Kashi GoLean: GoLean another direction

In 2012, Kashi products were pulled off the shelf in a natural food store and a class action suit was started against the company for using ingredients in their brand that goes against their “natural” claims.  An investigation ensued and revealed that the whole grain being used in their cereal had been Genetically Modified.  The cereal was also found to contain dangerous synthetic ingredients found in prescription drugs and pesticide residue.  Kashi’s marketing is being directed towards the health and fitness conscious consumer who is looking for the best natural ingredients at the best price available. Clean eaters, fitness buffs and health foodies are looking to find a product that will provide them with the right amounts of vitamins, nutrients and protein in a meal.  With claims that Kashi cereal has “as much protein as an egg,” it seems that one of Kashi's claim of the use of “natural” grains has already been falsified. 

An egg will provide 12% of the Recommended Daily Value (DV) at 6 grams of protein compared to the 9 grams of protein found in Kashi. What Kashi can’t do is supply your body with all its essential amino acids and Omega-3 fats that it needs for that day.  Making the egg the most compete natural protein source of the highest quality that you can find.  Eggs also do not contain any sugar. The presence of any high fructose corn syrup in the cereal was absent, but that just means the food industry is getting more creative in hiding re-naming what is essentially still sugar.

                        Evaporated Cane Juice Crystals + Brown Rice Syrup + Honey = 3 tsp of  Sugar

With the lack of comparison of Kashi GoLean to the egg, there had to be an ingredient that was actually providing the protein source that this brand of cereal is known advertising for.  At first glance the box would have any consumer convinced that they need this product in order to get the daily amount of protein needed for survival.  The box even has the word "protein" plastered on the front three different times.  Moving past the marketing explosion on the front, the ingredients stood out in bold letters.  Soy. Oh, boy. There have been benefits and dangers of soy products and it seems that it is showing up everywhere and in everything.  Soybeans contain high amounts of protein but to determine whether it is good or bad for your health all narrows down to the way it is processed.

Fermented vs Unfermented Soy

Fermented soy contains good bacteria that aids your body in digestion.  It helps breaks down food in the digestive tract allowing the vitamins, minerals and protein that it contains to be absorbed by the body at a faster, more gentle rate.  Fermented soy is very common in Asian countries and is found in foods like miso, tempeh and natto.  Just like any other ancient Chinese secret, America catches wind of its health benefits and the US Food and Drug Administration finds a way to mass produce and manufacture the soybean so that it loses all nutritional value and medicinal benefits.  Unfermented Soy is one of the top three foods that is genetically modified (GMO). Ninety-three percent of soybeans are sprayed, engineered, fake, toxic, deadly with chemicals and then added to products that you consume daily. Soy has many different identities and can also be recognized as: hydrogenated oil, yeast extract, lecithin, soy flour, soy protein isolate and soy protein concentrate.

Health Risks

One bowl of cereal containing soy isn't going to trigger the growth of man boobs, but high amounts, taken daily over time will disrupt the body's hormone levels.  Genetically modified soy can increase a man's estrogen and lower his libido. In women, studies have shown that it can cause infertility, miscarriages and birth defects.  Unfermented soy will also play tricks with the thyroid gland. A thyroid gland that is out of control can wreck havoc on one's weight by gaining drastically and making it extremely difficult to lose.  It also regulates your mood and energy levels.  A women trying to lose weight, while having hot flashes, experiencing mood swings and her monthly visitor playing peek-a-boo on unexpected days; you might want to be in a different part of the world at that point. We learned that fermented soy is good for digestion, but unfermented soy will actually have an opposite effect.  Unfermented soy contains trypsin inhibitors that actually make it harder for protein to break down causing diarrhea, stomach cramps and bleeding.  Making the whole reason for choosing a protein cereal in the first place, pointless!

Eat This Not That from Men's Health Magazine, a beginners guide to processed food bible book, is even on to Kashi's false claims.  Kashi continues to market itself as natural, even as the GMO controversy has been brought to light.  If you are lifting weights, working out, healthy, food conscious, breathing, aware of what goes into your body and the healthy effects that it has, then there are numerous natural, whole, organic protein sources that blows GoLean out of the chemical ridden milk that it is drowning in.