01x03 - Cereal Thriller

[bunniefuu]

[Zooey] Imagine
a world of limitless choices,

promising health and vitality.

If you eat a bowl every day,
you'll live a longer,
happier life.

Is cereal really part of this
nutritious breakfast

or is it just a tempting
marketing ploy?

Welcome to the cereal matrix.

Are you ready to see
how deep the rabbit hole goes?

Making sense
of the cereal aisle
is a daunting task,

but never fear,
we are here to unscramble this

breakfast puzzle
piece by piece.

We'll journey
from cereal's origins

to its dark recent past
and its bright future.

We'll figure out
what we should be pouring
on top of our cereal,

and we'll also explore
whether cereal can help us
live to be 100.

You're going to love it.

To understand
any complicated matrix

we got to start
at the beginning.

"What is cereal's origin story
and how did it become
so popular?"

We can actually thank
a small sect of Christians

called "Seventh-Day
Adventists"

who took the whole
"your body is a temple" thing
rather seriously.

John Harvey Kellogg
is recognized as the true
innovator here,

while others had attempted
to create vegetarian

breakfast options before him,
his dough crumbles
made of wheat,

corn and oats were the first
truly ready-to-eat concoction.

But it was John Harvey's
brother, Will Keith,

who ushered
in the cereal craze
we know today.

See the brothers
split due to a dispute

over how to market
their cereal.

Once Will Keith went solo,
he added two ingredients

that would be crucial
to making cereal a sensation,

sugar and a toy.

Now there are literally
hundreds of cereal options.

The only product that
I can think of that matches

cereal in terms of pure
options overload

might be America's
other great obsession.

Blue Jeans.

Let's start with your big-name
brand cereals,

which dominate grocery aisles

much in the same way
that name-brand jeans do.

These name-brand cereals
also come
with the highest price tags,

thanks in large part
to the high stakes
of cereal marketing.

One of the biggest
cereal brands
spent $393 million

to market their products
in 2019 alone,

that's enough money
to buy almost

every single ad
during the big game.

Then there's what one
former supermarket executive

calls the deep, dark secret
of the retail world,
slotting fees.

This is when big brands spend
hundreds of thousands
of dollars

to secure prime shelf space,
often outbidding

smaller competitors
in the process.

And yet, despite
being more expensive,

name brands often use
the same ingredients

as their generic counterparts
and don't always
beat them in taste tests,

kind of like
how the average person
can't tell

if you're wearing
a high-priced

pair of designer jeans
or a generic pair

that you grabbed off the rack.

Now let's talk about
your super sugary cereals,

which are a lot like
bedazzled jeans
in one key way.

You really don't want
to overdo it.

Consider a favorite
honey-toasted cereal,

whose name we won't mention,

one 36 gram serving
contains 18 grams of sugar,

meaning every bowl
is half sugar,

and those 18 grams
are more than one-third

of your daily
recommended dose.

Talk about overload.

The bottom line,
in just over 100 years,

the magic of marketing
turned a health food
into a sugary indulgence.

But is there anyone out there
actually honoring
the roots of cereal?

I sent my buddy Carlos Parisi
on the road to answer
a simple question.

Can somebody
please make a cereal

that's both healthy
and delicious?

Come on in, we're going
to show you a range

of our different cereals
right here.

I feel like
I'm surrounded by crunch.

We've got the crunch.

We've got the granolas.

We got our EnviroKidz
cereals here as well.

Is breakfast the most
important meal of the day?

Definitely, breakfast sustains
you throughout the entire day.

And if you eat a healthy
whole-grain organic breakfast,

you're not spiking
your sugar levels.

[Zooey] Studies show
that super sugary,

highly processed foods deliver
spikes of energy
that fade quickly,

but whole grains,
which are rich in fiber,

vitamins and minerals,

take longer for your body
to digest,

causing blood sugar
to rise and fall gradually

and that can help
your energy last longer.

[Carlos] What differentiates
your cereals
from the other cereals?

[Stephens]
We use really unique grains

and combinations of them together

and 30% less sugar than a lot
of the mainstream brands.

I'm one of the people
that eventually likes,
a soggy cereal,

but I appreciate the crunch.

So there's something
in the cereal industry
called bowl time.

It's an amount of time cereal
can last in your bowl
before it starts to go soggy.

A lot of our competitors,
they'll start going soggy
within about a minute,

a minute and a half,
ours has a bowl time
of four to five minutes.

Going into the store,
how does a parent know

what the proper cereals
to buy are?

I'm a parent.

