internal bonds (bonds between atoms on the same molecule) and forming new bonds to other
atoms on other molecules. This creates a network that traps and holds water molecules.*
Ounce for ounce, cereal has fewer vitamins and minerals after cooking simply because
so much of the weight of the cooked cereal is water. Cereals are naturally sodium-free but
absorb sodium from the soaking water.
How Other Kinds of Processing Affect This Food
Medical Uses and/or Benefits
As a source of carbohydrates for people with diabetes. Plain cereals are digested very slowly,
producing only a gradual rise in the level of sugar in the blood. As a result, the body needs
less insulin to control blood sugar after eating unsugared cereals made from additive-free
grain than after eating some other high-carbohydrate foods (such as bread or potato). In
studies at the University of Kentucky, a whole-grain-, bean-, vegetable-, and fruit-rich diet
developed at the University of Toronto and recommended by the American Diabetic Asso-
ciation enabled patients with type 1 diabetes (who do not produce any insulin themselves)
to cut their daily insulin intake by 38 percent. For patients with type 2 diabetes (who can
produce some insulin) the bean diet reduced the need for injected insulin by 98 percent.
This diet is in line with the nutritional guidelines of the American Diabetes Association,
although people with diabetes should always consult with their doctor and/or dietitian
before altering their diets.
Lower risk of heart disease. In 2007, researchers from the Harvard Medical School and
Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston, released an analysis of data from the long-run-
ning 21,400-man Physicians Health Follow-Up Study showing that men who consume seven
or more servings of whole-grain cereal a week are 21 percent less likely to suffer from heart
failure than are men who do not consume whole grain cereals daily. The results held true
regardless of how much the men weighed, whether they smoked or drank or took vitamin
pills, or had a history of high blood pressure and high cholesterol. NOTE: In this study,
“whole-grain cereals” are defined as those containing at least 25 percent whole grain or
wheat bran by weight.
A lower risk of some kinds of cancer. In 1998, scientists at Wayne State University in Detroit
conducted a meta-analysis of data from more than 30 well-designed animal studies mea-
suring the anti-cancer effects of wheat bran, the part of grain with highest amount of the
- When you use a little starch in a lot of liquid the amylose and amylopectin released when the starch
granules rupture will thicken the liquid by attracting and immobilizing some of its water molecules.
Amylose, a long unbranched spiral molecule, can form more bonds to water molecules than can
amylopectin, a short branched molecule. Wheat flours, which have a higher ratio of amylose to amy-
lopectin, are superior thickeners.
Wheat Cereals