Exactly when cereal grains first became part of the human diet is uncertain.

ECONOMIST: Archaeology

People had to learn how to gather and process wild cereal grains before they began cultivating them deliberately, around 10, 000 years ago.

ECONOMIST: Archaeology

Stone implements dating back as far as 45, 000 years may have been used to grind cereal grains, but there is no way to know for sure, since no associated plant remains survive.

ECONOMIST: Archaeology

Around that time at the end of the ice age, people started gathering cereal grains for the first time, and they noticed that if you kept these grains, you could protect yourself against food shortages, so that was very useful.

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You also can look for an FDA-approved health claim on breakfast cereals if at least half the cereal is made with whole grains.

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