The Healthiest Breakfast Cereals
To pick the healthiest breakfast cereals, you need to look at the sugar, fiber, sodium and fat content on the box like you would with other foods that you buy at the shops..
..and even better if the glycemic index value of the cereal is indicated on the cereal box. Yes, you need to choose the low GI cereals. So choosing the healthiest breakfast cereals is not as hard as you may think.
Breakfast is possibly the most important meal of the day. If you are the kind of person that eats cereal every morning, the choices that you make with breakfast cereals make up a big part of your diet, and whether it is healthy or unhealthy.
• You want to have cereals that have no trans or saturated fats. If the fat content is slightly high, and it includes a good amount of nuts then don’t worry too much about the fat content. Nuts are usually high in healthy mono and poly unsaturated fats, they are loaded with protein and good fats will help you keep full longer.
• Remember that your main goal is to get some whole grains in your cereal. If you are eating lots of processed carbohydrates every morning, you are not doing your body and health any good.
• It may be a bit of a challenge at first to find cereals that are low in sugar, high in fiber, low in bad fats and that taste great at the same time, but it is worth it when you do find them as you will be eating them almost every morning and you do need to enjoy your food. Healthy and bland is not really what you want to have every morning.
• Beware of artificial colors and flavors. You need the natural stuff, not the artificial.
• Some of the healthiest breakfast cereals include ‘bran’ as the main or the added ingredient. Bran increases the total or percentage of fiber content in your cereal, it is also low in glycemic index- GI value, so it makes your cereal quite filling and may help you lose weight and maintain your ideal weight.
• Corn flakes on the other hand are rather high in glycemic index value, low in dietary fiber content and most corn flakes brands include added sugar as well on top of the high GI corn flakes themselves. So corn flakes are not one of your healthiest breakfast cereals. If you really like the taste, add a little to your muesli or oatmeal and see if you like the mixture.
• As a rough guideline, you may want to pick cereals that have the whole grain as the major ingredient with sugar making up the 25% of total calories or less, a bit more is allowed if the cereal includes dried fruits, and at least 5 grams of fibre per serving:
Frosted Mini Wheat, Shredded Wheats, Fibre One Bran, Fiber One Honey Clusters, Quaker Oatmeal Squares, Organic Smart Bran, Nature’s Path Flax Cereals are examples of the healthiest breakfast cereals with higher fiber and lower sugar content.
Sugar in Breakfast Cereals:
Please be aware that many types of cereals are simply breakfast candies, full of sugar and they are no different to boxes of cakes or cookies.
Sugar has different names and it may be listed far down the end of the ingredients list.You don’t want any added sugars in your cereal. Some honey is ok and even better if your cereal includes dried fruits, honey and dried fruits add nutritional value to your cereal, and this may increase the sugar content of your cereal.
You want to keep away from added simple sugars, not dried sultanas, raisins or a little bit of honey. You need to identify the added sugar content in your cereal, rather than the total sugar content to make a better choice.
Porridge:
Although I love the taste of some of the breakfast cereals, I try and stick to porridge – oatmeal or no added sugar muesli as much as I can. When the porridge feels too plain, I add some cheerios, dried fruits and some nuts to make it tastier. I have my porridge with milk or low fat yogurt instead of water or mix water and milk / yogurt. Yogurt will add smooth and creamy texture to the porridge.
Oatmeal is the food that can help you begin your day with ongoing energy, fight against diseases, lose weight, stay relaxed and calm. Yes you read it right, oatmeal may help if you find yourself cranky all the time. It is certainly a food for a better mood, as it acts as a tranquilizer for your body being rich in soluble fiber and B vitamins.
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