Nutrition and Labeling - Healthy Cereals

HI,

I am new here but have been lurking for a while. I have learned through these forums that my Special K (Vaniila Almond OR Carb Fit) are not that great to eat for breakfast. Which cereals do you recommend that aren't totally gross.

Thanks :)

Well, I don't think these are "totally gross":

Uncle Sam flax cereal (I like this stirred into yogurt);
Post whole wheat shredded wheat (with Splenda, milk and some blueberries);
oatmeal (not instant) cooked with some "brown sugar" sweetner;
All Bran extra fiber with milk and Splenda

LOL Well, totally gross is definitely a matter of personal taste but I love Kashi 7 in the Morning. It is sort of like Grape nuts but not nearly as hard. I don't really like it plain but if I add fresh fruit, it's terrific.

Any of the Kashi cereals may be something you'd like to try. Pretty high fiber, low sugar for the most part. They also now have flavored oatmeal packets too.

Peg

Wait, whats wrong with Special K?

From what I understand, Special K isn't BAD but there are a lot better options out there. Spec K is on the low end with fiber and has more sugar added than say, Kashi or Fiber 1/All Bran etc. Sometimes you can mix Spec K with a high fiber cereal if the taste is an issue. Just a thought...

Thanks for the replies. I am going grocery shopping this weekend and will look for Kashi cereal

Probably the healthiest cereal around (not to mention the best value) is your basic old-fashioned oatmeal. :) (I stay away from the oatmeal packets as they generally have lots of sodium, sugar, etc.) If you nuke it, oatmeal is easy to make - I just mix the oats and water in my 'oatmeal bowl' and usually add some frozen blueberries, Splenda, and cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice, depending on what I want that day!

There are so many cereals out there...my husband is a bona fide cold cereal addict - so I try and select ones that he will enjoy and that are as healthy as possible. His favorites right now are Puffins from Barbara's Bakery - especially the Peanut Butter flavor :) which he says tastes like Capn Crunch PB cereal. A 3/4 cup serving has 110 calories and only 6 grams of sugar. Another favorite of his is Quaker Corn Bran. The only Kashi cereal he likes is Go Lean Crunch, which I don't buy often because he tends to eat almost half a box at one sitting. :lol: (it's one of those products that is healthy, but is REALLY easy to go overboard on) And of course the old standbys, which are Cheerios, Raisin Bran and Wheaties. I do buy him the Special K with Red Berries, but not very often (I like to get him a 'fun healthy' cereal and a 'healthy healthy cereal' when I shop).

I would advise to definitely read labels when you're in the cereal aisle. There are a lot of cereals out there now that are advertised as healthy (I've noticed all of the General Mills products have "whole grain" banners on them!) but really are not all that healthy, especially if you're trying to cut calories. First one that comes to mind is Grape-Nuts, which is probably the highest calorie cereal out there - check out the nutritional info on the side and you'll see that a 'serving' of Grape-nuts is very, very small indeed! Another one is "Cracklin' Bran" - of course many people would see that it is a "bran" cereal and figure, oh well, then it's healthy, but it's got quite a few calories and sugar in there.

Summary - if you're going to use cold ready-to-eat cereals, educate yourself by reading the nutritional information on the side of the box. ;)

What I generally get: Cheerios, Shredded Wheat, Barbara's Bakery Puffins and Shredded Oats, Post 100% Bran. It's true grape-nuts are very calorically dense, but a little bit mixed into plain ff yogurt can be a good snack that will keep you full a long time.

I agree with MrsJim....oatmeal is the best in my opionion. :)....

It would depend on how many calories, fat, etc. you are wanting to spend. When I want something sweet and sugary for breakfast I mix a serving of Fiber One (I think that is the name of it) with a half of a serving size of a sweeter cereal. It helps to make the Fiber One taste better, but I would still get the sweet, forbidden cereal taste as well. It is higher in calories to go this route, but it fills you up and gets you almost your daily intake of fiber in one meal.

I have to give another nod to Kashi go lean crunch. I love that stuff. I always use a measuring cup with it though, because it's *very* tasty. My cold weather favorite is steel cut oats, I much prefer this variety of oatmeal to the regular kind. It's got a great texture. I just learned that you can make it in the microwave if you have a tall enough bowl.

I really like Quaker Oat Squares -- it's quite high in iron and has 4 g of fiber. Perhaps a bit high in sugar (9 g), but it's not too sweet for me. I like the Kashi Go Lean Crunch too, and will definitely be hitting the oatmeal when it gets cooler. I used to buy instant, but if I can microwave the "regular" -- mmmm.

Mrs. Jim, do you just buy the "instant" oatmeal in the big box?

I'm yet another fan of both Kashi GoLean and GoLean Crunch. Verrry tasty. There's another one I've recently found at WalMart called Optimum Power Cereal. It's a little higher in the calories, but it's a very hearty cereal, and very satisfying.

As far as oatmeal goes, I've fallen in love with the Quaker Weight Control banana bread oatmeal. Yum Yum Yum!

Kashi Strawberry Fields is pretty awesome. I'm also a fan of plain 'ol hot oatmeal.

How about just ordinary cornflakes? I know that they contain less fiber than Bran flakes and stuff but there's also less sugar added.

