Muesli bars - a healthy snack or a threat to your figure?

What is muesli

This is a mixture of cereals, bran, wheat sprouts, nuts, dried fruits, honey, and spices.
In 1900, Swiss physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner invented muesli for use among hospital patients. After all, as we know, fruits and vegetables are an integral part of a balanced diet, which is especially important during the period of treatment and rehabilitation.

“Mus” - “puree” - is the word that is the basis for the creation of the term “muesli”.

In the early 1960s, interest in a healthy lifestyle and proper nutrition began to grow among people living in Western countries. From that moment on, the popularization of muesli in its modern form began.

Muesli is produced in different ways, they all differ from each other in shelf life, production scheme, and the use of preservatives in their creation. They come raw and baked. The manufacturing process of the former occurs without heat treatment. They contain oat flakes, seeds, dried fruits and nuts that have undergone mechanical processing.

Baked foods include granola and crunch. During their production, cereals are combined with natural juice, honey, and vegetable oil. After baking, the taste of the product becomes brighter and richer.

How is granola different from muesli?

Essentially, granola and muesli are one product prepared in different ways. The main difference is the production technology. Granola is made by baking. The result is a caramelized mixture. The baked product has a sweeter, richer taste.

What are the benefits of muesli?

Breakfast is the main meal of the day, according to many nutritionists. A morning meal gives you a boost of vigor and energy for most of the day. It is recommended to have breakfast with a dish balanced in the amount of BJU. Porridge, whole grain bread and muesli will come in handy.

The healthiest muesli does not contain sugar and is made from whole coarse grains that have undergone minimal heat treatment. As for dessert ones, their benefits are reduced due to sweet additives.

The main ingredient of muesli is oatmeal - a storehouse of vitamin B, which supports natural beauty and the nervous system, potassium - a mineral necessary for the full functioning of the cardiovascular system, as well as calcium, magnesium, sodium and many other useful macro- and microelements.

Additional components include: nuts, dried fruits, seeds, which also contain many beneficial nutrients.

What are the specific benefits of muesli for our health:

• provide a long-lasting feeling of satiety;
• do not provoke insulin production;
• maintain optimal blood sugar levels;
• contain coarse fibers, which has a positive effect on the functioning of the intestinal tract;
• the high content of vitamin B improves the condition of hair and nails, and has a positive effect on the functioning of the nervous system;
• promote the elimination of excess cholesterol;
• a small amount of calories helps you lose weight;
• a rich arsenal of vitamins improves the functioning of the immune system.

People who do not have enough free time often skip breakfast, which further harms their health, so even sweet muesli will not be as harmful to the body as skipping the first meal.

Benefits and varieties

Muesli appeared in our country in the 1990s. It was at this time that Russians began to visit European countries more often and became acquainted with this popular breakfast. The benefits of this product are indicated by the presence of natural ingredients. The product has a beneficial effect on digestive processes. This is explained by the fact that it consists of a significant amount of dietary fiber. The vitamins present in the composition help strengthen the immune system.

Especially for those who want to get rid of excess pounds, it is recommended to eat muesli daily.

They are rightfully considered a product that is intended for proper nutrition. But despite this, when purchasing, experts advise carefully familiarizing yourself with the ingredients used in production. It is imperative to take into account how much sugar the product contains and whether palm oil is present in the composition. It is these components that can significantly reduce the usefulness and minimize the dietary properties.

Today, manufacturers produce and sell muesli of the following varieties:

1. Raw – the ingredients are not processed during their production.
2. Baked - cereals, honey, vegetable oil and juice are used to produce this product. All ingredients are thoroughly mixed and then baked. As a result of this process, the taste qualities of the muesli change, becoming rich and pronounced.

When choosing, be sure to take into account that the raw product is not allowed for consumption by everyone. Experts do not recommend eating it for people who have liver problems or those with weakened immune systems. Such recommendations are given primarily due to the fact that the composition contains cereal grains containing a large amount of saponins, phytic acid and tannins. As a result, raw breakfasts are poorly absorbed by the body. When purchasing, pay special attention to the manufacturer. Buy products from trusted brands that have proven themselves exclusively on the positive side during their existence and have won a huge number of positive reviews.

