Healthy Breakfast Cereals - How to Choose

Cereals that advertise to be healthy may be ones health conscious consumers should avoid. And healthy cereals may be severely lacking in taste. Here are some tips for choosing cereals with nutrition and taste.

Choose cereals that are high in fiber.
Nutritionists say healthy cereal should provide 5-8 grams of whole grain fiber per serving. The cereal box may have a stamp that says the cereal contains 100% whole grain. If there is no stamp, check the ingredients on the box. Cereals highest in fiber will have whole grain listed as the first ingredient. A crucial thing to consider is how many servings of this cereal will you eat before you are ready to start your day. Some cereals (such as the ones in the shape of an o) contain whole grain, but do not provide the 5-8 grams of fiber per serving. More than one serving might wreck a diet plan. Don't forget the calories in the milk-unless you plan on a dry breakfast. Most cereal boxes also provide that information. If you you would consume too many servings of a cereal, move on to a cereal that is more dense.

Look for high fiber cereals low in sugar.
Cereal low in sugar is a good place to start, but you should not stop there. Is the cereal one that you will sweeten? Will you sweeten with sugar or an artificial sweetener? One teaspoon of sugar is 4.2 grams. Most nutritionists say that 8-15 grams per serving is a good goal. Fifteen seems high to me. Remember to take into consideration how many servings of cereal you plan to eat as well as how many teaspoons of sugar you plan to use for each serving. It is sometimes better to choose a cereal that is not the lowest in sugar if that means you will not add additional sugar.

Try the store brand high fiber cereals.
They are cheaper and some are surprisingly tasty as well as healthy. In researching this article, I found the fiber and sugar content for several cereals consumers rated as best tasting high fiber cereals. Costco's Kirkland Signature Spiced Pecan has 7 grams of fiber and11 grams sugar per ¾ cup serving. Kashi GoLean has several cereals around 10 grams of fiber and 6 grams of sugar for a 1 cup serving. Target's Archer Farms High Fiber cereals average 10 grams fiber and 14 grams sugar per cup. Walmart Great Value Raisin Bran is a little higher in sugars with 7 grams of fiber and 18 grams of sugar, but many nutritionists say that a higher sugar content can be healthy if it comes from fruit.

On a personal note, research for this article revealed that one of my favorite cereals is not the best cereal for fiber and sugar content. Sunbelt Fruit and Granola Cereal has only 3 grams of fiber per half cup serving and, because of the raisins and dates, 18 grams of sugar. I always try to eat some form of protein per meal and this cereal has 4 grams of protein (almonds). The fiber is from whole grain rolled oats. It is a healthy cereal, but it is slightly more caloric than I need and I must admit I usually eat more than the half cup serving. I'm not going to abandon it, but I guess I'd better save it for a treat and go cereal shopping.

American Consumer News
http://tinyurl.com/yz6n68x
WebMD
http://blogs.webmd.com/healthy-recipe-doctor/labels/fiber.html
That's Fit
http://www.thatsfit.com/2009/09/02/top-7-high-fiber-cereals/
U. S. News
http://www.usnews.com/health