How to Choose the Healthiest Cereal: A Dietitian Shares Her Tips
Key takeaways:
Most breakfast cereals on supermarket shelves are loaded with added sugar and other food additives that can harm your health.
To choose the most healthy cereal, find one made with whole grains. It should also be low in added sugar and food additives.
Adding nuts, seeds, and fruit to your cereal can make it even more nutrient dense.
Table of contents
Cereal is one of the most popular breakfast foods in the U.S. It’s convenient, relatively inexpensive, and easy to keep fresh in the pantry. So it’s no wonder supermarkets devote the better part of a grocery aisle to the many types of cereal on offer.
But, popular as it is, is cereal healthy? The answer depends on which cereal you choose. Some breakfast cereals provide excellent nutrition. Others are ultra-processed foods with ingredients that can harm your health over time. Finding the most healthy cereal is just a matter of knowing what to look for — and what to avoid.
What is the most healthy cereal to buy?
The good news is there are plenty of nutritious cereals on the grocery store shelf. Here are some things to look for when choosing a cereal.
Made with whole grains
Take a look at the ingredients list. The first ingredient listed should be whole grains, such as:
Oats
Bran
Corn
Whole wheat
Whole grains are much more nutritious than refined grains. This is because refined grains are milled, which means they’re cleaned and ground into flour. The milling process removes the parts of the grain that contain the most nutrients.
What are the most nutritious whole grains? Brown rice, quinoa, rye, and oats are just a few examples of nutrient-dense whole grains. Learn how all whole grains benefit your health.
How do ultra-processed foods affect your health? Diets high in ultra-processed foods have been linked to different health conditions. Learn about the health effects and how to find alternatives.
Looking for breakfast ideas? A breakfast high in protein can help you stay full for longer and reduce snacking throughout the day.
Whole grains provide many nutrients that your body needs. The exact amount of nutrients will vary depending on the type of whole grain. But all whole grains:
Provide fiber, an essential nutrient that supports healthy digestion, blood sugar, cholesterol, and much more
Have magnesium, a mineral needed for healthy nerve and muscle function
Are high in B vitamins to help convert the food you eat into energy
Contain iron, which your body needs to make red blood cells and hemoglobin, which helps carry oxygen around your body
Some cereals that use whole grains add a whole grain stamp to the front of the box. This tells you that the cereal contains whole grains. But not all cereal manufacturers that use whole grains make use of this stamp. So the best way to tell whether or not a cereal is made of whole grains is to look at the ingredients list.
Good source of fiber
A good rule of thumb is to try to choose cereals with 3 g or more of fiber per serving. This is equal to about 11% of the daily value (DV) recommendation of 28 g from the FDA.
Fiber supports your health in many ways, including:
Helping you have easy-to-pass bowel movements
Decreasing your risk of colon cancer, Type 2 diabetes, and heart disease
Helping you feel full, which can support weight loss and weight maintenance
Maintaining stable blood sugar levels
Lowering cholesterol levels
Improving your immune system
Nourishing a healthy gut microbiome
Choosing whole-grain cereals is one way to ensure you’re getting fiber. Other cereals have fiber added. And you can increase the fiber content of your cereal even more by topping it with high-fiber foods like nuts, seeds, and/or dried fruit.
Protein
Protein is filling. So choosing a cereal with more protein will help keep you fuller for longer. This can help you eat less overall, which supports weight management. In fact, research suggests that eating a breakfast high in protein helps you feel less hungry. And it can also help you:
Eat less food throughout the rest of the day
Boost hormones that make you feel more full
Snack less in the evening
A diet rich in protein is also linked to:
A lower risk of high blood pressure
Faster metabolism
Better muscle repair and growth
To start your day with some protein, try to choose cereals with at least 5 g per serving. Adding in cow or soy milk will bump up the protein content even higher.
Calories
The amount of calories isn't what determines whether or not a cereal is good for you. But it’s still a good idea to pay some attention to calorie content. Eating a high-calorie breakfast means starting the day with an extra amount of calories. This can lead to unwanted weight gain over time.
A suggestion is to look for cereals with about 150 calories per serving. That doesn’t include the milk or other toppings you may add (such as nuts, seeds, or fruit). If the cereal is also high in fiber and/or protein, you’ll be getting a filling breakfast that’ll keep you energized.
What ingredients should you avoid when buying cereal?
