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Granola is a popular breakfast product made using oats, other grains, nuts, and seeds.
Products in the market vary in their composition. It's often asked whether this cereal product is healthy or not when compared to muesli and oats. In this article, we bring you a comparative analysis of these products along with the health benefits they might offer.
What’s Granola Made Of?
Granola is a popular breakfast and snack product consisting of rolled oats, nuts, honey, or brown sugar. It also contains puffed rice, which is usually baked till it's crunchy, toasted, and golden brown.
Four tablespoons of store-bought products contain:
- Calories: 130 kcal
- Carbohydrates: 13 grams
- Protein: 4 grams
- Fat: 8 grams
- Fiber: 2 grams
- Iron: 1.1 milligrams (6% DV)
From this table, we can easily understand that it's a high-carb product and provides a small amount of dietary fiber.
Is Granola Good for You?
This breakfast cereal can offer the following health benefits:
- Providing dietary fiber: Rolled oats, dried fruits, and seeds are good sources of dietary fiber, which can improve digestion and absorption of nutrients. Whole grain cereals, including granola with oats, can improve intestinal health by promoting growth of probiotic bacteria.
- Supporting heart health: This breakfast cereal can help lower cholesterol due to its fiber content, while nuts and seeds contain minerals.
- Providing minerals: Dried fruits, like raisins, figs, and cranberries, are amazing sources of essential minerals, including potassium and iron. These minerals support healthy blood pressure, cellular functions, oxygenation, muscle contractions, and overall health. Oats also contain iron, magnesium, calcium, and vitamin B complex,
- Supplying energy: It's a good source of fast-digesting carbs that can fuel the muscles and brain instantly. Consuming these cereals before a workout can boost your performance.
- Versatile: Another pro is that granola is easy to pack and eat anywhere, including when traveling, camping, etc.
Is Granola Healthier than Oats?
Oatmeal is a popular breakfast food that's very easy to cook and also versatile. Oatmeal can be used in smoothies, milkshakes, porridges, and even in baked items like cake, cupcakes, muffins, and cookies.
Meanwhile, granola contains oats along with other cereals. People allergic or sensitive to gluten-rich grains must not consume mixed cereal products. Oats are considered safe for people with celiac disease. Considering all these facts, it can't be said which cereal product is healthier.
Is Muesli the Same as Granola?
Muesli consists of mixed grains that are generally raw. They're naturally sweetened using dry fruits.
Muesli is usually soaked in milk or boiled before consumption. Meanwhile, granola is a baked product and consists of sugar or honey as sweeteners. Nowadays, sugar substitutes are being used in the production of sugar-free breakfast products.
Nevertheless, it can be said that muesli is a healthier product due to its low sugar content.
Indranil Biswas is a nutritionist and personal trainer with a diploma in dietetics and personal training with a specialization in sports nutrition and strength training.
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