I've only recently tried Fiber1 and it's not the twiggy taste I was expecting. I use the regular Fiber1 as a salad/yogurt/cottage cheese topping too. There's also the honey clusters Fiber1 that's very good--big serving size for cereal. I always have to add in some banana or strawberry slices to sweeten it up and make it more interesting. On the mornings I eat Fiber1 with sliced fruit, I tend to skip a midmorning snack because it keeps me full until lunch.

Mrs. Jim, do you just buy the "instant" oatmeal in the big box?

I usually buy the "Old Fashioned" oatmeal in the big cylinder-shaped box - if they're out, I'll get the "Quick" oats in the same type of box but I like the old fashioned kind better - it's 'heartier' than the quick kind.

Either way, it's about 3 minutes in the microwave, start to finish. :)

My favorite cereal is Kashi Go Lean Crunch!! I eat it every morning.. or if not I'll have Special K or Kashi Go Lean (w/o the crunch.. hee hee)... Yumms!! :)

I love Kelloggs Smartstart with Soy Protein. I'm super picky, and even I think this tastes great!

I used to be Nature's Best cereal lover as well as Kashi go Lean. However, I noticed that I needed a snack 2 hours after the breakfast. Sometimes I am still driving to work, and I am already hungry... So recently I turned to Ilene's pancakes (well she calls it that, IMHO after I make them they look more like omelet):
1/3 cup of oatmeal
1/3 cup of egg whites
1/3 cup of FF cottage cheese
vanilla

You can blend it and it will be panckae mix, or if you are as lazy as I am - just mix it and make omelet with non-stick spray (I also add vanilla to it). Both hubby and I LOVe them, but they look kind of gross for kids to eat :)

I noticed that since I started making them, I never had earge to eat any of the cereals in the house.

The pancakes look good.

I love Scottish PORRIDGE oats, which are large and thick, not to be confused with Scottish oatmeal, which is milled very finely. Since I like the porridge oats to be chewy, I use less water and just microwave 'em for a minute or two. I either use no sweeteners of any kind or a tiny amount of an all fruit spread.

I eat Raisin Bran everyday. Cheerios is a pretty healthy one too. I bought some oatmeal and I'm trying to experiment with Splenda and other things to get it to taste less like...well OATS.

I love cereal. Optimum Zen tastes GREAT, and it's really healthy. :)

I alternate between Special K, Cheerios, and Shredded Wheats - probably not the healthiest ever, but I like how they taste and I've tried some "healthful" cereals that completely disagree with my palate.

It does little good to have a healthy cereal if you don't wanna eat it; it's just gonna get stale on the shelf and you wound up going out for a lumberjack breakfast ;)

bran isnt too bad w some fruit and shredded wheat is pretty good w some splenda and fruit

My doctor told me to eat All Bran with Extra Bran or Bran Buds, or Fiber One for the fiber. He said it will help with my chronic constipation, we will see. I have to eat one serving everyday plus other fiber stuff, like salad, fruit, etc. He wants me to get 25 to 35 grams of fiber a day.....

What I do for good tasting cereal is mix two- I combine a box of Kashi "Go Lean" and a box of Kashi "Strawberry Fields" in a large plastic container with a screw top lid. This way you get both something healthy and something that tastes really good.

I would strongly suggest trying a small package of the Kashi oatmeal before committing to it. Was definately not my taste - there was something in it that wasn't oatmealy but just... I dunno. Like, there is this weird aftertaste to Smacks cereal that I don't like, and Kashi's oatmeal has it too. blecky. I also did not know you could nuke regular oatmeal and would definately do this. I found that the 1/2 sugar brown sugar flavored oatmeal is just as tasty as the regular.
I am a wheaties and cheerios girl myself.
What does everyone do to ensure that you are getting the right serving? I know I eat too much in one serving as it is now...

In terms of serving size, I whip out my measuring cup and actually measure the proper amount (or a bit less). I also try to always eat some fruit with it (frozen fruit nuked for the hot cereals--I also add flaxmeal and/or toasted wheat germ to it) and sliced banana or some (just some!) dried fruit for the cold cereals.

farina or steel oats

Any cereal that has less than 5g of sugar per serving and atleast 2 g. of fiber per serving are your best bets!! Those nutrition labels.....should become your best friend!! (while honey nut cheerios, trix and fruit loops...shouldnt)

The cereal suggestions definitely come in handy since I'm going food shopping tomorrow.

I like Barbara's Grain Shop to mix in with plain yogurt, fruit, and a tablespoon of nuts.

I just tried Kashi Heart-to-Heart recently, and it was really good. I'd bought it for my son as a healthier alternative to Cheerios, but he didn't eat them.

I also like Weetabix.

A little bit of low sugar granola, mixed into plain ff yogurt, add some chopped walnuts, is a great snack or breakfast. Just measure the granola carefully--it can be a big source of fat calories depending on the brand and portion size.

I usually buy the "Old Fashioned" oatmeal in the big cylinder-shaped box - if they're out, I'll get the "Quick" oats in the same type of box but I like the old fashioned kind better - it's 'heartier' than the quick kind.

Either way, it's about 3 minutes in the microwave, start to finish.
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What does everyone that eats oatmeal put in it? I put raisins, milk and sugar. I am trying to cut down on the sugar that I put in it.

What does everyone that eats oatmeal put in it? I put raisins, milk and sugar. I am trying to cut down on the sugar that I put in it.
I don't like anything in plain oatmeal except butter flavor (fat-free butter spray) and a little bit of equal sweetener.

But with the instant oatmeal, I like the fruit and cream varieties. I buy the "low sugar" instant.