America's affection for breakfast cereal dates back to 1863, when a New York nutritionist formulated a recipe that included graham flour nuggets so hard they had to be soaked in milk overnight. Dr. James Caleb Jackson called the creation granula, which he made for patients at his medical sanitarium in Dansville, New York. It was supposed to be a healthy food — lighter and easier to digest than traditional breakfast staples such as bacon and eggs, pancakes, and hash. It also offered convenience — just pour it from a box into a bowl and douse it with milk. More than a century later, under wide-ranging health reforms, Americans are being advised to go back to bacon and eggs. That’s because over the decades, cereal has evolved to be little more than boxes of sugar. The government is now blaming the rise in obesity and chronic disease on ultra-processed foods, like ready to eat breakfast cereals. Such diets lead to nutrient depletion, increased intake of calories, and exposure to harmful additives, which is why the government is now urging a shift toward minimally processed, whole foods. In January, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy unveiled a new food pyramid and guidelines for Americans that emphasize high-quality protein, dairy, healthy fats, vegetables, and fruits. The new guidelines encourage eating what he calls “real food” and discourage consuming processed foods and products with added sugar. It’s an acknowledgement that animal fat is actually not what’s killing us, as we’ve been told for many years. "NASA astronauts, when they went to the moon, what did they eat for breakfast? They had steak and eggs before they went to the moon. That kind of tells you something interesting,” said Dr. Shawn Baker, orthopedic surgeon and author of “The Carnivore Diet.” Education and awareness are important for breakfast, and now people are beginning to wake up to what’s really in the cereals that take up shelf space at the grocery stores. The U.S. breakfast cereal market will reach $19.3 billion in sales in 2026.