Is it possible to lose weight by eating muesli?

Despite the calorie content of the product, it contains coarse fibers, the processing of which requires more time and energy costs. Cereals provide a long-lasting feeling of fullness, so the risk of frequent snacking is reduced. They also absorb large amounts of water, so excess fluid is removed from the body faster.

Bars

The bars have earned popularity among people who have little free time for snacking. They are convenient, inexpensive, do not require storage conditions and are sold ready-made. They are often purchased for travel, taken with you to training, or used as a snack between main meals.

Despite the many advantages of the bars, nutritionists do not recommend buying them in stores. Manufacturers add icing, chocolate, and sugar to improve taste, which significantly increases calorie content.

Natural product

Natural muesli, prepared independently, will become not only a healthy breakfast for an adult or part of a diet when losing weight, but also a favorite safe treat for children. They can be prepared from dried fruits or fresh fruits. The most important thing is the absence of preservatives.

Tips: how to make breakfast as healthy as possible?

Having considered the benefits and harms of muesli, you should not refuse this delicacy. The diet should include a variety of breakfasts. Therefore, muesli should be alternated with cereals, omelettes, and sandwiches. It is better to prepare the cereal yourself, mixing several types of cereals, adding nuts and dried fruits.

Tips for choosing ready-made muesli:

• Buy foods that are low in calories. You should not buy cereals with chocolate, sugar and other additives. They reduce the nutritional value of the product by increasing calorie content;
• It is better if the composition contains honey instead of sugar, which is rich in valuable minerals and vitamins;
• For breakfast to be as healthy as possible, the product must contain several types of grains;
• To lose weight, it is better to buy raw muesli. Baked analogues are tastier, but their calorie content is higher;
• The composition should not contain artificial additives in the form of flavors, dyes and preservatives.

A ready-made breakfast in the form of muesli will suit everyone without exception. He will come to the rescue when there is no time to prepare complex dishes. However, you shouldn’t eat cereal alone. Food products are varied. There are many simple breakfasts. Therefore, in addition to a pack of cereal, a good housewife should have cereals for making porridge and a couple of eggs for a hearty omelet.

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Additional vitamin enrichment

Often on store shelves you can see products with attractive labels on the packaging: “Enriched with vitamin C” or “Contains iron.” Such slogans cannot be taken seriously, because such vitamins are reproduced artificially, which affects the deterioration of their absorption. You will be lucky if they are excreted from the body along with food; it is much worse when low-quality components begin to accumulate in the liver. Don't buy these products just because you can save money. Only natural products and real vitamins are good for health.

What is the benefit, and perhaps harm, of both muesli for the body?

Health benefits of muesli:

• they are nutritious, will support strength, energize;
• can serve as a supplier of B-group vitamins and valuable microelements;
• free the body from toxins and fat decomposition products;
• improve digestion;
• normalize stool, activate intestinal motility (because they are rich in dietary fiber);
• stabilize the level of bad cholesterol;
• reduce the risk of developing malignant tumors (it has been proven that cereals on the menu reduce the risk of breast cancer by 45%);
• enhance brain activity;
• have a positive effect on the state of the nervous system, help to resist stress;
• improve the appearance of the skin, solve the problem of acne and redness (due to the fact that they put the intestines in order).

Pros and cons of muesli

The first significant advantage that you can remember is that muesli is really nutritious. They can energize you for the first half of the day. All thanks to whole grains that retain vitamins E and B, beneficial microelements and other nutrients. In order for muesli to provide only benefits, you need to remember the “golden” composition of the product: unprocessed oat flakes combined with berries, fresh fruits or dried fruits.

The fiber included in the composition helps to cleanse the intestinal tract faster, which is important when losing weight.

Muesli is convenient to take on the road, it does not take up much space and does not require special storage conditions.

Children should not be spoiled with such a breakfast too often; coarse fibers have a detrimental effect on the child’s stomach, so do not be lazy to prepare homemade oatmeal for your baby.

Contraindications

It is not recommended to purchase mixtures containing sugar and flavoring additives. This affects the calorie content of the product and negatively affects the figure. People who are losing weight and people with diabetes should remember this.

