Does Honey Nut Cheerios Lower Cholesterol

There are actually many different types of foods that can lower the levels of cholesterol in your blood stream. Fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts and many other food products have within them the properties that will lower the amount of cholesterol. However, General Mills has promoted their breakfast cereal, Honey Nut Cheerios, for many years as a means to lower cholesterol as well.

Many people do not necessarily associate a breakfast cereal with a health food, particularly one that is aimed at kids. However, the commercials for Honey Nut Cheerios have been persistent when it comes to insisting that it does indeed lower LDL cholesterol as part of an overall healthy breakfast.

Being a part of an overall healthy breakfast might be the key disclaimer in the commercials because if you eat Honey Nut Cheerios with foods that will actually raise your LDL cholesterol, then whatever positive effect it might have will be negated. However, is the basic claim that is made about lowering cholesterol actually true?

What Studies Revealed

At least one study by Dr. Kevin Maki of Provident Clinical Research in 2009 revealed that eating Cheerios can indeed lower serum cholesterol by up to 10% in just four weeks. The controlled conditions in which the study was conducted did demonstrate that Honey Nut Cheerios did indeed lower the levels of cholesterol when consumed alone.

The basic reason why Honey Nut Cheerios actually works is because it contains whole grain oats and soluble fibers which are directly responsible for lowering the amounts of cholesterol in the body. Cholesterol is part of creating bile which helps the body digest the fat. However, since the whole grain oats contain no fat, the bile is not produced in as great amounts and the soluble fiber soaks up the cholesterol that is produced and carries it through the digestive process without being absorbed into the blood stream.

Furthermore, this is the type of food that is fairly easy to purchase and easy to incorporate into a healthy breakfast. There are actually a number of benefits that consuming Honey Nut Cheerios brings to the breakfast table.

  • Lowers LDL Cholesterol.
  • Reduced Calories.
  • Combined with fruits and other healthy foods.

In essence, it is rather simple to replace a breakfast that may be loaded with unnecessary fats and sugars with one that provides good energy, fewer calories and a lowering of cholesterol levels.

Overall, eating a serving of Honey Nut Cheerios and combining that with eating good, nutritious food the rest of the day that also lowers LDL cholesterol levels will have a dramatic effect in a relatively short period of time. Foods that contain insoluble fibers such as legumes, lentils, kidney beans, fruits, vegetables and nuts can be part of an overall diet.

This means for those who are interested in lowering the levels of cholesterol in the body, Honey Nut Cheerios does actually work when eating with a sensible breakfast. For the full effect however, it must be complimented by eating other good food during the day as well.