So, I often get asked what are the best options in terms of breakfast cereals that you can buy in the supermarket. So, I’ve put together my top 5 picks for healthy & family friendly options. Just to be clear, this is not me saying that these breakfast cereals are necessarily the healthiest breakfast choices in the world (unprocessed whole food breakfasts are always the healthiest options, see ‘Goodbye Sugar’ book for suggestions & recipes! 🙂
However, at the same time, I recognize that a lot of people are just looking for quick, handy, economical & family friendly breakfast options and cereals fulfill that criteria pretty well for a lot of people!
Tips For Choosing Breakfast Cereals
When choosing a cereal in the supermarket, make sure it fits the following criteria:
- Choose a cereal which is made with whole grains e.g. oats, whole wheat, wheat bran, millet, buckwheat etc.
- Choose a cereal with less than 4g sugar (equivalent to 1tsp) per 40g
- Choose a cereal with minimum 2g+ fibre per 40g serving, but ideally aim for 4g+ per serve.
- Choose a cereal with less than 0.7g salt per 100g (but less than 0.3g is ideal)
Below are 5 cereals that fulfill the criteria above and taste pretty good too!
1) Porridge Oats – 3.3g fibre & 0.4g sugar per 40g serving. Natural, whole food full of B vitamins, great for slow release energy and keeping you fuller for longer.
2) Oatibix/Weetabix – 3.5g fibre & 1.5g sugar per 2 biscuit serve. Good protein content as cereals go (6.2g per serve). Nice served hot or cold.
3) Kellog’s Bran Flakes – 4.5g fibre & 4.2g sugar per 40g serving. This is a good option to keep bowels regular due to it’s high fibre content. Also fortified with B vitamins & iron.
4) Lizi’s Granola – 5.3g fibre & 4.6g sugar per 50g serving. This is a low sugar option as far as shop bought granola’s go. Oat based with nuts & seeds plus tastes great with milk or natural yogurt.
5) Oatibix Flakes – 2.2g fibre & 4.2g sugar per 30g serving. Although this cereal contains less fibre and a little more sugar than the others, it’s still a fairly healthy choice and it tastes great so very popular with kiddies! Also fortified with B vitamins & iron.
Tip: Remember you can increase the vitamin, fibre and protein content of your breakfast cereal by adding things like chopped fruit, milled seeds and natural yogurt so don’t be afraid to mix things up! 🙂
Elsa Jones is a qualified Nutritional Therapist & author of No. 1 Bestseller ‘Goodbye Sugar’. www.elsajonesnutrition.ie