What is a healthy cereal?

blopmiyers

I love cereal, however most of the cereal I find is loaded with sugar. I've read that the kashi line of cereal is healthy but then again, 1 serving of one of their cereals that I saw had 13g if sugar. I eat big breakfasts and would probably have 2-3 servings along with something else. What's a healthy cereal?

WinoGelato

Is your definition of healthy, low sugar?

queenliz99

I like lucky charms mixed with Honey Nut Cheerios add some berries and unsweetened almond milk. Yum

gothchiq

Kashi GoLean has more protein than normal, so it's more filling and offers more nutrition.

wonderwoman8613

I eat fiber one with soymilk

85Cardinals

Captain Crunch Peanut Butter! It's fortified with 7 essential vitamins and minerals.

elgie3

Regular O's, unsweetened shredded wheat (0 sugar and 5g protein), rice crispies, Heritage Flakes. I usually just do oatmeal w/ misc add-ins.

luciachristenson

Plain Cheerios with almond milk/skim milk

ktekc

I love the kashi go lean original. . big serving for a cereal. . 58g. . that with a half cup of unsweetend almond milk is about 195 calories. Add a banana or a yogurt and im good to go. not sure about the sugar because i dont keep track of it.

MakePeasNotWar

I like the Trader Joe's high fiber O's. They are fairly high in protein as well as fiber, although I couldn't tell you what the sugar content is.

arditarose

Fiber one cereal has about the least amount calories I've seen per serving. Volume wise I think it's a good choice. I find cereal not to be a good choice for me though. So many more filling things with less calories.

kommodevaran

To me, no single foods are healthy or unhealthy, but I eat quite a lot of plain oatmeal, polenta, semolina, millet, cooked with water and milk and served with butter, and sometimes Weetabix with milk, and I perceive my diet as healthy.

Christine_72

Oatmeal
Weetbix
cheerios
muesli
cornflakes

MarziPanda95

Whichever fits your nutritional goal and calories best. I recently found that weetabix have a new version which includes extra wheat protein. Tastes just like normal weetabix but with more protein

bebeisfit

I like old fashioned oatmeal and I add in chia seeds, raisins and cinnamon. I'm also a fan of shredded wheat..but I have to add some fruit or it's just too bland. If you're coming from high sugar cereal, you may need to go 1/2 and 1/2 and slowly reduce the sugary one. It took my taste buds a while to enjoy the low sugar options. I'm not a fan of Fiber one because it has artificial sweeteners.

wildredbill

For years I have been making my own cereal by buying individual grains, like thick cut oats, barley, kashi, wheat bran, flax seed, pepitas, walnut pieces, and sunflower seed, in bulk from my local OutPost store. You might say my morning cereal has been as much of a project as it is a cooked morning cereal. (Only cook the oats, barley, kashi. All the rest goes in raw before eating.)
Was so PROUD of my daily cereal mix until I told my doctor about how healthy my breakfast cereal is. Then he said: "You would probably would have been better off just eating bacon and eggs for breakfast." We were told for years how bad cholesterol is for the heart etc. Now it's "fat is food for the brain." Sometimes its not breakfast that is the problem. Sometimes it's keeping one's sanity that is the challenge.

se015

blopmiyers wrote: »

I love cereal, however most of the cereal I find is loaded with sugar. I've read that the kashi line of cereal is healthy but then again, 1 serving of one of their cereals that I saw had 13g if sugar. I eat big breakfasts and would probably have 2-3 servings along with something else. What's a healthy cereal?

