Cereal is one of those things we all grab when we want a tasty breakfast, but don’t have time to make anything else. Preparing it is the easiest thing in the world, but actually picking the right one is much more challenging.
Looking through all those colorful boxes at the supermarket cereal aisle can feel like walking through a minefield. The majority of your childhood favorites probably contain a lot of sugar or aren’t whole grain – which is one of the first things you should look in a good cereal.
Unless your pick has whole grains as an ingredient at the top of the list, it’s been processed and lost most of its healthy nutrients along the way. You can make the right choice by looking at the nutrition labels and comparing brands, but this process includes a bit of math.
Each serving shouldn’t have more than 5 grams of sugar, but you should also aim for 3 grams of fiber and fat. If you don’t want to be bothered with numbers and simply buy something tasty, just go with whole grain products like oatmeal, shredded wheat, and raisin bran. If you’re in the mood for something sweet, add fruit to your bowl instead of buying cocoa puffs. Going with low-fat milk or soymilk is also worth a try.
