Take a walk down the cereal aisle of the supermarket and you’ll think it’s the epicenter of a healthy diet. The flashy packaging attracts attention with comforting claims: High fiber content from whole grains! It nourishes a healthy gut! Nine vitamins and minerals! We support your family’s health! On your side! Support healthy bones! Reduce fatigue and exhaustion!
So how healthy are they really? The industry certainly wants us to think so: Gary Pilnick, chief executive of Kellogg’s, which makes six of the ten best-selling cereals in the UK, suggested last month that “cereal for dinner” is “much more affordable”. An option for families struggling to cope with grocery costs.
The cost of most of Pilnick’s cereal makes this claim a laughable one; But a recent study by the Food Foundation showed that supermarket own-brand cereals are not only cheaper but also healthier than brands. More insidious is the idea that some highly processed grains and some low-fat meals can replace a proper dinner of protein, vegetables and complex carbohydrates.
There are other concerns about fortification, especially those that claim to “contain nine vitamins and minerals.” Some of it may be a good thing; For example, vitamin D, which is produced in our body from sunlight and may be insufficient during winter months. But as Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition at New York University, states in her book: Food Policy, the “increasingly common supplementation of vitamins and minerals” is unlikely to improve our health and “raises concerns about the possible dangers of too much of a good thing.” Nestle clearly writes on its blog that “added vitamins are about marketing, not health.” It allows manufacturers to make health claims and sell health claims; especially when they distract us from high sugar and salt levels.
Get the right amounts of niacin (vitamin B3), a vital vitamin added to many grains. A recent study has shown links between excess niacin levels and an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and heart disease. Another study in the journal General Psychiatry, we looked at thiamine (vitamin B1), an important nutrient that is fortified in breakfast cereals. People who ate large amounts of food, over 1 mg per day, showed increased rates of cognitive decline, confusion, and memory loss, which negatively impact old age for many people.
A 30-gram portion of Rice Krispies enriched with thiamine provides 0.27 mg of potentially beneficial nutrients. But there are plenty of other places where you can already get enough, like peas, bananas, and whole wheat bread. Who eats the small portions recommended by manufacturers anyway? I weighed out the right amount of each of the 14 cereals I tried, and frankly I have the ovaries to hold more than some.
It’s especially tempting to eat too much cereal, which falls into the ultra-processed food (UPF) category, is prepared using processes you can’t replicate at home, and contains ingredients you can’t buy commercially. supermarket. It is often difficult to stop eating these attractively marketed grains. At a House of Lords select committee last month, anti-UPF campaigner Dr Chris Van Tulleken held up a pack of Coco Pops and argued that big business was selling addictive products similar to the tobacco industry. The Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut Cornflakes package sums it up in 4cm-high letters: “The thing is, it tastes too good.”
But let’s not tar all the cereal with the same brush. There are grains that give you a good start to the day. And there’s no doubt they provide a quick fix – albeit sometimes too quickly, as they get wet so quickly that there’s incentive to shovel it at top speed. Of course, you may have already ditched cereal for breakfast in pursuit of a less processed, lower-carb option—but you may want to reconsider. The best ones provide a good source of fiber and complex, slow-release carbohydrates. So don’t be a cereal killer: just choose a healthy option that actually lives up to its claims.
Surprisingly high in sugar and protein, but these figures are both skewed because they contain powdered milk. It’s fair in fiber (3.6 g) and contains sweetening and anti-caking agent, so it’s ultra-processed.
Breakfast noodle style: just fill from the kettle. The result is sticky and insanely sweet, and tastes oddly like caramel rather than golden syrup. Unmerciful.
Yellow on the traffic light system for sugar (5.3 grams per 30-gram serving), no great shakes for protein and fiber, and lots of UPF ingredients, including palm oil, antioxidant, and colorant.
Sweet, crunchy and airy with a caramel flavour. It has a slight amount of fiber, but not enough to keep kids occupied, so it could be a gateway to higher fiber cereals. But it doesn’t seem very satisfying.
It’s decent in fiber (3.8g per serving of two biscuits) and protein, and not too much sugar. But they contain malted barley extract, which Van Tulleken says is a flavor enhancer, putting them in the UPF category.
Slightly malty and biscuity, its crunch quickly turns to mush. It’s on the bland side. The package recommends adding fruits and seeds, which seems like a good idea from both a flavor and nutrition standpoint.
Adding wheat gluten, a complete protein, increases this to 7.6 grams per serving of two cookies. It has similar levels of sugar and fiber to regular Weetabix, as well as UPF malted barley extract.
Its texture is different; There are crunchy, soft particles reminiscent of Grape Nuts and a slight, pleasant bitterness that may be due to some cocoa powder in the mix. I prefer these to regular Weetabix.
