The Most Nutritious (Sugary) Cereals

Recently someone with a morning sweet tooth asked "Could you tell me among cold cereals which are the best options? Are lucky charms, cookie crisps etc really that bad?"

First, lets define a "sugary" cereal...
There is no common definition for a "sugary" cereal but many of us know that certain cereals are not the best. I define a "sugary" cereal as containing more than 10g of sugar and, typically, less than 2g of fiber.

• At this time please go inspect your box of Raisin Bran, you may faint when you see the sugar. The reason there is so much sugar in Raisin Bran is because the raisins are coated with sugar in order to keep the moisture from the raisins out of the bran flakes. (Most cereals that contain dried fruit use the sugar coating technique)
• What I recommend: Adding your own dried (or fresh) fruit to plain bran flakes.

What defines a "healthy" cereal?
Fiber is the main nutrient that gives us a reason to eat cereal. A cereal that contains at least 2g fiber or more per serving is the best option. Cereals can also be fortified with other nutrients such as iron and other vitamins and mineral.

• Frosted Mini Wheats are the most well known "high fiber" (high fiber= 5g fiber or more/serving) cereal. You may have already noticed that it is also about 200 calories per serving (2 ounces/serving). This is because the serving size is larger than your average cereal which is about 1 ounce/serving.
• If you were to decrease the serving size of Frosted Mini Wheats to the same weight as the serving size of most cereals, you may find that it contains the same amount of fiber as a cereal with around 2g of fiber per serving.

What "sugary" cereals do I recommend?

- Anything that is under 140 calories per serving, less than 15g of sugar, and has at least 1g of fiber.

- My top recommendations are...  

1. Fruit Loops with 1/3 less sugar which has 70 calories and 4g of sugar per serving. 
• Compared to the original which has 90 calories and 11g of sugar
2. Frosted Flakes with 1/3 less sugar which has 90 calories and 6g of sugar
• Compared to the original which has 120 calories and 12g of sugar
3. Chocolate Frosted Mini Wheats (Has more fiber than the usual sugary cereals, it exceeds the above calorie limit but since it is rich in fiber it is easy to over look)
4. Chocolate cheerios

What healthy cereals do I recommend?

-Taste and health-wise I recommend....

• Most any of the Fiber One cereals
• Life cereal (including cinnamon, yummy)
• Special K Protein Plus (and Special K Original)

What to avoid:

• Raising Bran and other cereals with dried fruit.
• Granola is very very very sugary! Don't let "low fat" claims fool you because it is naturally low in fat. Granola is high in calories and typically not the best source of fiber. 
• Grape Nuts are high in calories.
• Be careful when buying some Total and Kashi cereals because they can be high in calories.

Whats your favorite cereal?