It is important to consider the salt content. It is better not to consume muesli with salt for those who have problems with blood pressure. Constant use of the product, even for a healthy person, is fraught with a violation of the water-salt balance, which threatens the development of hypertension in the future.

Pay attention to the presence of vegetable oil. It is used in production for heat treatment. Frequent consumption of muesli containing oils is harmful to the cardiovascular system.

Nutritional information for granola bars

Granola bars are made from ingredients such as oats, dried fruits, nuts, seeds, honey, coconut and chocolate chips.

The nutritional value of granola bars can vary greatly depending on the brand and ingredients used.

While many types are high in added sugar and calories, several healthier options are available.

Here's a nutritional comparison of two popular granola bars (1):

Although the second granola bar contains fewer calories, it also contains significantly less fiber and protein, and twice the sugar of the first bar.

Most granola bars contain about 100–300 calories, 1–10 grams of protein, and 1–7 grams of fiber per serving.

Many also contain micronutrients, including B vitamins, calcium, magnesium and iron, which are either contained in the ingredients or added during fortification during the manufacturing process.

Summary:

The nutritional value of granola bars varies widely, and some foods may contain more calories, protein, fiber and sugar than others.

Mechanism of weight loss

Losing weight through judicious use of muesli is explained by the following:

• fiber helps actively cleanse the intestinal tract;
• the laxative effect promotes the removal of toxins;
• provides a feeling of long-lasting satiety.

How to eat muesli correctly

In order for a product to benefit the body, you need to know how to use it correctly. It is recommended to eat them in the same way as oatmeal - just add water and wait for the time indicated on the package. For a hearty breakfast, you can pour the mixture with milk or natural yogurt, and for weight loss purposes, leave it soaked overnight in coconut milk.

How much can you eat per day

Experts recommend consuming muesli in the morning. This makes a great breakfast or first snack. The daily dose of the product is 55 g.

Is it possible to eat at night

It is not recommended to have muesli for dinner. Largely because they are quite nutritious and satisfying. At night you should eat light food that does not require long digestion.

Is it possible to eat dry

The product is sold dry. Before use, pour boiling water, yogurt or milk over it. Doctors do not recommend consuming muesli in dry form, because... this will be a colossal burden on the gastrointestinal tract.

How and when to eat correctly

When including muesli in your diet, nutritionists advise following basic recommendations related to the form in which and during what meals the consumption of the cereal mixture in question would be optimal.

The calorie content of a cereal dish depends on how those losing weight eat this product, namely how it is prepared. For example, when adding banana or grapes to regular muesli, it is important to understand that the amount of fast carbohydrates in such a case will make up a large part of their total daily volume acceptable for a particular person.

It is considered optimal to use muesli, the main ingredient of which is bran. It is best to pour this mixture with low-fat yogurt, kefir, water or milk.

To maintain the low amount of calories contained in the product, it is advisable to avoid adding sugar, fruits with a high content of sugar, or all kinds of syrups to the “initial” mixture. A standard portion for 1 meal should not exceed 50 g in volume. The specified mass is enough to saturate the body with useful micro- and macroelements, as well as eliminate the feeling of hunger in someone losing weight.

Traditionally, muesli is recommended for breakfast. Eating cereal in the first half of the day will help a person who wants to get rid of extra pounds, awaken their body's systems with healthy food, and also recharge their energy and achieve a light stomach for the whole day.

Recommendations

The main recommendation is to eat muesli for breakfast, because... contain carbohydrates, which should be consumed in the morning during the diet. They also charge you with energy for the whole day. For weight loss, experts do not recommend consuming cereal mixtures for more than two weeks without a break, because they are quite difficult to digest. Despite many advantages, the product is not recommended for use in case of celiac disease - due to the content of cereals, for gastritis and ulcers - due to bran, for diabetes - due to dried fruits.

Muesli - a grain bomb for weight loss

Many nutritionists consider muesli to be an almost ideal remedy for weight loss. Muesli does not mean any specific product, but any mixture of cereals (mainly oatmeal) and a variety of dried fruits. Experts believe that this is the healthiest breakfast option as part of a well-balanced, low-calorie diet. Weight loss occurs due to the fact that such a hearty breakfast prevents you from overeating at lunch.

