Raisin Bran BAD!

angelaspring
angelaspring Posts: 16
edited September 20 in Food and Nutrition
So i have been eating cereal for breakfast (1/2 cup of honey bunches of oats and 1/2 cup of crispy rice) but my trainer said i needed to incorporate more fiber so i went to the store and purchased raisin bran.. I ate it this morning and logged it in and was SHOCKED to find out it had 19 grams of SUGAR in 1 cup!!!! This is more than frosted flakes! can you believe that! What is your favorite cereal and why? I am looking to start my day with more fiber and protein.
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Replies

  • July24Lioness
    July24Lioness Posts: 2,399 Member
    Steel Cut Oatmeal with a small splash of heavy cream and a packet of stevia.
    2 eggs scrambled with veggies scrambled in
    2 or 3 pieces of nitrate free bacon or fresh made sage sausage.
    Coffee and water..............
  • 1Sweets
    1Sweets Posts: 395
    Yes..I know I ate it today & now my tummy is way out there:ohwell: :ohwell: :ohwell:

    How about shredded wheat? there's no sugar on it at all. It's great with some banana on it for natural sweetness or some other kind of fruit.

    Mmmm can't wait till tomorrow's breakfast now:drinker:
  • July24Lioness
    July24Lioness Posts: 2,399 Member
    Most cereals are not good for you. Just empty carbs and calories that get metabolized fast, can cause blood sugar spikes and leave you feeling hungry and blah from the blood sugar roller coaster.
  • Rainster
    Rainster Posts: 18
    funny, I don't usually eat cereal for breakfast because it always leaves me hungry an hour later. But lately I've been really lazy about breakfast and at the store yesterday I decided to stock some cereal for those particular mornings when oatmeal seems too difficult.
    So...

    I found Kashi Go Lean Crunch Honey Almond Flax.
    200 calories for a 1 cup serving, 8g fiber and 9g protein (which is pretty good for a dry cereal; I haven't found anything better).
  • 4healys
    4healys Posts: 44
    I'm not a cereal person (yes I LOVE it, but I don't like to waste my calories on such small quantities:o) but I think the Special K cereals are lower in sugar than most. The plain Special K has something like 4gr and the kind with red berries has about 10 I think. Not great but it's better than 19. Most any cereal is gonna have a good bit of sugar in it unfortunately unless you go for the tasteless cardboard flavored varieties!
  • bambi5014
    bambi5014 Posts: 79
    I love Honey Nut Chex, Just Bunches (just the clusters from Honey Bunches of Oats), or Chocolate Cheerios... they all are probably loaded with sugar, but paired with skim or 1% milk, any of them make for a yummy breakfast with lots of vitamins that keep me going until lunch.

    Honey Nut Chex = 120 for 3/4 cup

    Just Bunches = 250 calories for 2/3 cup

    Chocolate Cheerios = 100 calories for 3/4 cup
  • angelaspring
    angelaspring Posts: 16
    Most cereals are not good for you. Just empty carbs and calories that get metabolized fast, can cause blood sugar spikes and leave you feeling hungry and blah from the blood sugar roller coaster.

    that is exactly what my trainer told me but i am not a morning person and i am usually running out the door.. so i have cereal, and a hard boiled egg... any fast better suggestions?
  • truedecember
    truedecember Posts: 151 Member
    Okay I LOVE cereal and I wish more of it was healthy (Lucky Charms, anyone? lol).

    My current favorite cereal combination is some original Fiber One cereal with some Kix! Fiber One doesn't contain any sugar and has a TON of fiber. Kix is also very low in sugar and calories. For 1/2 cup of Fiber One cereal (which is very filling), it's only 60 calories, and I believe Kix is 110 or so for 1.25 cups. That's a pretty big serving for those calories!
  • July24Lioness
    July24Lioness Posts: 2,399 Member
    Most cereals are not good for you. Just empty carbs and calories that get metabolized fast, can cause blood sugar spikes and leave you feeling hungry and blah from the blood sugar roller coaster.

    that is exactly what my trainer told me but i am not a morning person and i am usually running out the door.. so i have cereal, and a hard boiled egg... any fast better suggestions?

    Make a crock pot full of steel cut oats. Package in "to go" containers and put in fridge. Boil your eggs for the week and have fruit cleaned and ready to go in snack bag containers.........

    Another idea for good protein and fat that will keep you full.

