If you walk past the cereal aisle at the supermarket, you might think this is the epicenter of a healthy diet. The flashy packaging jostles for attention with reassuring claims: rich in fiber from whole grains! Ensures healthy intestines! Nine vitamins and minerals! Support your family’s health! At your side! Support healthy bones! Reduce fatigue and fatigue!
But how healthy are they really? The industry certainly wants us to think so: last month, Gary Pilnick, the chief executive of Kellogg’s – which makes six of the ten best-selling breakfast cereals in Britain – suggested that “dinner cereal” would be “much more affordable”. option for families who have difficulty with the cost of groceries.
The price of many of Pilnick’s cereals makes this a ridiculous claim, although a recent Food Foundation study found that the supermarket’s own brand cereals were not only cheaper but also healthier than the branded cereals. More insidious is the idea that some highly processed grains and a dash of low-fat grains are a good substitute for a good evening meal with proteins, vegetables and complex carbohydrates.
There are other concerns too, especially around fortification – the ‘with nine vitamins and minerals’ claims. Some can be a good thing, for example vitamin D, which is produced in our bodies by sunlight and can be in short supply during the winter months. But as Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition at New York University, notes in her book: Food politics“The increasingly common addition of vitamins and minerals is unlikely to improve our health and raises concerns about the potential dangers of too much of a good thing.” Nestle writes unequivocally on its blog that “added vitamins are about marketing, not about health.” They allow manufacturers to make health claims and sell health claims – especially if they distract us from the high sugar and salt levels.
Take niacin (vitamin B3), an essential vitamin in the right amounts that is added to many grains. A recent study has shown links between excessive levels of niacin and an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes and heart disease. Another study, in the journal General Psychiatry, looked at thiamin (vitamin B1) – an important nutrient that gets a boost in breakfast cereals. People who ate large amounts, more than 1 mg per day, showed increased rates of cognitive decline, the confusion and memory loss that blight old age for many.
A 30g serving of Rice Krispies fortified with thiamine provides 0.27mg, potentially useful. However, there are plenty of other places, such as peas, bananas and whole wheat bread, where you may already be getting enough. And anyway, who eats the small portions recommended by the manufacturers? I weighed out the right amount of each of the 14 cereals I tried, and honestly, I have egg cups that can fit more than some.
Overeating is especially tempting when it comes to grains that fall into the ultra-processed food (UPF) category. These are grains that are made using processes that you cannot imitate at home, and that contain ingredients that you cannot buy in the supermarket. supermarket. These temptingly marketed grains are often difficult to stop eating. At a House of Lords committee last month, anti-UPF campaigner Dr Chris Van Tulleken held up a packet of Coco Pops and argued that big industry was selling addictive products, just like the tobacco industry. The package of Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes sums it up in 1.5-inch letters: “The problem is they taste too good.”
However, let’s not tar all grains with the same brush. There are cereals that provide a good start to the day. And there’s no doubt that they provide a quick fix – albeit sometimes very quick, because they get soggy so quickly that there’s an incentive to shovel it in at top speed. So it’s certainly possible that you’ve already been ditching cereal in search of a less processed, lower-carb option – but you might want to rethink it. The best ones provide a good source of fiber and slow-release complex carbohydrates. So don’t be a grain killer: just choose a healthy option whose claims actually stack up.
Amazingly high sugar and protein content, although both figures are skewed because it already contains milk powder. Fairly rich in fiber (3.6 g) and contains flavoring and anti-caking agents, so it is ultra-processed.
Breakfast pot noodle style: simply refill from the kettle. The result is sticky and extremely sweet, tasting strangely like caramel flavoring instead of golden syrup. Grim.
Yellow on the traffic light system for sugar (5.3g per 30g serving), and not great shakes for protein and fibre, and lots of UPF ingredients including palm oil, antioxidants and colourants.
Sweet, crunchy and airy with a caramel flavor. There’s a little bit of fiber in it, but not enough to scare the kids, so it can be a gateway to high-fiber cereals. But it doesn’t seem very filling.
Reasonable in fiber (3.8 g per serving of two cookies) and protein, not much sugar. But it contains malted barley extract, which Van Tulleken says is a flavor enhancer and puts it in the UPF category.
Softly malty and biscuity, where the crispiness quickly disappears into porridge. On the boring side. The package suggests adding berries and seeds, which seems like a good idea both taste-wise and nutritionally.
Added wheat gluten, a complete protein, brings this to 7.6 g per two-cookie serving. It has similar levels to regular Weetabix for sugar and fiber, as well as that UPF malt barley extract.