I have a seven-year-old
daughter

and one of the things
that I look for is to start

with certified organic
ingredients and then
whole grain nutrition,

lower in sugar,
and of course,

something that she's going
to love to eat.

[Carlos] What do we got behind
door number one?

[man] This is our warehouse.

[Carlos] Oh, wow!

And there's just so many,
like, chutes and tunnels
and things.

This is soft white meal.

So this is just step one
of the process then?

Uh, step one is actually
the farmer,
growing the most amazing,

you know, organic
wheat and corn
and all these ancient grains.

Are all the grains
coming from all around
the world, too?

We have some grains that
are coming from say,

South America, like our quinoa
and amaranth.

And then a lot of our grains
actually are grown
on the prairies,

like in Dakota and Montana
and the Midwest.

We created Heritage flakes,
which was a blend of all these

heritage grains
from cultures
around the world.

So we took quinoa,
amaranth and kamut.

What's kamut?

Kamut it's... it's an ancient
form of wheat,

and some farmers
took that seed

and started growing it
in Montana.

So it's like a more digestible
form of wheat.

[Zooey] If the label says
whole grain,

your cereal still
has the grains

most nutritious elements,
including the germ
and the fiber

and that's what you want
to look for.

If it doesn't say whole grain,
all the good stuff's been

stripped away and you're left
with the endosperm,

which has a nice texture,
but it just doesn't measure up
in the nutrition department.

Here's corn.

We have sugar right
behind you from Brazil.

It's an amazing family farm,
and they've pioneered

a lot of cool practices
as well.

They've developed a
way to harvest cane
that isn't burning,

it's called Green Cane.

And so not burning cane fields
is very beneficial
to the wildlife,

to the environment.

[Zooey] Sugarcane covers
65 million acres
of land worldwide,

that's bigger than the whole
United Kingdom.

Traditionally, growers
burn the cane before harvest,

causing health problems
and environmental damage.

Growers in Brazil
have developed a process

to harvest cane
without burning

but getting all cane farmers
to adapt their methods

and equipment
is a big undertaking.

You're teaching me
something that has been
going on for years

and here I am thinking
to myself,

"Oh, we've been doing it
the right way the whole...
whole time.

- Well, we're all learning,
we're on a path, right?
- Yeah.

And there are tremendous
practices around the world
that we can learn from.

What are we making
on the floor today?

Our Flax Plus
Cinnamon Crunch product.

It's made of wheat
and flax seeds,

and then we coat it
with a light dusting
of cinnamon and sugar.

All right.

Give me a whole bowl of that.

[Zooey] Now that we've got
the scoop on box cereal,

it kind of begs the question,

What about the stuff
we pour on top of it?

How much does milk matter?

The dairy aisle and boybands
have a lot in common.

One day you're hanging tough
and the next it's bye-bye-bye.

Whole milk is the real OG
and inventor of the genre
like The Beatles

or The Jackson 5,
but nobody stays
on top forever.

You see, in 1985,
in an effort to manage
America's fat intake,

the USDA recommended
a switch to low-fat dairy.

Suddenly, whole milk was out
and skim milk

was all the rage
and the worst
was still yet to come.

In 2012 Congress passed
the Healthy Hunger
Free Kids Act,

which bans child-care
providers

from serving whole milk
to kids.

But soon, skim milk
would also learn

just how hard life
under the bright lights
can be.

Soy came
for the number one spot

building a devoted army
of vegan

and lactose-intolerant fans.

Soon, the online mob
came for soy, too.

After unsubstantiated claims,
it could increase

the risk of breast cancer
almost as quickly
as almond milk said,

"It's going to be me."

They were canceled, too,
when reports came out

that it takes 80 liters
of water to produce

just one glass of the stuff.

These days, oat milk is on top

and it does seem like
it's got a leg up
on the competition.

It takes way less water
to produce than dairy
or almond milk

and is 100% vegan.

While whole milk
may never dominate again,

they're definitely not ready
to retire either.

These days,
consumers are telling it,

"I want you back."

Thanks in part
to how nicely it pairs
with cereal

because whole milk
has the most calories,

it helps you feel fuller,

so less likely to reach
for another bowl.

On top of that, scientists
are now calling into question

some of those
nasty headlines

that were written about
whole milk back in the day.

For example, its 4.5 grams
of saturated fat

is well below the recommended
daily average.

And there's one other category

where dairy milk still leads
all the others protein,

despite being marketed
as healthy alternatives,

almond and oat can't compete
with dairy milk's

eight grams of the nutrient
that helps build strong bones
and muscles.

