ereal is one of the weirdest foods. It’s supposed to be healthy and it absolutely can be but if you choose the wrong kind (like Fruit Loops) it can turn what is supposed to be a balanced meal, into a bowl of sugar and salt. I usually have a cooked breakfast or a smoothie in the morning but if I’m in a rush and I need something quick, nothing beats a bowl of cereal. I’ve done lots of different diet and eating plans over the years and there are a few breakfast cereals that keep popping up as ‘safe’ on almost every healthy eating list. Hint: Words like ‘cafe style’, ‘clusters’ and ‘maple’ are bad cereal words. Very delicious cereal words but also very bad cereal words. The 5 healthiest breakfast cereals you can eat include words like ‘wheat’ and ‘oats’. Here are my top picks.
Porridge
There’s about 150 calories in a bowl of cooked oats and they provide slow release energy and are very low in sugar. Porridge is pretty hard to beat when it comes to breakfast food. I’ve never met a dietician or nutritionist who has a bad word to say about oats.
Healtheries Oobydoos
Oobydoos are a miracle cereal, they’re like Cheerios except not really bad for you. They’re extremely low in sugar and fat and they have just 120 calories per serve. They a bit higher in salt than I’d like (300mg per 100gm serve) but they’re not as bland as other healthy cereals so I think it’s a pretty fair trade off.
Uncle Tobies Shredded Wheat
These are a healthier alternative to WheatBix if you’re watching your salt intake (unless you eat the kids ones – they’re great!) but for 2 biscuits you’re looking at about 100 calories with very low salt, sugar and fat. These are great spread with peanut butter too for a slow burning afternoon snack.
Sanitarium Puffed Wheat
About 150 calories per serve, Sanitarium Puffed Wheat cereal is also very low in sugar, salt and fat. These are a bit tasteless though so have them with a banana or some strawberries cut up on top.
Kelloggs Mini Wheats
I had to include a traditional ‘yummy’ cereal in this list because you may have noticed that the other healthy cereals are basically wheat in different forms. Kellogg’s Mini Wheats are low in fat and salt but they’re slightly higher in sugar – they have 11gms per 100gms which isn’t ideal – however they’re still about 140 calories per serve and a bit more delicious than the others in this list. I haven’t actually seen them around recently though so I can’t guarantee they’re still available.
Note: My partner is a coeliac and it’s almost impossible to get low sugar, low calorie gluten free cereals but Ancient Grains are the best in that department. You’ll definitely need fruit with them though and they go stale really quickly so keep them in an air tight container.
[divider type=”standard” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”]
Are you a cereal eater? What kind of cereal do you have your house?
[divider type=”standard” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”]
By the way I’m ALL OVER the internet – Facebook, Twitter, Bloglovin, Instagram, YouTube and the Smaggle weekly newsletter – just in case you want to cyberstalk me in a cute-but-not-creepy-way.
22 Comments
-
I love porridge! Even in summer. I’m about to try Krissy’s zoats! http://www.prettyweethings.com/2015/02/raspberry-chocolate-layered-zoats/
-
Author
I adore oats! Not in summer though! Mr Smags can’t have oats poor poppet. He’d love them too.
-
-
When I had my braces a couple of years ago, it was mushy weetbix and mashed banana in summer and porridge in winter. Since they’ve come off it’s homemade muesli. But today I ran out so made chia seed pudding – chia seeds, half milk (whatever kind you like) half low fat Greek yoghurt, vanilla, whatever sweetener you like (I used a bit of coconut sugar). Leave in fridge overnight. Eating it right now with blueberries and banana. Seriously yum.not sure of calorie count – any idea Smags?
-
Depends on how much chia you used! Chia is pretty dense in calories but it puffs up so I’d guess maybe 200 just for the chia? For like a tablespoon maybe?
-
-
I have similar to Christine, I make a chia pudding thingy! … variations on a theme!
coconut milk, or cream + water, a glug of pineapple juice, 1 tblsp organic unsweetened cocoa,
1 tblsp psyllium husks, a handful of raisins or currants, same of walnuts, coconut! whatever takes your fancy!
this lasts for 3 or 4 mornings it’s delicious! if you need more sweetner maybe use stevia!
enjoy your day lovely one! m:)X-
Oh that sounds great! I think Mr Smags would like that! It’s gluten free!
-
-
We’re not cereal eaters in our house. I’d much rather a lovely piece of grainy toast with avocado, tomato and a tiny crumble of feta. Yum!
-
Oh shite yes! We’re the same – Mr Smags loves his Macro Cafe Style cereal but it’s not very good calorie wise for me. He has a very effective digestive system so he can eat it as much as he likes!
-
-
Is there anything better than a bowl of hot porridge on a frosty winter morning? Nope. Nothing.
-
Totally agree! I always have it with a bit of brown sugar. I don’t even care about eating sugar for breakfast with porridge. It’s just totally worth it!
-
-
I love the Carman’s mueslis, but they’re mega-high in calories – so my solution is to only have a tiny bit (like a quarter cup) sprinkled on my fruit and Greek yoghurt.
-
I LOVE Carmens but they are totally sinful. I do the same thing! I have greek yogurt with fruit and sprinkle it on top. Sometimes I’ll eat some Ancient Grains (which are a bit boring!) and add some Carmen’s to give more flavour.
-
-
Really? No Paleo Pure? Sad face.
-
What’s the salt, fat, sugar and calorie count on Paleo Pure? It’s delicious and full of natural yummy stuff but some peope need to be really careful about natural sugars and high calorie nuts.
-
-
I have Be Natural Cashew, Almond, Hazelnut and Coconut Cereal – which I know is a bit high in sugar content, but means I get my good fats, some milk – and I add chia seeds and blueberries to it, which are yum. May need to look at the nuts on their own, with oats instead, I guess (but the cereal is very yummy!)
-
That’s the thing – none of these cereals are particularly appetising but they are the healthiest! I love a bowl of Carmen’s every now and then! 🙂
-
-
I’m a two black coffees and the crust of my daughter’s toast kind of person. Back when I was organised I’d have steel cut oats – cook them all on a Sunday night for the whole week – or chia pudding.
I though your comment about the sodium was interesting; I am fairly conscious of my food but I NEVER think about sodium or how much I have. It’s probably sky high. Gulp.
-
You don’t necessarily have to worry about all of those things – if salt isn’t a problem for you when you go to the doctor then you don’t really need to worry about it! 🙂
-
-
I love oats but I very rarely cook them into porridge. I grew up in Pakistan where you do not want warm cereal, so we used to have raw oats with coconut, raisins and honey. These days I usually have oats raw with a handful of craisins and low fat milk. If you’re going to eat them raw make sure you go a rolled oat, I use the Uncle Toby’s quick oats, as thicker oats are way too chewy raw.
-
Oh totally! Unless you soak them overnight, proper oats are gross. I love quick oats! They cook up all creamy and delicious!
-
-
If I’m going to have cereal it’s either weetbix or fruit loops. So, clearly, I’m a health nut. I can’t help myself, I just adore awful cereals.
Most days I have toast with vegemite. I keep trying other things, but toast with vegemite just keeps being my go to.
-
Weet bix are really fine, they’re teeny bit high in salt but it’s not really a biggie. Do you like Fruit Loops though??? I think they’re so disgusting!!! Bergh!
-