The advantages of muesli are ease and speed of preparation, as well as accessibility to almost everyone. However, some admirers of this healthy dish not only do not lose weight, but on the contrary, they gain it. The fact is that there are also very high-calorie mixtures.

The optimal way to lose weight is to eat muesli, which allows you to lose weight by 1-1.5 kg per day. It should be done no more than once a week. In a month using this system you can lose about 4-6 kg.

Cooking recipes

The best product is made with your own hands. We have prepared a review of several interesting recipes.

With kefir

Place a tablespoon of oatmeal, a couple of tablespoons of bran, a few dried apricots and a handful of raisins in a bowl. You can add some of your favorite nuts. Pour in kefir and let steep for 20 minutes.

Baked

Mix oatmeal with bran, adding finely chopped apples. Season the mixture with honey. The consistency should resemble pancake dough. The mixture is poured onto a baking sheet and baked for 5-10 minutes.

With mineral water

Muesli that does not contain dried fruits or nuts can be poured with mineral water in such an amount that, after swelling, a viscous porridge is obtained.

With vegetables

Peel fresh beets and carrots. Grind in a blender until pureed. Add flakes and bran. You can make a cocktail by adding low-fat kefir.

With honey

Set the oven to preheat at 180°. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Melt honey and butter in a saucepan, add cereal, nuts and cinnamon. Place the resulting mass on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Store the finished product in an airtight container.

With milk

Oatmeal with various additives can be poured with boiled or cold milk. In the second case, the muesli will infuse longer.

With fruits

You will need: half a glass of oatmeal, half a glass of low-fat yogurt, a couple of tablespoons of dried fruits and nuts, fresh fruit to taste. Mix and place the mixture on parchment paper. Send to bake for 25 minutes.

Expert opinion

Muesli is a product that is advertised as a healthy food. In fact, this is completely wrong. Manufacturers often add palm oil to them, which can cause the development of cardiovascular diseases. Synthetic emulsifiers cause allergic reactions. Most additives: chocolate, glaze, nuts, sugar - make the product more nutritious, which significantly reduces the effectiveness of diets. Therefore, it will be much healthier to prepare your own oatmeal. And to lose weight, go in for sports, consult a nutritionist who will help you create a balanced diet. After all, only painstaking work on yourself will help you achieve results.

Yogurts, desserts and nutrition bars

When we go on a diet, we inevitably begin to crave sweets, desserts, fragrant pastries - everything that we try to limit ourselves to. Manufacturers know this well and offer a large selection of dietary desserts. Such products are often presented as light, and therefore not harmful to the figure.

Studying the composition

Dairy products, namely curd desserts and yoghurts, are very popular among those who want to lose weight.

It is believed that yogurt improves digestion, satisfies hunger, keeps you full for a long time and helps you lose extra pounds.

Let's look at the ingredients : milk, water, sugar syrup, muesli, fruit juice, bran, corn starch, flavoring identical to natural, cream, sugar, milk powder, yogurt starter, bifidobacteria.

And now attention: such “diet” yogurt is completely contraindicated for overweight people.

It is especially harmful for your figure to drink such yogurt before bed, when your physical activity is at zero.

100 g of yogurt with a fat content of 2.2% contains 80 kcal , and 300 g (1 bottle) contains as much as 240 kcal and carbohydrates – 38 g ! Such yogurts contain a lot of sugar and fruit, and these are fast carbohydrates that instantly turn into fat. It is especially harmful for your figure to drink such yogurt before bed, when your physical activity is at zero.

A truly useful product for health and figure is natural yogurt, which contains only milk, cream (if the yogurt is not low-fat), sourdough and healthy live cultures.

The composition of light curd desserts is also not suitable for diet and healthy eating. In addition to starter culture and regular milk, they contain: sugar and sugar syrup, cream, thickeners, milk protein concentrate, stabilizers, acidity regulators, wheat flour, vegetable fat, flavorings and dyes, pieces of fruit, chocolate, cookies or jam. The calorie content in 100 g of dessert is 140 kcal , and in one jar (130 g) – 182 kcal and 26 grams of carbohydrates !

This dessert can only be called light because it is truly airy. If you get too carried away with cottage cheese desserts, you will quietly gain extra pounds. Sweet curd desserts do not belong to products for a healthy diet.