Though some pea milk brands
have caught up.

The real scoop on
all these milk contenders

is that it's not
an all-or-nothing-at-all
situation.

None of them are perfect,
nor are they as bad
as the worst headlines

make them appear.

If you are lactose intolerant,

concerned about
the environmental impact
of dairy farming

or simply prefer
other milk beverages,

picking the right alternative
is as simple as walking down

the dairy aisle and saying,
"I want it that way."

If milk could be healthy
for our bodies,

what's it doing
for our brains?

There are some ways
to consume milk
that might just make you feel

like a kid again and that
can be a very good thing
for our mental health.

You guys are famous
for a lot of things,
tasty things.

One thing I think is so great
and I want to talk
to you about today.

You recognized
the deliciousness
of cereal milk.

That's where we try
to live at Milk Bar.

- We try to live
in the perfect space...
- [Zooey] Yeah.

...of like professional
pastry excellence

with a deep well of nostalgia.

There's the word
I'm looking for. Nostalgia.

Recent studies show
that experiencing
a sense of nostalgia

can be a source of optimism,
creativity and other positive
emotional effects.

It can even help you live
a healthier lifestyle.

So while no one
should overindulge
on sugary sweets,

having a nostalgic treat
like cereal milk

can be a good thing
in moderation.

Now let's get back
and make something delicious.

How can we maximize
flavor and texture

and all of the goodness
that is like something
you make at home

but maximize it
for a big punch?

I love that philosophy.

Cereal milk is this thing
that we don't think about,

but everybody drinks
the milk from the cereal
and it's amazing.

[Zooey] Milk Bar's famous
cereal milk

is inspired by the nostalgic
taste of milk

at the bottom of the bowl
of cereal.

After soaking
toasted cereal in milk,

it's then strained
and used in various desserts
like soft serve ice cream.

Why do you think
cereal pairs so well
with dessert?

I think it's a great opportunity

for additional textures.

A lot of cereals
have a nice crunch.

We love texture here,
so you can grind it up,

you can put it
on the outside
of a cake truffle.

You could put it
as a crunch layer inside
of a layer cake. Anything.

There's an invitation for
additional flavor and texture.

And honestly,
they're also just
really delicious.

Really delicious.

- How do we start?
- All right.

- First, we're going to start
with cornflakes.
- [Zooey] Okay.

Today, we're going to make
cornflake crunch,

and I need your help.

- I see you're gloving up,
you're getting ready.
- I'm ready.

- It's going to be
pretty intense.
- Okay.

[Anna] You're going to smash
a million of these
cornflakes all together.

Do you want to get in there
both hands, bear claw style...

Okay.

...and smash,
because this is going to go

on top of the soft serve.

And I wanna add
a little butter in here,
some sugar

and some milk powder
as well.

Milk powder is something
bringing in additional
richness and deepness.

You can put them
in cookies.

- You can put it in cake.
- [Zooey] Yeah.

People don't use this enough...

People are not putting
milk powder
in enough stuff.

We love sticking milk
in stuff in all ways.

How's this looking?

- It looks really good.
- It's looking fantastic.

You're crushing it,
literally and metaphorically.

Okay, so what you're going
to do next is...

[both] Ooh!

And then give it
kind of a spread out

with a nice even layer

and that way we get
optimal caramelization
on here.

- [Zooey] Yeah. You got it.
Got it.
- [Anna] All right.

I'm going to go throw this
in the oven in the kitchen.

- Okay. Okay.
- I'll see you in a couple.

All right, coming in hot.

- This looks incredible.
- Okay.

So you see, we got some
nice toastiness,
all that butter and sugar

and milk powder
has been incorporated
into the actual cornflakes.

So this is the cereal
milk soft serve base

and then the cornflake crunch
that we just made,

we put a little in the bottom
kind of as a hidden
cereal treat,

and then we throw
the same thing on top.

[Zooey] That is so good.

I'd say that's
the best soft serve
I've ever had.

Wow, wow, wow!
You're too kind.

You know what?
You did it.

- We did it.
- Heck yeah.

We did it.

We turned cereal milk
into a nostalgic treat
to rekindle our childhood.

But what if there's a way
to keep that youthful vitality
into old age?

Turns out cereal might
be the answer there, too.

Evidently, there are people
living into their 80s,
90s and 100s,

who say cereals are critical
part of their lifestyle.

So I sent my fittest
friend Kevin Curry
to Loma Linda, California,

which is one of only
five blue zones on Earth.

These are regions
where life expectancy
is well above average.

