A bowl of cereal is fast and easy, but is it nutritious? We’ve rounded up the most wholesome options to make your mornings better.
What’s faster than a bowl of cereal and milk for breakfast? It’s a five-minute solution to hectic mornings, and by age six, most kids can make it themselves (which saves even more time).
The downside to cereals? They are processed foods. Making grains into flakes, Os and squares requires processing, then sugar and salt are added. But let’s face it, there’s little chance your kid is sitting down to a bowl of quinoa porridge every morning, so it’s important to select the best cereal options from the vast array in your grocery store.
For a 55 gram serving, your best bests will have at least five grams of fibre, no more than nine grams of sugar (preferably way less, but not likely based on what’s available), and not too much salt (the lowest-sodium cereal on our list has 5 mg). And of course, they have to taste great too! (Calories, protein and fat are roughly the same for all of these, so they weren’t the focus).
Note: All nutrition information listed is based on 55 g of cereal (that’s a big serving for a little kid), which is the amount listed on most on-pack Nutrition Facts tables. Some Nutrition Facts panels will display information for a serving of 30 g or 45 g of cereal instead, so the numbers you read on-pack may not match our list—we did the math so we could compare them all equally.
Healthiest cereals