Muesli And Granola: Harm And Benefit, Diet, Home Recipe

Muesli is raw and baked (granules). Raw muesli consists of rolled oats, seeds, nuts and dried fruits. In turn, thermally processed cereals are mixed with juices, honey, sometimes with vegetable oil.

Muesli is a very popular product. Both adults and children like to eat them for breakfast. But is muesli so useful for health? There are nuances.

Muesli was invented at the beginning of the 20th century by Dr. Maximilian Bircher-Benner from Switzerland. He was an active member of several vegetarian and nutrition societies. One day he fell ill with jaundice, and during his illness he ate a lot of apples. After recovering, Dr. Bircher-Benner sincerely believed that it was apples that saved him from jaundice. Since then, he believed that a muesli diet with fresh vegetables and almost no meat was the way to good health.

Dr. Bircher-Benner's original muesli recipe: "Grated apples, a tablespoon of soaked oats, lemon juice, sweetened condensed milk and chopped nuts"

Muesli gained world popularity only in the 1960s and 1970s, when mass interest in healthy eating and low-calorie food arose. Since then, global sales of this product have been increasing annually.

Muesli consists of flakes or grains of rye, wheat, oats, as well as pieces of various dried fruits or berries, nuts and other additives. This product contains a lot of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fats, protein, and fiber, which brings great benefits to the human body. However, muesli types vary greatly in fat and calorie content. Some of these foods may contain more fat than, for example, a hamburger, so they should be consumed very carefully. In addition, muesli can be very high in calories.

Muesli is raw and baked (granules). Raw muesli consists of rolled oats, seeds, nuts and dried fruits. In turn, thermally processed cereals are mixed with juices, honey, sometimes with vegetable oil.

 

Calorie content of muesli

The calorie content of muesli depends on the additives. Honey, nuts, chocolate and sugar are usually added to this product, and you must agree that they cannot be considered low-calorie. Therefore, many muesli have a high energy value. Their calorie content can reach 450 Kcal/100 g.

Benefit

It is difficult to determine exactly how much fiber (fiber) is present in muesli, since there are many different combinations of this product. However, the fact remains that they contain a lot of fiber and whole grains, which greatly benefits the digestive system.

 

 

Muesli

American scientists from the University of Colorado state that fiber (and there is a lot of it in oat flakes) helps with constipation, diverticulosis and hemorrhoids. If you use vitamin C (apple or orange juice) together with oats, it improves iron absorption.

In 2015, American scientists from the University of Minnesota came to the conclusion as a result of a study that people who regularly consume oatmeal get more protein, fiber, vitamin A, thiamin, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, copper and potassium in the body than in those who do not eat such a product. At the same time, people who prefer oatmeal, as a rule, weigh less. It is interesting that most often oatmeal is consumed by women, and not by men.

 

 

Granola Nutrients

Muesli can be soaked overnight, i.e. practically marinate like meat for barbecue. Thanks to this, more nutrients will enter the product, which will then end up in your body. Another benefit of "soaking" muesli overnight is that in this case, substances that negatively affect digestive enzymes and interfere with the absorption of minerals can be deactivated.

Maintaining a healthy weight

Muesli is well known for its ability to reduce weight and maintain it in a healthy state. Muesli has a lot of fiber, so this product gives a person a feeling of satiety for a long time. This means that you will resort to different snacks less often. As a result, you can not be afraid of extra kilograms.

Oatmeal contains a lot of starch, which takes a long time to digest in the stomach. When starch is destroyed, digestive acids are released, which suppress appetite. Because of this, the metabolism is accelerated, thanks to which more calories are burned in a shorter period of time.

Experts at the American Heart Association believe that a diet low in sugar and saturated fat can help you lose weight and maintain a healthy weight. This is exactly what muesli does.

However, scientists claim that a muesli diet alone is not enough for weight loss. At the same time, it is also necessary to regularly engage in physical exercises. Only in this case, you can achieve positive results.

 

Possible harm from muesli

Although muesli is considered a healthy food, this is no reason to eat it in any quantity. You can't call them a balanced product. They may have a lot of sugar, fat and calories, but not enough protein, vitamins and minerals. Muesli will not replace other products.

The fact that muesli is a healthy product often leads people to eat it in much larger quantities than recommended.

Cooked muesli sometimes has vegetable fat added (to make it crunchy), which means it has more calories than raw muesli. How to be in this case? Very easy. It is necessary that the portion size of heat-treated muesli is slightly smaller than usual.

Nutritionists recommend choosing fruits with a low sugar content. Remember that dried fruit has 2-4 times more calories than fresh fruit.

Similarly, extra calories appear due to the addition of canned fruit in syrup. In this case, you need to take only a few pieces of fruit and try to do without syrup at all.

If you buy muesli in the store, then carefully read their composition, as well as their energy value, so as not to overdo it with the portion size. It is better to add fruit to already prepared "store-bought" muesli.

 

Raw muesli and liver and digestion problems

Nutritionists do not recommend eating muesli to people with liver diseases and poor digestion. Why? The fact is that cereal grains, thermally untreated, contain a lot of phytic acid and phenols, due to which minerals are poorly absorbed. In addition, due to phytic acid, digestive enzymes that break down almost all proteins of animal and vegetable origin, as well as starch, do not function normally.

Making muesli at home

The head of the Australian Association of Dietitians, Kate Depelier, is sure that it is better to prepare muesli and granola yourself than to buy them in a supermarket: "If you prepare muesli at home, then you will be sure of the quality of the ingredients. You'll be able to use fresh fruit, protein and omega-3 fatty acids."

Nutritionists recommend adding grains, bran, some nuts, seeds and dried fruits to homemade muesli. The fact is that nuts and seeds are an excellent source of healthy fats. In addition, they have fiber. But it should be remembered that these products have a high calorie content, so there is no need to consume them too much.

You can add a little lemon juice to muesli, which will reduce cholesterol more effectively. This is a good prevention of heart disease and obesity.

How to make muesli yourself? Very easy

 

Muesli with fruit

Ingredients: half a glass of low-fat yogurt (you can take kefir), 1 tbsp. l. dried fruits and nuts, half a glass of Hercules oatmeal, 1 apple or banana (you can take seasonal berries and fruits).

Put half of the oatmeal in a large bowl, pour some yogurt over it, and then add other products in layers. The resulting dish is decorated with fruit on top (it must be cut into cubes).