I'm talking a whole bunch
of 80, 90 and 100-year-olds

all living
in the same place.

That's my husband, Tom.

I'll have what they're having.

Welcome to my humble
dwelling here.

This is where we energize
our morning
with our breakfast.

Well, I'm ready to pick
your brain about
this breakfast

because I've heard
so much about it.

So I just have
the regular oatmeal.

- [Kevin] Okay.
- Very simple
that you get at the aisle.

It's not the rolled oats
or the steel cut, which...

No.

This is actually
the one minute,

and then I put hemp
in there.

And why are you adding
in the hemp parts here?

It's high in vitamins
and then minerals

and they give substance...

- Yeah, the healthy fats.
- Exactly.

And then I put chia seeds.

I add walnuts
and then almonds.

- These are?
- These are cranberries.

Oh, wow!

You can use raisins,
whatever you want.

This is a very
hearty breakfast.

And you're eating this
every single say.

And you just
don't get tired of it

because we want
to stay healthy.

We add a little bit of water
and here comes the fun part.

- Okay.
- I zap it in here
and I do for three minutes.

Voila!

Is it always water
or can you use something
like a plant based milk?

You could,
but we just like the water.

Okay.

[Zooey] In the US average life
expectancy is about 76.

But in blue zones,
it's common for people
to live to 100.

So they must be doing
something right.

Can we add, like,
anything else to it?

Yeah.
There are strawberries...

[Kevin] And blueberries.

...bananas, grapes and dates,
whatever you have.

Oh, my God!
This is really good.

- Isn't it?
- It's really good.

- Delicious, huh?
- Mm-hmm!

So, Tom, after you eat yours,
what's your routine
looking like?

Either go out and weed
the flowerbed

or mow the grass or...

- Uh-huh!
- ...or go for a hike.

And then I go
to our local fitness center.

Five days a week,
I go and exercise.

[Zooey] Aha!

I know we're uncovering
food secrets,

but if our blue-zone friends

are living
into their 90s and 100s

and exercising regularly,
maybe the rest of us
should take notice.

Pool workouts
are easy on the joints,

and swimming improves
heart health...

Now you can feel that burn.

[Zooey]
...Lowers blood pressure
and increases flexibility.

We're tonin',
we're tonin'.

Exactly.

[Zooey] Plus, working out
with friends strengthens
a sense of community

and purpose which can also
contribute to longevity
and quality of life.

I see you.

I see you working.

- [laughs]
- Oh, we are!

[indistinct chatter]

You take all these
little snippets,

take them back home
with you.

I will.

You know,
I think what I'll take, too,

is just how everybody here
just treated me
as if they, like, knew me.

And so I see what you mean
about this place

as being also being a place
of restoration and healing,

because it's as much
about the people, too,

as it is about the diet
and the environment.

Like, everyone here
is so nice.

- Let's do a hug, come on.
- Thank you much.

Bless you, in all you do.

- Thank you.
- Thank you.

Let's review, shall we?

We explored
the origins of box cereal

and found some
that balance health and taste.

We learned the whole truth
about milk

and how to pour the right kind
to meet our personal
nutrition goals.

Then we turned cereal milk
into a treat to trigger
sweet childhood memories.

And finally, we learned

how breakfast might help us
live to a ripe old age.

But there's a new trend
in health and fitness called

intermittent fasting,
IF for short,
that has people skipping

what we've been taught
is the most important
meal of the day.

What if the healthiest
breakfast is no breakfast
at all?

[Zooey]
Once Kevin Curry recovered

from his blue zone
pool workout,

I sent him to meet with health
and wellness expert

Sarah Hays Coomer
to try his hand
and stomach at IF.

So I heard so much
about the intermittent fasting

and people
are always asking me

about different diets
and a lot of people

have questions
about intermittent fasting.

So I haven't tried it
but I did show up today
in a fasted state to...

- Oh! Okay.
- ...to try.

All right. First time.

But I wanted to pick
your brain and be like,

"Is this the right way
to do it?

How do you work
with your clients on this?"

Yeah, so intermittent fasting
is really basically

a form of calorie restriction.

Mm-hmm!

You are only eating food
between a certain hour
of the day

and to another hour
of the day.

So some people do that
early in the morning.

Some people start it at noon
and eat until eight o'clock.

In this window of, you know,
however many hours,

I can't have any calories.

Can I consume like,
is it just water?

I can have that.

Basically intermittent fasting
like it's not really a diet
so much as an eating pattern.

- So...
- [Kevin] Yeah.

...you could eat three pizzas
and a bowl of cookie dough
if you wanted to.