There are certain ingredients that you should try to limit or avoid when choosing a cereal.
High amounts of added sugar
Many breakfast cereals are more like dessert foods in disguise, thanks to their high sugar content. Some cereals have 15 g or more per serving. That’s about half of your daily recommended limit of sugar.
Consuming excess sugar increases your risk for many health conditions including obesity, heart disease, and Type 2 diabetes.
Keep in mind that added sugars in cereal use many different names. Sugar may be listed on the ingredient list as:
Barley malt
Coconut sugar (or nectar)
Corn syrup
Dextrose
Molasses
Turbinado sugar
A suggested guideline is to choose cereals that contain 6 g or less of added sugar per serving. Ideally, some of that added sugar should come from natural sweeteners like honey or maple syrup. These are still considered added sugars, but they provide some health benefits.
Food additives
Food additives are ingredients that change a food’s flavor, texture, and/or color. Cereals with lots of food additives tend to come in bright, eye-catching colors and fun shapes. Food additives you might find in a cereal include:
Food dyes, like Red 40 and Yellow 6
Artificial sweeteners, like sucralose
Preservatives, like butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), which has been classified as a possible carcinogen
Cereals with many additives are considered ultra-processed foods. A diet high in ultra-processed foods may change your gut microbiome. These foods are also linked to many health harms, including:
Heart disease
Excess weight
Cancer
Type 2 diabetes
High blood pressure
Depression
Frequently asked questions
It depends on the type of cereal. Cereals low in sugar and high in fiber and/or protein may help with weight loss or weight management. But cereals high in added sugar and calories — with low fiber and/or protein — may lead to weight gain over time.
Regular (original) Cheerios is a nutritious cereal. It contains whole grains (oats). And it has only a few other ingredients in total. Cheerios is low in sugar, with only 2 g of added sugar per 1.5 cup serving. But it also has plenty of fiber (4 g) and protein (5 g).
It really depends on what type of cereal you’re eating, as well as your individual dietary needs. Many cereals aren’t a very good source of protein. In comparison, a breakfast of eggs and whole-grain toast will provide much more protein.
On the other hand, choosing a higher-protein cereal — such as oatmeal — and combining it with a milk of your choice and a topping of nuts or seeds makes for a high-protein breakfast on its own.
The bottom line
Finding a nutritious cereal requires some effort. Don’t settle for cereals that claim they’re healthy. Instead, read the ingredients list and nutrition facts. Try to choose cereals made of whole grains that provide fiber and protein. Skip cereals that are high in added sugar or other food additives. You can also add nuts, seeds, or dried or fresh fruit to your cereal to bump up its nutrients and health benefits.
Why trust our experts?
References
American Heart Association. (2024). Added sugars.
Buendia, J. R., et al. (2015). Diets higher in protein predict lower high blood pressure risk in Framingham Offspring Study adults. American Journal of Hypertension.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024). Fiber: The carb that helps you manage Diabetes.
Ghazzawi, H. A., et al. (2019). Effect of high-protein breakfast meal on within-day appetite hormones: Peptide YY, glucagon like peptide-1 in adults. Clinical Nutrition Experimental.
Jones, J. M., et al. (2019). Perspective: Whole and refined grains and health—evidence supporting “make half your grains whole” Advances in Nutrition.
Leidy, H. J., et al. (2013). Beneficial effects of a higher-protein breakfast on the appetitive, hormonal, and neural signals controlling energy intake regulation in overweight/obese, “breakfast-skipping,” late-adolescent girls. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Leidy, H. J., et al. (2015). The role of protein in weight loss and maintenance. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
McRae, M. P., et al. (2016). Health benefits of dietary whole grains: An umbrella review of meta-analyses. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine.
Morell, P., et al. (2017). Revisiting the role of protein-induced satiation and satiety. Food Hydrocolloids.
MyFoodData. (n.d.). General Mills Cheerios.
Song, Z., et al. (2023). Effects of ultra-processed foods on the microbiota-gut-brain axis: The bread-and-butter issue. Food Research International.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2021). Dietary fiber.
Ursell, L. K., et al. (2012). Defining the human microbiome. Nutrition Review.
Whole Grains Council. (n.d.). Whole grain stamp.
Zhang, X., et al. (2023). A review of the occurrence, metabolites and health risks of butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA). Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.
