Importance of cereals in the diet

Cereals are a good source of carbohydrates. a vital source of protein. It is also a good source of group B vitamins, including folate. They are nutritious to our health as they are also a good source of many minerals, such as iron, magnesium, copper, phosphorus, and zinc.

Explanation:

In almost every country and region, cereals provide the staple food. In the world as a whole, only 5% of starchy staple food comes from root crops (mainly cassava, potato, and yams, depending on the climate), whereas the rest is from cereal. There is a greater dependence on roots in the developing economies, where the average figure for roots is 10%.

Cereal grains contain 60% to 70% starch and are excellent energy-rich foods for humans. Doctors recommend cereals as the first food to be added to infant diets and evidence from research upholds that a healthy diet for adults should have most of its calories in the form of complex carbohydrates such as cereal starch. Even in countries, such as the United Kingdom, where there is a wide choice of different foods available, people get a large amount of their dietary energy (20% – 30%) from cereals or foods containing cereal starch.