Browse through the cereals in any supermarket and there’s one thing that you won’t find; sugar-free cereal. Cereal really is a terrible choice for breakfast (or any other mealtime for that matter).

Not only is it loaded with sugar, it’s also lacking in protein (even the ‘high’ protein ones) and lacking in fibre (even the ‘high’ fibre ones). Many of them are fortified with ‘vitamins and minerals’. I put that in quotation marks to emphasise that fact that these ‘vitamin and minerals’ are not quite as you’d expect. Any food fortified with vitamins and minerals have the chemical form of the nutrients added, and these are poorly absorbed and even pretty much a poison to some (there is a common genetic variant which can make you unable to tolerate folic acid; the synthetic version of folate). Furthermore, cereal is a carbohydrate dense meal, which is not helpful when you are trying to lose weight, balance blood sugar, balance hormones, improve digestion or generally improve health.

Here’s my super simple recipe for a delicious and nutritious granola:

Make roughly 1 weeks supply.

Ingredients:

The quantities really are not important as it won’t ruin the outcome if you for example add more seeds or less oil etc.

•  400g plain, unsalted nuts (I use cashews, almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, pistachios and anything in the cupboard)
• 100g seeds (I use pumpkin seeds, chia seeds and ground linseeds/ flaxseeds)
• 100g oats or buckwheat flakes
• 2 tbsp coconut oil

Method:

1. Add 3/4 of the nuts to a food processor and blend until nuts are broken, but not ground.
2. Remove the blade or move to a large bowl and combine in the seeds, the rest of the nuts and oats.
3. Melt the coconut oil by gently heating
4. Pour the nut mixture onto a large baking tray in a thin layer (I usually have to do two batches).
5. Paint or spray a thin layer of coconut oil onto the granola
6. Toast under the grill on a medium heat for a few minutes. When you hear popping (if using pumpkin seeds) remove from the grill. Toasting helps to bring out the flavour and natural sweetness and your can toast as much or as little as you like (just don’t burn)
7. Repeat with the rest of the mixture.
8. Leave to cool completely and then transfer to an airtight container and keep in the fridge if you have space
9. Serve with just milk or with berries and yogurt

If you’ve got a sweet tooth you may find this too savoury, so I’d recommend having with yogurt or a sweet milk like rice or coconut milk. Alternatively, sprinkle on some natural sweetener like xylitol or stevia.

To make this recipe SIBO friendly simply omit the oats.