    Full fat yogurt (Greek style such as Fage or Mountain High is a good and tasty one) with some fresh fruit and nuts sprinkled on top. Very filling, satisfying and keeps you full from the protein and the fat.
  • angelaspring
    angelaspring Posts: 16
    Most cereals are not good for you. Just empty carbs and calories that get metabolized fast, can cause blood sugar spikes and leave you feeling hungry and blah from the blood sugar roller coaster.

    that is exactly what my trainer told me but i am not a morning person and i am usually running out the door.. so i have cereal, and a hard boiled egg... any fast better suggestions?

    Make a crock pot full of steel cut oats. ag containers.........

    Another idea for good protein and fat that will keep you full.

    Full fat yogurt (Greek style such as Fage or Mountain High is a good and tasty one) with some fresh fruit and nuts sprinkled on top. Very filling, satisfying and keeps you full from the protein and the fat.

    mmm both of those sound very good.. i will try them next week!! thanks for your insight!
  • jennymunson
    jennymunson Posts: 1
    From what I understand, most of the sugar in raisin bran come from the raisins... so it is natural sugar and really not that bad for you! Natural fruit sugars are good for you!

    You should try Fiber 1 cereals! VERY GOOD and low sugar. Tons of fiber too!
  • president1
    president1 Posts: 12
    My fitness trainer says the same thing about the ceral I was eating by the bowl full. Now I only add three tablespoons of granola for my fiber into my soy yogurt. Get my protein too. If I let it sit it softens a bit and its real good.
  • July24Lioness
    July24Lioness Posts: 2,399 Member
    From what I understand, most of the sugar in raisin bran come from the raisins... so it is natural sugar and really not that bad for you! Natural fruit sugars are good for you!

    You should try Fiber 1 cereals! VERY GOOD and low sugar. Tons of fiber too!

    Sugar coated raisins are not healthy................All raisin bran has sugar coated raisins......

    And if the OP has blood sugar issues of any sort, raisins should not be consumed.
  • cwelsh
    cwelsh Posts: 12 Member
    My current cereal of choice (which is very yummy) is Special K Cinnamon Pecan.

    3/4 of a cup (without milk) has the following nutrtional info:

    120 cals
    2g fat
    0 cholesterol
    180 mg sodium
    60 mg potassium
    25g of carbs
    2g protein

    For me it's one of the best tasting cereals out there that's actually good for you.
  • Nelski
    Nelski Posts: 1,607 Member
    From what I understand, most of the sugar in raisin bran come from the raisins... so it is natural sugar and really not that bad for you! Natural fruit sugars are good for you!
    x2
    Yes most of the sugar is from raisins, which is better than eating the sugar in a bowl of Lucky Charms or something like it. It's all about moderation and portion control if you still want to eat this cereal.
  • frabjak
    frabjak Posts: 16
    I don't eat cereal that often because I try to eat a heavier protein breakfast, but when I do this is what I make:

    1/2c of fiber one
    about 6 almonds - 12 almonds
    1 TBSP dried cherries (no sugar added)
    some flax seed
    1/2 c unflavored soymilk
  • melissaovadare
    melissaovadare Posts: 191 Member
    I like the Kashi Cereals....The original GoLean has 10g of fiber per cup and only 6 grams of sugar....

    I don't agree that all cereals are bad....original rice crispies, wheat chex, bran flakes, and cheerios are low in sugar, too.....
  • lifeaccordingtolily
    lifeaccordingtolily Posts: 60
    my dietian calls this her "ultimate power mix" it's really just a bunch of cereals mixed together so you get the good benefits from all of them

    Combine one box each:
    Cheerios (10 oz)
    Grape Nuts (16 oz)
    Bite-Size Shredded Wheat (17.2 oz)
    Fiber One

    1 cup = 170 calories 11g fiber 1.5g sugar 230mg sodium


    It's really not bad......and honestly who woulda thought? lol
  • aerobicgirl
    aerobicgirl Posts: 354 Member
    so i was eating the special k cereal with 1% milk and it didn't do me much good during the week it is hard for me to make a healthy breakfast so during the week i will have a yogurt yoplait or fiber 1, and on the weekend i will make me an egg white omelette with mushrooms and tomato or a cup of cream of wheat. i manage to do well on the weekends.
  • m2kjenn
    m2kjenn Posts: 1,671 Member
    I love the idea of mixing different cereals - What a great idea!
  • pettmybunny
    pettmybunny Posts: 1,986 Member
    I love Kashi cereals, I usually have the Go-Lean or the Autumn Wheat. They have some protein (I think 13 g for the Go-Lean and 6g for the Autumn Wheat) and have fiber (6g for the Go-Lean and 7g for the Autumn Wheat), while being low in sugar (6g for Go-Lean and 7g for the Autumn Wheat).

