Mango Passion Crisp
with St. John’s Wort and Kava
October 1999; Volume 1: 88
Yogi Bhajan’s Peace Cereal
Package Information
"Herbs have been used for thousands of years for humankind’s healing. Every culture and nation has Grandma’s special recipes. Humankind learned to reach out to herbs as their simple friends. Through a study of herbal use, it is true: You are what you eat.’ We have experienced through this process that herbs are our friends, and they can serve us as they have in the past. With that hope we bring you Peace Cereals. Each Peace Cereal is enhanced with a specialized combination of the highest quality herb powders and extracts. We are not making any claims; we are just sharing what St. John's Wort and Kava are all about. You can make your own personal search and discover it for yourself."
Nutrition Facts
Serving size 1 cup (55 g)
Servings per container 5
Cereal with 1/2 Amount per serving Cereal cup skim milk
Calories 210 250
Calories from fat 45 45
% Daily Value**
Total fat 5.0 g* 8% 8%
Saturated fat 0.5 g 3% 3%
Cholesterol 0 mg 0% 0%
Sodium 170 mg 7% 10%
Total carbohydrates 37 g 12% 14%
Dietary fiber 3.0 g 10% 10%
Sugars 9 g
Protein 5.0 g
Vitamin A 2% 2%
Vitamin C 0% 0%
Calcium 2% 17%
Iron 8% 8%
*Amount in cereal. One half cup of skim milk contains an additional 40 calories, 65 mg sodium, 6 g total carbohydrate (8 g sugars), and 4 g protein.
**Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Manufactured by Golden Temple (a member of Khalsa International Industries and Trades), Eugene, OR
Ingredients: Oat clusters (OG* rolled oats, unsulfured molasses, water, Expeller pressed canola oil, crisp rice (milled rice, unsulfured molasses, salt and malt), brown rice syrup, whey powder, herbal tincture (vegetable glycerin, OG* St. John’s wort leaf and flower tops, OG* fennel seed, OG* cinnamon bark, OG* spearmint leaf, fenugreek seed, OG* ginger root, cardamom seed, kava kava extract [10% kavalactones], lavender flowers, natural licorice flavor, OG* clove bud and OG* black pepper, natural passion fruit flavor, natural mango flavor, salt, lecithin) cornflakes (milled corn, crystallized evaporated cane juice, salt, malt), and mango.
*OG organically grown and processed in accordance with the California Organic Foods Act of 1990.
Price: $3.29, 11.5 oz (326 g)
Comments by Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD
This very busy cereal box has dense print on the outside and the inside of the box, and both sides of the box top as well. Also included are directions for a kundalini yoga stretch, an announcement for winners of the Golden Temple Peace Cereal grants, directions for nominating people for the award, a letter from a grant recipient, quotes from various people, and advertisements for other cereals, teas, body oils, and other natural products.
The cereal contains a 12-ingredient herbal tincture that includes St. John’s wort leaf and flower tops and kava kava extract (10% kavalactones). Other tincture ingredients include fennel, cinnamon, spearmint, fenugreek, ginger, cardamom, lavender, licorice, clove, and black pepper.
Cereal ingredients are listed in order by weight, but one cannot tell by any cereal label how much of anything is in it. A label statement says, "Each cereal serving is enhanced with 110 mg of our unique St. John’s Wort tincture." Assuming that the tincture referenced is the 12-ingredient mixture, there must be a depressingly small amount of St. John’s wort in this cereal. Even if the tincture contained only St. John’s wort, 110 mg is far from the usual dose of 900 mg/d of a standardized extract. The situation for kava is similar; a usual dose of kava is 210 mg/d. Also, the usual percentage of kavalactones is 70%, and the kava used in this cereal is only 10% kavalactones. There is no reason to think that this cereal would have any beneficial therapeutic effects other than enhancing the skills of a budding cereal box reader!
October 1999; Volume 1: 88
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