Do you eat breakfast cereal everyday?
Who doesn’t love breakfast cereals? Available in a wide variety of flavours and shapes, this quick breakfast is considered a beloved option by many, especially kids. However, a recent case of a 51 year old man has emerged as an eye-opener to watch out for how much cereal you consume everyday.
Chris Kirk from Upper Beeding, England is a busy dad who ate a lot of quick-and-easy breakfast cereals even for lunch, when he could not squeeze in a proper meal. However, Express UK reported that he ended up paying a heavy price for his love of cereal.
Cereal was taking a toll on his body
Eating around two bowls of cornflakes each day, Chris was unconsciously overdosing on iron, which started to affect his health.
He explained, “I began getting really itchy hands and feet, couldn’t sleep, had low energy levels and because I’d recently given up smoking, I’d gained some weight. So, my doctor ran a routine blood test. The results came back showing a problem with my liver.” In the next six months, his liver damage had worsened.
Mistaking it as a sign of being overweight
Chris shared that there’d been an assumption that since he was overweight and within the obese category, the liver damage was caused by his extra weight.
“It’s frustrating, but because I was fat everyone thought I had liver cirrhosis caused by obesity, so they didn’t take me seriously or investigate my problem properly,” Chris added.
It was later after undertaking highly targeted checks that he found that his ferritin levels were higher. Ferritin is a protein that stores iron in your cells. A ferritin blood test can tell whether you are getting too much or too little iron.
Treatment that finally worked
Since many cereals contain 100 percent of the recommended daily allowance of iron, eating too many cornflakes led to Chris’ liver storing excessive iron, which was poisoning his liver cells.
The doctors told him to remove iron from his diet. After cutting out the cornflakes and other iron-rich foods, like spinach, he no longer suffers from his uncomfortable symptoms. His ferritin levels are also back within the normal category.
Chris said that this is the first time in more than five years that he’s felt healthy and has also started losing weight.
So do breakfast cereals lead to iron poisoning?
Commenting on Chris' situation, Doctor Sihame Benmira at Medichecks, said, “Chris’ case is unfortunate, however, most people who consume fortified cereals are unlikely to experience any overload of vitamins or minerals.”
"Iron poisoning depends on how much iron a person is ingesting, but also on other factors such as any health issues they may have and if they are on any medication at the same time,” Dr Benmira added.
Read more: Silent killers in your kitchen that may be secretly ruining your health
How to choose the right cereal
Eating fortified cereals may help in preventing nutrient deficiencies. However, it is important to check the labels as many of these cereals are high in added sugar and refined carbohydrates.
It is best to select cereals that are low in sugar and high in fibre. Ensure you consume them moderately and not excessively, so as to avoid any chance of ingesting too many nutrients and sugars.
You can also replace your packaged breakfast cereal with other healthy and unprocessed breakfast options such as eggs or oatmeal.
Start a Conversation
Post comment