Shredded Wheat, Oatmeal and grits for hot cereals, Granola (higher in sugar, but not crazy),

dlkfox

My personal favorite cereals are:

Nature's Path Flax Plus Multigrain Flakes (only 4g of sugar and 5g fiber)
http://us.naturespath.com/product/flax-plusr-flakes

Nature's Path Flax Plus Raisin Bran (12g sugar because of the raisins mostly and 8g fiber)
http://us.naturespath.com/product/flax-plusr-raisin-bran

Nature's Path Flax Plus Heritage Flakes (4g sugar and 5g fiber)
http://us.naturespath.com/product/heritager-flakes

Kelloggs Crispix Cereal (4g sugar; no fiber; but fortified with vitamins)
http://www.kelloggs.com/en_US/kelloggs-crispix-cereal.html#prevpoint

elga_thres

I looovvveeee oatmeal, muesli and weetbix!!!

bellabonbons

My favorite is Oatmeal and Uncle Sam's is a very old cereal company. Delicious!

ddavenport63

Weetbix and porridge oats .

Lounmoun

Original Cherrios is low sugar.
Uncle Sam Wheat Berry Flakes is low sugar.
Plain oatmeal has only the sugar you add.

I don't usually eat cereal because I don't find it very filling.

Docbanana2002

Even the cereals that advertize themselves as healthy have a lot of added sugar and contribute little in the way of nutrition (unless you count fortified ones that take a low nutrition cereal and add a bunch of vitamins to it to make it appear nutrition packed). Some of them with the "healthy" reputation (Kashi for example) are pretty high in calories, with a tiny serving size. Watch out for ones bragging about large amounts of whole grains per serving...they are counting on you not realizing that a gram of whole grain is not the same as a gram of fiber and thinking you have a high fiber cereal when it is actually low. So read labels.

I have found that the Fooducate app's nutrition ratings very helpful at noticing some of these things. I don't follow it religiously and obsess over eating all A+ foods, because sometimes I want something because it tastes good and am willing to spend some calories on it. Or sometimes I disagree with the rating criteria. But I would like to know that's what I'm doing when I do that, not fall for marketing hype (I'm looking at you, Special K....)

For a more direct answer to your question, Whole Foods' store brand cereal line contains several cereals that meet my specific criteria of whole grains, minimal added sugar, fairly natural, low enough calorie that I can have a nice portion size. I especially like the bite sized wheat squares (not the frosted ones) and morning 0s. Natures Path Organic also has some cereals you might try; the Mesa Sunrise is one I'm eating right now. Basically a "Corn Flakes" type of cereal made with organic corn, flax, quinoa, and amaranth; just 4g sugar.

CorneliusPhoton

Steel cut oats for least amount of processing or anything added. You can always have it with some yogurt, nuts, and chia seeds for adequate protein, fat, and fiber for your macros.

jgnatca

I'm going to make a big assumption here that your idea of a healthy cereal is one that is low in sugar, higher in fiber, and maybe a little protein thrown in for good measure.

Advertisers know this so market appropriately. The box may display a flashy banner "good source of protein" or "gluten-free", whatever the "health du jour" happens to be.

But you don't need your cereal to be high or low on anything. You can fix any deficits yourself, for instance, by adding a little fruit or milk.

A plain cereal with its fiber intact include any oatmeal, Red River cereal, wheat puffs, or shredded wheat.

Hornsby

queenliz99 wrote: »

I like lucky charms mixed with Honey Nut Cheerios add some berries and unsweetened almond milk. Yum

Lucky Charms. That's my go to!

Timshel_

I do oatmeal every morning. Love it and you can add whatever you want.

I also do granola often or nuggets often with yogurt.

Francl27

Basically stuff with low sugar, whole grains, more fiber.

acbraswell

gothchiq wrote: »

Kashi GoLean has more protein than normal, so it's more filling and offers more nutrition.

This. I buy the Kashi GoLean Crisp cinnamon crumble and it has 11g protein and 9g fiber. I top with 70g (~1/2 cup) blueberries and 4oz 1% milk for 251 calories, 15g protein, and 12g fiber. That with some coffee keeps me full 'til lunch.

cronus70

MarziPanda95 wrote: »

Whichever fits your nutritional goal and calories best. I recently found that weetabix have a new version which includes extra wheat protein. Tastes just like normal weetabix but with more protein

Always eat Weetabix and now I eat the Protein Weetabix, top cereal

lseed87

Whatever fits in with your macros.