispensable as a base in mueslis. If they are organically grown, there is nothing wrong with oat flakes, especially since they are easier on the wallet than amaranth or quinoa and are grown regionally.

If “non-EU agriculture” is written on cereal packs, you can assume that some of the ingredients come from far away. For amaranth and quinoa, 95% of the production is in South America. These ingredients then flew around the world and accordingly high CO2 emissions were created. Puffed millet, for example, is a good alternative as it is now widely grown in Europe. And the same applies to dried fruits: pay attention to the country of origin if possible - the shorter the transport routes, the better. Dried apple rings can be obtained from regional production and therefore have a shorter transport route. Dried apricots are also grown in Europe.

Grapes use more water than dates. Hazelnuts or walnuts are better than exotic nuts because they don't have to travel as long. And the same applies here: preferably organic quality. Unfortunately, when it comes to packaging, it doesn't necessarily mean “paper is better than plastic”, as the cereal in the box is usually also packed in a plastic bag.

Source:

SWR Marktcheck , authors Karolina Luttig, Kathrin Gatzemeier, Oliver Herber
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