Sugar first or milk first on your cereal?

Efficiency – that’s what I’m about. Usually with regards to trivial day-to-day actions. Like analysing whether you should put sugar first or milk first on your cereal…

Do I apply this same scrutiny to big, important things? I hope so and try. But I can’t help looking at those little things that one does every day, and wondering is this the most quick, easy and effective way of doing it?

OK – let’s say you’re a ‘milk first’ person

You probably figure, there’s only three things in the bowl (before you embellish) – a combination of cereal, milk, sugar – what difference does it make what order they go?

It matters because… if you milk first, the sugar you sprinkle on top stays on top. That means the first couple of spoonsful you pop in your mouth will contain most of the sugar – super sweet. Then every mouthful taken underneath, virtually none – blandsville.

Of course, you may say you prefer it that way but really?…

What happens if you’re a ‘sugar first’ person?

Pouring milk over the already sprinkled sugar will disperse it throughout the bowl’s contents – making each mouthful about as evenly sweetened as they can be.

(Read: The Sensible Way)

Maybe you don’t use sugar at all

It’s probably a healthier alternative to look beyond sugar if you want something besides milk. (The ‘embellishment’ mentioned earlier)

Indeed, I find it hard to beat topping my corn flakes with chopped banana and/or strawberries and a little yoghurt.

That could be enough sweetness for a lot of people right there – but I admit I put sugar on first as well. (And have sweetened yoghurt – I know I know…)

Ever end up with milk on the kitchen bench? A milk pouring hack…

It must have happened to us all – the physics conspire against you and that stream of milk is diverted from a perfectly-angled corn flake all over the bench.

Try this just to see if it works – it does, but it’s not an Archimedes ‘Eureka!’ moment…

Put the spoon you are about to use upturned on top of your cereal – then direct the milk’s flow over it. It will spread outwards but not upwards, saving you a mopping up job.

Incidentally, ever wonder why we use milk at all?

Orange juice is pretty healthy stuff but it’d be weird to pour it on cereal – wouldn’t it? What about coffee? Coconut water? (Actually, that doesn’t sound too bad – might try it…)

Seems it began back in the 1800s when James Caleb Jackson invented the first dry, whole grain breakfast cereal which he called granula. He suggested it could be an alternative to the cooked breakfasts everyone was loading up with in the morning.  Granula consisted primarily of bran-rich flour made into hard nugget shapes which had to be soaked overnight before it could be eaten. What did most farm folk have on hand? Milk!

Granula? That sounds a bit like Granola – isn’t that a Kellogg’s thing?

Yes it is. Granola is the later breakfast cereal developed by John Harvey Kellogg, renamed to avoid being sued by Jackson. Kellogg, who also believed it could act as a ‘cure’ for intemperance and masturbation, incorporated a rolling process to flake the grain, making it more palatable.

But what about pre-sugared cereals?

Well, sure – the whole ‘milk first’ debate is pointless in those instances. But even I know that they are health times bombs waiting to go off.

Full disclosure – I’ve had a lot of Frosties and Coco Pops in my life. Mostly when I was a young ‘un but I still enjoy a sneaky bowl now and then. Froot Loops though, apparently 38 percent sugar by weight, I can’t go near those any more.

In fact, it seems all processed breakfast cereals are not that good for you with most incorporating sugar and refined grains. You probably already know that high sugar consumption is harmful and may increase your risk of several diseases.

So, maybe it’s not about whether you should put sugar first or milk first on your cereal… maybe you should choose oatmeal or muesli a little more often to start your day. (Like the wise Mrs Dadsplainer)