- Can I lose weight?
- ...during those hours?

- No.
- [laughs]

- Probably not.
- Not like that, no.

So it really depends
what the quality
of the food...

[Kevin] Right.

...you're eating
during the hours that
you are eating as well.

Actually, I've fasted today

and I'd love for you
to take me through a workout.

Am I going to have the energy
that I need to be able

to really perform at my best
if this is my fasting window?

In the morning, yeah.

If you're going to work out especially,

it's really important to fuel
that workout.

So the research shows
that if you're going
to intermittent fast,

that the earlier version
of that,

so if you begin
your fasting hours

where you're not eating
at eight o'clock
in the morning

as opposed to noon,

then your hormone levels
are going to be more stable.

It also shows that people
who do that
have lower body weight,

lower risk of, um, obesity
and other diseases

related to it like
heart disease and diabetes.

If you're going to go
into moderate
or high intensity,

you really need that glycogen,
which is...

[Kevin] Yeah.
Your muscles, yeah.

...carbohydrate
in your muscles
and in your liver to fuel that

so you don't get lightheaded
or dizzy or fatigued.

Okay.

So that means you're going
to have to go easy on me today

when you take me
through a workout.

[Sarah] We're going to see
how it goes, right?

[Zooey] Now that
he's warmed up with a walk,

Kevin is going to see
if he can make it

through a low-impact
workout

without running out of steam
on an empty stomach.

Throw it up.
Oh, yeah, that's it.

Oh!

How's that feel?

Do you think that
I'm winded more
when I'm fasted?

Well, if you have
no carbohydrates,

that's quicker energy.

If you're trying to burn fat,
it takes a lot more oxygen
to burn that fat.

Okay.

...so yeah, you could get
winded a little bit faster.

So let's do a little sprint
from the 25 to the 50,

do some jumping lunges,
maybe five on each side
and then come on back

and do five burpees
and let's see how it goes.

[Zooey] But now
for the real test,

with no breakfast calories
to burn...

[Sarah] Nice.

[Zooey] ...will Kevin's
energy level hold up
in a strenuous workout?

[Sarah] Beautiful.
Two at a time. Nice.

Oh, my God!

[Sarah] Beautiful. Big jump.

Nice.

Five, nice.

Well done.

Does it feel different than
when you're fueled?

Yeah, it does.

I feel energized,
I don't feel cloudy,

but I don't feel
as powerful.

[Sarah] Yeah, that's it.
It's that slow energy.

- So if we were just
walking around the field...
- Yeah.

...you would probably
be feeling fine.

But when you try to pick up
the pace like that,
it does get harder.

There's actually a study
of 30,000 people

for breakfast skippers
versus non-breakfast skippers,

and people who
skipped breakfast
actually ate more calories

over the course of the day,
more saturated fat
and more added sugars,

and they had lower
all different

vitamins A, B, C, D
all different...
Calcium folate.

So the quality of the food
later in the day,

if you have starved yourself,

even if you're not
feeling it earlier,

tends to fall
and it actually increases
your body weight over time.

There are some people
who really do need
to be careful about fasting

because there are people
who, like diabetics,

need to keep their blood sugar
really stable.

Same with pregnant women
or people who are on medications

where they need to keep
those hormone levels

and their blood sugar stable.

So it's really important
to talk to your doctor

before you embark
on any kind of big
dietary change.

- Don't just jump into it. Okay.
- Yeah. Yeah.

Like I kind of did today.

Right.
[laughs]

- Let's get some breakfast.
- Yeah.

Depending on your morning
to do list,

it seems like
keeping breakfast

as a part of your lifestyle
might be a smart move.

And if you choose wisely,
that means cereal

can be a great start
to your day.

So here are three easy tips
to help you make that choice.

One, make sure your cereal's
top two or three ingredients

are whole grains
and not that
stripped-down imposter,

enriched flour.

Two, take a tip from my mom,

if sugar was listed
in the first
three ingredients,

we couldn't take it home.

Three, whatever you pour
on your cereal,

the more protein,

the fuller you'll feel
and the less
you're likely to eat.

Eight grams is a good target.

And bonus, you need
more than five grams of fiber

if you want to enjoy
your cereal regularly

if you know what I mean.

Okay, that's four tips,
but who's counting?

At any rate,
we've solved cereal,

which means you have
one less decision to make

before you've had
your cup of coffee.

You're welcome.

I almost forgot.
Ever order a salad
because you think you should,

not because you really
wanted it?

What if I told you
I have a way
to flip the script on greens?

I'll tell you about it
next time.