5 Things You Need To Know About Breakfast Cereals

Breakfast cereals can be a quick healthy solution to starting your day off right with a well balanced diet. They can also be a great way to help you regulate your system and lose weight. Leading health experts say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day because most breakfast cereals can be a great source of fiber, vitamins, and other nutritional values that your body craves for on a daily basis. But choosing the right kind of cereal can be confusing and seem as though we buy the cereal based upon the looks of the box or picture of cereal and not by the nutritional values. Many would agree that the cereal aisle can be compared to a gauntlet, similar to the checkout aisle.

The cereal aisle is stacked with product the entire length. It typically contains a mixture of both good and bad choices of cereals and it is difficult to tell them apart because of the many different brands of cereals, variety of colorful boxes with images and phrases that are just begging for your consideration. In addition, many breakfast cereals high in sugar entice you to buy simply because of the promotional giveaways or fun activities on the back of the boxes. But there is a simple solution to finding the best healthy breakfast cereal.

The following tips will guide you on making the best selection the next time you walk down the cereal aisle:

1. Nutrition Facts Label 

This label provides you with all the nutritional values that you need to make the right cereal selection and is typically found on the side of the box in small print. Here are the values that you are looking for: Sugar, Fiber, Vitamins & Minerals, Ingredients and the suggested serving sizes. Plus the label typically has two values: with milk and without milk.

2. Sugar Values 

Look for cereals that contain 8 grams or less of sugar. Most sugar cereals contain over 10 grams of sugar per serving, not to mention that the average serving size is only ¾ cup and the average person eats 2-3 servings in one bowl.

Tip: You can give your cereal a sweat boost by adding fresh fruits and berries.

3. Fiber Values 

Look for cereals that list the ingredients Whole Grains first. You need at least 3 grams per serving.

Tip: The more sugar in a cereal, the less fiber it contains.

4. Vitamins & Minerals 

Healthy cereals contain high levels of vitamins such as Vitamin C,D, added calcium, and folic acid.

Tip: Excellent source for stubborn eaters.

5. Artificial Flavoring 

Avoid these ingredients at all costs. You will notice them more in the colorful cereals and high sugar cereals.

Finally, never shop on an empty stomach. It is a recipe for making poor healthy choices. It can also be related to rapid weight gain and changes in behavior and mood swings because of the average portion sizes of cereals high in sugar.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com