Recently I find out I am anemic, which I find a little shocking and bordering on the ridiculous, due to my love of food. Still, I am very happy that this was diagnosed because now I will be starting a course of iron tabets, and in about a month I should be bursting with energy, practically bouncing off the walls… woo hoo! I am sure Hubby will like that.
Anyways, I was doing a little research about how I could put iron in my diet. I bet you are thinking of things like liver (barf) and meat, but do you know what I found had the most iron? Cereal! So I thought, wouldn’t it be cool if I can get all my iron in one go and just eat what I want the rest of the day? I decided to do a little survey/taste test on UK cereals which are packed with iron (I need to have approx 15mg/day).
Grape Nuts
14 mg iron per 50g serving
I was looking up Grape Nuts on the internet. It actually has a very cool history. It was invented in 1897 and it was the first product ever to introduce the use of coupons. Because it was light weight and packed full of nutrients, it was used in the 1920s and 30s by people going on expeditions into the jungle! It was also used by US Allied forces during war time operations.
I remember trying Grape Nuts for the first time at my grandmother’s house many years ago. I hated them then, I can only really tollerate it now. The texture is hard and kibble like. It sinks to the bottom when you add milk. It doesn’t taste disgusting. but I wouldn’t call it good. From what I have read, there are people who absolutely love this cereal, but for me, I don’t think so. Its certainly not worth giving my regular breakfast of bagels and cream cheese up for.
Verdict: 4/10
Wheetaflakes
11.5 mg iron per 50g serving
Wheetaflakes are made by the same company as the very popular Wheetabix, which I totally hate for their super soggy texture once milk is added. But hey, this stuff is pretty decent. The taste is nice and wheaty, and best of all the cereal maintains a nice crisp texture even once the milk is added. Pretty good, good enough that I could make it a regular part of my diet. But taste sensation? No, I wouldn’t go that far.
So basically, I still have a dilemma. I have one decent cereal now that I can eat. I guess I can incorporate it into my diet a couple of days a week. In all honesty, I have no desire replace my delicious bagels for cereal
. Any thoughts? You wouldn’t happen to know of any bagels fortified with iron would you? Guess you can’t have your carbs and eat them too… crap!
