Cereal Breakdown

added sugar breakdown breakfast cereal fibre high protein nutrition nutritionist sugar Jan 18, 2021

Does your young athlete eat cereal for breakfast?

Cereal can be so incredibly convenient that sometimes we forget to have a look at the nutrition label or ingredient list, plus we end up giving in to the wants of our kids.

I've broken down the numbers of my client's most popular cereals, and they might surprise you!

I'm often asked if I give my kids cereal and the answer is YES. We offer multiple types of cereal, but none that are above 6g of sugar per serving and they have a good amount of fibre (we always have spoons size shredded wheat-or pillows as my kids call them-and my homemade granola on hand).

I encourage my kids to add some fruit to boost the nutrition-sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.

Cereal will always be an easy meal. Let's just make sure we're actually starting our player's day the right way, and not setting them up for sugar highs and sugar lows throughout their day.

Starting the day with a lot of added sugar (not natural sugar-but ADDED), can end up causing cravings and dips in blood sugar levels, creating fatigue, lack of focus, cramping, digestive upset, plus mood and behavioural issues.

Something as simple as starting your day with more protein and less sugar can set our kids up to be successful for performance in sport and focus in school.

You can see the breakdown of serving size, protein, sugar, and fibre below.

There are many more items that are also important to look at, but this is a good start.

Serving size is so important. This is why:

If you're doubling the serving size, you're also doubling all the numbers on the nutrition label.

Check out my list below when I compare all cereals at the same weight.

If all cereals were compared at 55g, this would be the result:

Protein:

Remember this is WITHOUT milk. Once you add a cup of milk, you're adding another 6g-8g of protein, depending on the type of milk you're using.

Vector: 5.7g
Cheerios: 7g
Shreddies: 6g
Rice Krispies: 3.9g
Wheaties: 4.5g
Shredded Wheat: 5.8g
Honey Nut Cheerios: 5.6g
Apple Cinnamon Cheerios: 5.5g
MultiGrain Cheerios: 5.5g
Shreddies + Granola: 5g
All-Bran: 7.6g
Mini-Wheats: 5g

Sugar:

Remember: Some of the sugars in these cereals are from natural sources like bran, or oats. Reduce sugar by combining low sugar cereals with your favourites!

Vector: 12g
Cheerios: 2.8g
Shreddies: 9g
Rice Krispies: 5.8g
Wheaties: 7.6g
Shredded Wheat: 0g
Honey Nut Cheerios: 17g
Apple Cinnamon Cheerios: 18.3g
MultiGrain Cheerios: 11g
Shreddies + Granola: 13g
All-Bran: 10.6g
Mini-Wheats: 11g

Fibre:

Adding more fibre is easy! Add fresh or frozen fruit, flax meal, or oats!

Vector: 3.3g
Cheerios: 4.2g
Shreddies: 6g
Rice Krispies: 0g
Wheaties: 6.1g
Shredded Wheat: 7g
Honey Nut Cheerios: 3.7g
Apple Cinnamon Cheerios: 3.6g
MultiGrain Cheerios: 5.5g
Shreddies + Granola: 5g
All-Bran: 18.3g
Mini-Wheats: 6g

Ultimately, you're going to make decisions that are best for your young athlete and family. I just want to help you make informed decisions so you know exactly how you're fuelling your bodies!

Questions? Get in touch anytime: [email protected]