Cereal is a breakfast classic — just add milk and you have a quick morning meal. But finding a healthy cereal that also tastes good can be a challenge in a supermarket aisle filled with boxes of sugary refined grains.
Experts say there’s room for improvement even when people skip the sweetest options.
Cereal is typically high in carbs, but low in protein and fiber on its own, explains Katherine Shary, a registered dietitian at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
“Cereal alone, just pouring it in a bowl, isn’t necessarily the most healthy filling option for our families, but we can use it as a base and add things to it to make it healthy and filling,” Shary tells TODAY.com.
“Breakfast cereals are all over the map,” Lisa Young, a registered dietitian in New York and author of “Finally Full, Finally Slim,” previously told TODAY.com.
“You can have a really healthy cereal… or you can have a cereal that’s literally a cookie in disguise.”
What to look for in a healthy cereal
Look for cereal that’s 100% whole grain and contains at least 3 grams of fiber per serving, Young advises.
Wheat, rice and oats start out as whole grains, meaning they include all of the grain’s structure: the bran, endosperm and germ. That provides fiber, vitamins, magnesium and antioxidants, according to registered dietitian Samantha Cassetty.
Eating whole grains can help prolong life and help you lose weight, studies have found.
But many breakfast cereals are made of refined grains, which are missing parts of the grain’s structure. That strips up to two-thirds of the grain’s nutrients, Cassetty notes.
Look for cereal that has as little added sugar as possible — healthier options have 6 grams of sugar or less per serving, Shary adds. Check the label: If sugar is within the top three ingredients, there’s a lot of sugar in that cereal, she notes.
If you want more sweetness, it’s always best to buy plain whole grain, bran-based cereal and make it sweeter by adding fruit, or…
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