    Sometimes, I'll do fruit and yogurt sprinkled with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the Go-Lean.

    Sometimes, I'll eat an apple and 20 almonds. Not quite as filling, but good for on the run. I'll just eat a snack between breakfast and lunch in this case.
  • rmccully
    rmccully Posts: 319
    my dietian calls this her "ultimate power mix" it's really just a bunch of cereals mixed together so you get the good benefits from all of them

    Combine one box each:
    Cheerios (10 oz)
    Grape Nuts (16 oz)
    Bite-Size Shredded Wheat (17.2 oz)
    Fiber One

    1 cup = 170 calories 11g fiber 1.5g sugar 230mg sodium


    It's really not bad......and honestly who woulda thought? lol

    what about the carbs?
  • stephjohnny
    stephjohnny Posts: 42 Member
    Fiber One Original cereal, 0 grams of sugar & 14 grams of fiber per 1/2 cup serving
  • angelaspring
    angelaspring Posts: 16
    THANKS!! all these ideas are awesome!! This morning my boyfriend woke up early and made me a healthy breakfast:

    3 egg whites
    1 eggo blueberry waffle (w/ low cal sugar free syrup)
    and turkey sausage

    well i am sure i couldve done without the sugary eggo waffle but it was OHHH soo good and 3 hrs later i am still feeling full!!!
  • pannellkat
    pannellkat Posts: 709 Member
    Doesn't it suck! Raisin Bran is my favorite but my sugar allotment for the day is only 24 grams and one cup of raisin bran is already 19 grams of sugar but you know...I do need it for my fiber intake, thats why I eat it. Sometimes I do weight control oatmeal too...thats really good.
  • rlinson
    rlinson Posts: 62 Member
    Has anyone checked out the Wheaties Fuel? Just curious if it is as good as the name implies.
  • exermom
    exermom Posts: 6,557 Member
    I like steel cut oats with some cottage cheese added (even tho cottage cheese is high in sodium). I'll have egg whites (high in protein) along with a fried egg.

    My favorite cereal is Kashi GoLean. 1 cup has 140 caloires, 6g of sugar, and 13g of protein along with 10g of fiber. Yes, it has 30g of carbs, so I do try to balance this out with something high in protein. I wish there wasn't artificial sweetener in Fiber One, that's the only reason I don't eat it. I also like greek yogurt (high in protein). Don't get the flavored ones, get the plain and add your own honey or fruit. However, I have found Oikos brand to not be super-sweet.

    Can you freeze steel cut oats after they are cooked? What are the ratios of water to oats if you make a crockpot full?
  • madmama
    madmama Posts: 123 Member
    DON"T Throw out the Raisin Bran that quickly. If you compare it to the Bran Flake alternative from that manufacturer you will probably see a low sugar content. RAISINS are the culprit, they are very high in naturally occurring sugars and these are not bad. You want to stay away from refined sugars and corn and cane syrup, unfortunately the nutritional guide on the package throws all sugar in the same pot.

    So i have been eating cereal for breakfast (1/2 cup of honey bunches of oats and 1/2 cup of crispy rice) but my trainer said i needed to incorporate more fiber so i went to the store and purchased raisin bran.. I ate it this morning and logged it in and was SHOCKED to find out it had 19 grams of SUGAR in 1 cup!!!! This is more than frosted flakes! can you believe that! What is your favorite cereal and why? I am looking to start my day with more fiber and protein.
  • lifeaccordingtolily
    lifeaccordingtolily Posts: 60
    my dietian calls this her "ultimate power mix" it's really just a bunch of cereals mixed together so you get the good benefits from all of them

    Combine one box each:
    Cheerios (10 oz)
    Grape Nuts (16 oz)
    Bite-Size Shredded Wheat (17.2 oz)
    Fiber One

    1 cup = 170 calories 11g fiber 1.5g sugar 230mg sodium


    It's really not bad......and honestly who woulda thought? lol

    what about the carbs?



    I didn't even think to ask but i totally will at my next class
  • Georg
    Georg Posts: 1,728 Member
    funny, I don't usually eat cereal for breakfast because it always leaves me hungry an hour later.
    :grumble:
    me too
    It takes a LOT of cereal o fill me up & keep me from getting hungry, so I go for eggs instead.
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