It’s low in fiber, with only 0.9 grams, 2.1 grams of protein and 2.4 grams of sugar per 30-gram serving. Contains barley malt extract, a UPF ingredient.
Slightly sweet, almost honeyed, malty with slightly bitter flavors that enhance the taste of the milk; No wonder cereal milk is a thing. It’s crispy but gets soggy within three minutes. It doesn’t fill.
For a grain that sells itself as fiber-rich, 3.6 grams per 40-gram serving is disappointing. There is a lot of sugar, but this is partly due to dried fruits. Ultra processed as it contains barley malt extract.
Crunchy sweet flakes generously packed with fruit and coconut and soaked up in three minutes. Very small official portion though (40g is just 100ml or half a teacup). You’ll spill a lot more.
6.3 grams of protein per 50-gram serving, which is a good amount, a respectable 3.7 grams of fiber, and 3.6 grams of sugar (partly down to the dried fruit). It doesn’t have barley malt extract, but it does have fructose, which is an indicator of UPF, according to University of Sao Paulo professor Carlos Monteiro, who was one of the first to identify the dangers of overly processed foods.
Flavor of toasted oats and seeds, but finely chopped, not in lumps like traditional granola. Although it’s quite sweet but healthy, the official 50g serving is only 75ml. “You’ll find nature’s most nutritious ingredients in our grains,” says the exaggerated-feeling package; No Brazil nuts to begin with.
4.3g protein, 4g fiber and 6.6g sugar per 45g serving – all from dried fruit. There’s nothing vaguely ultra-processed among the ingredients.
The official portion of 45 grams is just 60 ml or 4 tablespoons, making it more of an ingredient than a cereal in its own right. Likewise, raw oats are heavy duty with taste and I can’t find Brazil nuts.
It’s predictably sugary and low in good content, containing 1.9 grams of protein, 1.1 grams of fiber and 5.1 grams of sugar per 30-gram serving. Contains barley malt extract and flavoring substances.
Because of these, I am completely disarmed. They’re sweet but not overly so, and thanks to the bitterness of the cocoa, they’re actually quite sophisticated. But I still prefer to eat them as pudding rather than breakfast.
11g of sugar, 0.8g of fiber and even peanuts have only 1.8g of protein per 30g serving. It also contains barley malt extract, and it’s so sweet I can feel my gums receding in panic, as if I’d just eaten a bar of chocolate. Chocolate hobnobs have less sugar on the outside. Oh my god.
4.5g sugar – on the high side. 2.4 grams of protein and 1.8 grams of fiber per 30-gram serving: I’d like to see more of both in this “dietist” breakfast cereal. It contains barley malt extract and is slightly higher in fortification than other grains.
These slightly sweet flakes have a nice, soft crunch and a lingering malt taste. They don’t soak up as quickly as cereal, so there’s no need to bolt them.
Below average 2.4g sugar, 2.1g protein and just 0.9g fiber per 30g serving. Contains barley malt extract.
These malty, toasty flavored, airy products get wet very quickly. To be fair, they’re not too sweet, but they’re not filling either.
Finally, a cereal with the right balance, just 0.4g of sugar, plus 4.4g of protein (dairy-free) and 3.6g of fiber per 40g serving. It’s just oats in it, and it’s simply rolled, very minimally processed, and oats are good slow-release carbohydrates.
It cooks down to a simple breakfast with a good soft texture. I like mine with a small pinch of salt.
*The protein score above is for a portion made with half milk and half water. Red (4.4g) without milk.
5 grams of sugar, 4.3 grams of protein and 4.8 grams of fiber per 40-gram serving. Contains barley malt extract; Although the shape alone is an indicator, it indicates that they are processed at a high level.
The darling little bathmat-shaped pieces are so sweet and ultra-malty, they’ll go from crunchy to soft to a crisp in three minutes. It’s good but so sugary, it’s like eating digestive system for breakfast.
Less than 0.5 grams of sugar, 4.4 grams of protein and 2.8 grams of fiber per 30-ounce serving. It is very respected and its only ingredient is wheat. Even though Puffing says making buckwheat at home would be difficult, it’s relatively simple, so they’re not UPF.
Unfortunately these are chewy and dull, like little wotsits or polystyrene depending on your perspective. It has a bit of a toasted wheat flavor; oddly nostalgic but not delicious. Remember, you get a large bowl (250ml) for your 30g serving.
0.3g sugar, 5.5g fiber and 5.5g protein per serving of two biscuits, which is hard to fault. It’s pure wheat, but I can’t imagine how these are made.
It tastes stringy and hard, like I’ve fallen face down on a doormat, and it’s very soft, with just a faint smell of cardboard. Hair shirt of grains.
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