Top 7 Healthiest Breakfast Cereals

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Knowing the healthiest breakfast cereals will help you make easy choices for breakfast that can be made in just minutes and don’t require any cooking. Walking down the cereal aisles can be pretty intimidating – tons of boxes and different flavors all jumping out to you screaming “Pick Me! I’m the Best!”

To make matters worse, because nutrition is such a concern not only for parents choosing healthy breakfast cereals for their kids, but many people looking for ways to reduce their cholesterol or lose weight, there are many different labels on the box that can not be just confusing but misleading as well. Many boxes of claim to be whole grain but when you look at the ingredients list you’ll see that they also are loaded with sugar or refined grains in addition to the whole grains.

So how do you make the decision to pick the healthiest breakfast cereals? We’ve created a list of 7 nutritious foods to help guide you when making decisions, and based our selections on the following criteria:

Whole Grains: Consuming whole grains have shown to keep your blood sugar levels even as well as shown to help lose weight. You also get more fiber and vitamins from whole grains.

Sugar Density: Sugar comes from a variety of places, such as dried fruit or honey and many cereal manufacturers add sugar to their products to improve the flavor. If the top few ingredients in the cereal include sugar (or some form of it) and it has more than 15 grams of sugar, it is likely it is not the best choice.

Protein: Many people overlook protein when choosing a cereal. High protein cereals however will help you get some protein to keep your breakfast balanced, even if you don’t have time for a hard boiled egg. Nuts and whole grains help add to the protein content.

Now that we’ve looked at what makes certain cereals a good choice, here are our top 10 Healthiest Breakfast Cereals:

Instant Oatmeal, Plain: Getting the plain instant oatmeal will help you control how much sugar or sweetener goes into it, since the flavored types usually have more than you really need for good taste. You can add sugar free maple syrup and a brown sugar sweetener substitute or even dried apples and cinnamon. There are tons of variations and things you can add to the oatmeal – so don’t be afraid to try something new! I like adding a little peanut butter and bananas to mine!

Shredded Wheat: Shredded Wheat cereal is made with whole grains, is an excellent source of fiber, and does not have any sugar. You can add fresh or dried fruit to give it some more sweetness. Even the frosted kinds are not incredibly high in sugar, but if you can enjoy the plain varieties it is a much healthier option.

Bran Flakes: Bran flakes don’t sound too exciting, but you can add raisins or other dried fruits to naturally make them sweeter without adding too many grams of sugar. Another trick you can use to sweeten them is add a little bit of sugar free maple syrup to them.

Post Grape Nuts: With 7 grams of protein and whole grain, this cereal is full of fiber though may be a little crunchy for some. You can also add dried fruit to sweeten it up a bit if you would like.

Kashi Go Lean: Kashi cereals tend to be higher in sugar and pretty sweet, but the protein and fiber in them makes up for it enough to be a contender on our list.

Special K Plus Protein: With 10 grams of protein and only 2 grams of sugar despite it having corn syrup listed in the ingredients, this is another healthy option for breakfast. It’s not one you can find in all stores, though you can order bulk packages of it online. Learn more and read reviews of Special K Protein Plus

Ezekial 4:9 Organic Golden Flax: If you’re not accustomed to wheat germ or flax, this one may taste a little different to a lot of people. However it is the healthiest, most organic breakfast cereals out there. This one wins the award for most nutritious breakfast cereal ever. It’s very expensive in markets (if you can even find it), thankfully it’s available in bulk if you Order Online.

It should be noted that while we did spend several hours researching and reading different nutrition labels that this is not a scientific study or conclusve of all cereals out there. Most of the nutrition data came from either the company’s website or nutritiondata.com where they list labels.

Do you have a favorite one that you feel should be included on our list of top 7 healthies breakfast cereals? Have you tried any of these and want to leave your comments/reviews? We’d love to hear from you in the comment section of our website!