The Real Breakfasts Of Champions

You've probably been hearing about how breakfast is the most important meal of the day from your mother, teachers and even doctors for as long as you can remember. You're going to hear it again from us... because it's even more essential for dieters!

Research suggests that eating breakfast -- and particularly high-fiber breakfast foods like oatmeal -- can help prevent overeating later in the day. In addition to their weight loss benefits, cereals provide B vitamins, iron and folate (a substance good for your heart, but also essential for women of childbearing age to prevent birth defects). As a result, this morning meal is considered an essential part of a healthy weight loss plan.

A Great Source Of Fiber? It's Still The One!

What do all health professionals agree will help you keep your weight down, lower your "bad" cholesterol and protect you from some very serious chronic diseases? The prescription that you eat a diet with at least 25 grams of fiber daily!

A diet that's full of healthy soluble and insoluble fiber may be protective against some cancers, such as colon cancer, and can help prevent heart disease. Fiber promotes regularity and helps avoid intestinal problems like diverticulosis, irritable bowel syndrome and constipation.

Cereal Bars: Health or Hype?

No time to sit down to breakfast in the morning? Maybe you're one of many who grab a cereal bar on the way out the door, thinking you're doing your body some good. If so, you might be surprised to learn that many of the morning meal bars don't come close to providing the benefits of a bowl of cereal.

For starters, most cereal bars are made with refined white flour, as opposed to whole grains. As a result, they have almost no fiber and less of the beneficial B vitamins that cereals provide. Plus, some are so unsatisfying, you're likely to end up eating something else, offsetting the low-calorie benefit.