June 8, 2010

Please pass the Honey Nut Cheerios???



"In 1960, researchers at Ann Arbor University performed an interesting experiment on laboratory rats. Eighteen rats were divided into three groups. One group received cornflakes and water; a second group was given the cardboard box that the cornflakes came in and water; and the control group received rat chow and water. The rats in the control group remained in good health throughout the experiment. The rats receiving the box became lethargic and eventually died of malnutrition. But the rats receiving the cornflakes and water died before the rats who were given the box--the last cornflake rat died on the day the first box rat died.
"Before death the cornflake rats developed schizophrenic behavior, threw fits, bit each other and finally went into convulsions. Autopsy revealed dysfunction of the pancreas, liver and kidneys and degeneration of the nerves in the spine--all signs of 'insulin shock.'
"The startling conclusion of this study is that there is more nourishment in the box that cold breakfast cereals come in than in the cereals themselves. Loren Zanier, designer of the experiment, actually proposed the protocol as a joke. But the results are far from funny. They were never published and similar studies have not been repeated. If consumers knew the truth about breakfast cereals, vast fortunes would be jeopardized."

~ Sally W. Fallon, in Nourishing Traditions

4 comments:

  1. And if you read the labels, most of the cereals are all the same ingredients formulated in different ways anyway. Same with boxed cookies, crackers... All corn!

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  2. Kim, I did NOT know you were into NT!!! We're pretty into it over here :)
    -Rebecca from Bible study

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  3. Yum! Toasted cardboard for breakfast. I can't wait.

    :)

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  4. I saw Adam from Mythbusters talk about the same kind of experiment that they did. They're not actually allowed to air any of the video, but they can talk about. They compared eating the box to eating regular "rat chow". One of the three rats eating the cardboard box "chow" ended up eating the other two rats in his cage!! Wish I still had the link - the story is hysterical! I think the moral of the story is that the cardboard box really doesn't have much nutrition at all and the strongest rat was just hungry!

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