The texture is different: there are crunchy, crumbly bits reminiscent of grape nuts, and a faint, pleasant bitterness that may be due to some cocoa powder in the mix. I prefer this one to the regular Weetabix.
Low in fiber content, only 0.9g per 30g serving, 2.1g protein and 2.4g sugar. Contains barley malt extract, a UPF ingredient.
Softly sweet, almost honey-like, malty with a hint of bitter flavors that enhance the taste of the milk – no wonder cereal milk exists. Fresh, but soggy after about three minutes. Not filling.
For a grain that sells itself as high in fiber, 3.6 grams per 40 gram serving is disappointing. It contains a lot of sugar, although this may partly be due to the dried fruit. Contains barley malt extract, so ultra-processed.
Generously packed with fruit and coconut, and crunchy sweet flakes that turn soggy in three minutes. A very small official portion (40g is only 100ml or half a teacup). You would pour a lot more.
6.3g of protein per 50g serving, which is a good amount, a respectable 3.7g of fiber and 3.6g of sugars (partly thanks to the dried fruit). No barley malt extract, but there is fructose, which is a marker for UPF, according to Professor Carlos Monteiro of the University of Sao Paulo, one of the people who first identified the dangers of ultra-processed foods.
Delicious oat and seed flavor, but finely chopped, not in lumps like traditional granola. Quite sweet, but healthy, even though an official 50 gram portion measures only 75 ml. “Our breakfast cereals contain nature’s most nutritious ingredients,” says the packaging, which seems hyperbolic – for starters, there are no Brazil nuts.
4.3g protein, 4g fiber and 6.6g sugar per 45g serving – all from the dried fruit. Nothing even vaguely ultra-processed among the ingredients.
The official 45g serving measures just 60ml or 4 tablespoons, making it more of a topping than a cereal on its own. That’s a good thing, because it’s heavy, with raw-tasting oats, and I can’t find the Brazil nuts.
Predictably high in sugar and low in goodness, with 1.9g protein, 1.1g fiber and 5.1g sugars per 30g serving. Contains barley malt extract and flavourings.
I am completely disarmed by this. Sweet but not overly so and thanks to the bitterness of the cocoa they are actually quite refined. But I still prefer them for pudding rather than breakfast.
A whopping 11 grams of sugar, a paltry 0.8 gram of fiber and even with the peanuts the protein is only 1.8 grams per 30 gram serving. It also contains barley malt extract and is so sweet I can feel my gums receding in panic, as if I’ve eaten a pack of chocolate hobnobs. Except chocolate hobbies contain less sugar. Gentleman.
4.5 g sugars – on the high side. 2.4g protein and 1.8g fiber per 30g serving: I’d like to see more of both in these “dieter” cereals. Contains barley malt extract and a slightly higher enrichment than other grains.
These slightly sweet flakes have a wonderfully crispy crunch with a lingering malty aftertaste. They don’t get soggy as quickly as cornflakes, so you don’t need to bolt them.
A below average amount of 2.4g sugars, 2.1g protein and only 0.9g fiber per 30g serving. Contains barley malt extract.
Light with a malty, roasted flavor, these get soggy quickly. To be honest, they aren’t too sweet, but they aren’t filling either.
Finally a breakfast cereal with the right balance, only 0.4 grams of sugars, plus a decent 4.4 grams of protein (without milk) and 3.6 grams of fiber per 40 gram serving. It has plain oats in it, and simply rolled, so minimally processed, and the oats are good slow-release carbs.
Prepares a simple breakfast, with a good nubbly texture. I like mine with a small pinch of salt.
*The above protein score applies to a portion made with half milk and half water. Red (4.4 g) without milk.
5g sugar, 4.3g protein and 4.8g fiber per 40g serving. Contains barley malt extract – although the shape alone is an indication, these are highly processed.
Sweet little bath mat shaped pieces, very sweet and ultra malty, crunchy and soft within three minutes. Tasty but very confectioned, like having digestive products for breakfast.
Less than 0.5g sugar, 4.4g protein and 2.8g fiber per 30g serving. Very respectable, and the only ingredient is wheat. Even if puffing said wheat at home would be difficult, it is relatively easy, so these are not UPF.
Unfortunately these are tough and boring, like small wotsits or polystyrene depending on your point of view. There’s a bit of toasted wheat flavor in there – oddly nostalgic, but not delicious. Please note, you will receive a large bowl (250 ml) for your 30 gram portion.
0.3g of sugar, 5.5g of fiber and 5.5g of protein per serving of two cookies, which is pretty hard to fault. Pure wheat, although I can’t imagine how these are made.
They tasted sinewy and chewy, like I’d fallen face down on a doormat, and very bland, with just a faint smell of cardboard. The hair shirt made of grains.
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