Muesli is a popular breakfast that appeals to almost everyone. Thanks to the wide range of ingredients available, it offers a great deal of variety and is guaranteed not to get boring. In addition to various cereals, nuts and seeds, dried fruits of all kinds also provide variety – ideally in organic quality. Nevertheless, there are some ingredients that you should pay attention to in your muesli in order to enjoy a healthy and nutritious breakfast. In this article, you will learn which ingredients these are and why they are so important.
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Wholegrain cereals as a healthy basis for organic muesli
Contrary to popular belief, whole grain cereals are not a special type of cereal. We speak of whole grain when only the awns and husks have been removed after harvesting and the three components of the grain, i.e. the germ, endosperm and husk, are retained. This applies to wheat, rye, oats and all other types of grain.
Whole grain is considered to be particularly healthy. But why is that? In whole grain cereals, those components of the grain that provide particularly valuable nutrients are retained. For example, the germ contains healthy oils and the shell contains vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber. The latter are particularly important in muesli because they keep you full for a long time and provide energy for the day. They also cause blood sugar levels to rise only slowly, which prevents cravings and reduces the desire for sweets.
Normal grain consists only of the endosperm, which lacks all these healthy properties. So when buying muesli, it's worth looking for wholegrain quality to get you off to a good start in the morning.
Healthy sweeteners
Many conventional mueslis found in supermarkets contain a lot of sugar. This may taste good, but it has little to do with a healthy breakfast. Although sugar provides quick energy, it also leads to unstable blood sugar levels and can promote various diseases. The most well-known health consequences of consuming too much sugar include tooth decay, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) therefore recommends consuming a maximum of 25 grams of sugar per day, which is roughly equivalent to five teaspoons.
Now for the good news: leaving out sugar from your muesli doesn't mean you have to sacrifice flavor. Thanks to sugar substitutes such as honey, agave syrup, maple syrup or birch sugar, you can add the necessary sweetness to your muesli while avoiding white sugar. While these alternative sweeteners are not necessarily healthier than conventional sugar, their properties mean you need less of them to achieve the same sweetness. This saves on sugar and calories.
If you want to buy organic muesli that doesn't contain any added sweeteners, ingredients such as fresh or dried fruit are the best choice. Our Urkorn Bircher Muesli – an absolute muesli classic – contains no added sugar whatsoever and gets its sweetness only from fruit.
Healthy fats and proteins
To round off the list of important muesli ingredients, you should also make sure that your breakfast contains enough healthy fats and proteins.
Fats for your health
It is a common misconception that fat is unhealthy and also causes you to gain unwanted extra pounds. In reality, however, fat is just as important a nutrient as carbohydrates and protein. You should not avoid any of them.
However, it is important to distinguish between saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. While the former can increase cholesterol levels and lead to various diseases, the latter has exactly the opposite effect. They ensure that cholesterol is broken down in our body and are an essential part of a healthy diet.
Excellent sources of healthy fats are, for example, nuts, which also provide the popular crunchy effect in muesli. It's entirely up to you which type you choose. Whether cashews, hazelnuts or almonds, they all provide healthy fats. It's a similar story with seeds, such as flaxseeds or chia seeds. They are also full of unsaturated fatty acids.
Proteins: The fuel for our cells
In addition to healthy fats, your muesli should definitely contain protein. Proteins are often referred to as the building blocks of the body and are, for example, responsible for cell structure.
A popular source of protein in muesli is oats. This popular muesli base consists of almost 14 percent protein. This is why the local grain provides a lot of energy and keeps you full for a long time. This property also makes muesli an excellent meal before or after exercise. Thanks to the proteins, your muscles can perform at their best and recover faster after exercise.
Our almond-fig protein muesli bars are also a delicious snack before or after exercise.
What to avoid with organic muesli
To start your morning with a healthy breakfast that will give you plenty of energy for the day, you should choose sugar-free muesli. It's best to check the list of ingredients before a box of muesli ends up in your shopping cart. Special care should be taken with crunchy muesli. They often contain large amounts of sugar.
Muesli with grains should always contain the whole grain variant. If this is not the case, you will not be able to benefit from the advantages of whole grains mentioned at the beginning. Instead, your blood sugar level will fluctuate, you will quickly feel hungry again and soon after breakfast you will run out of energy.
You should also make sure that your muesli does not contain too many saturated fatty acids. The proportion of unsaturated fatty acids should clearly predominate.
Buying organic muesli – the right way!
At Verival, we make sure that our mueslis cover all breakfast preferences and needs so that you don't have to worry about whether your muesli contains all the important ingredients.
In addition to oat flakes and other ancient grains as a base, we refine our organic mueslis with nuts, seeds and dried fruits. This means you can tick all three important ingredients off and don't have to rack your brains when it comes to buying organic muesli.
