The Best Breakfast Cereals for Weight Loss

October 09, 2019

The Best Breakfast Cereals for Weight Loss

How to Pick the Best Cereal for Your Weight Loss Goals

When faced with a hectic morning, the easiest path to breakfast often includes a cereal box. Open. Pour. Add milk. Eat. But, when it comes to nutrition, the choices in the cereal aisle don’t stack up evenly. Varieties with chocolate chips and marshmallows likely stand out as the unhealthier of choices, but seemingly healthy options, such as some granolas and sweetened whole-grain varieties, can be packed with added sugars and unhealthy fats, too — not to mention they can be seriously lacking in good-for-you nutrients.

“Never judge a cereal by the front of the box; the manufacturers aren’t there to help you be healthy,” says Gretchen Spetz, RD, a clinical dietitian with University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center in Ohio. To get the real scoop, you need to scan the ingredients and nutrition facts label for sneaky sugar sources and hidden processed ingredients. What you do want to see are ingredients like whole grains, oats, whole wheat, and brown rice, which tend to be higher in fiber than more processed carbohydrates.

The good news is that the right cereal pick made with the right ingredients can serve up a healthy, nutrient-rich breakfast in a flash — and yes, help you meet your weight loss or weight maintenance goals.

A review published in September 2014 in the journal Advances in Nutrition that analyzed dozens of previous studies that looked at the health benefits of eating cereal for breakfast found there is trustworthy evidence that cereals with a base of oats, barley, or psyllium may help lower cholesterol levels, and that wheat-based cereals that are high in fiber may help improve bowel function, too.

To make the right decision when it comes to your breakfast bowl, Spetz recommends looking for cereals with at least 3 grams (g) of fiber (5 g or more is considered “high-fiber”), less than 10 g of sugar, and less than 200 milligrams (mg) of salt per serving.

Here are some choices that meet these parameters and are good breakfast (or snack) options, whether you want to lose weight or just start your day with a nutritious meal:

Here’s more about all the nutrition benefits these picks provide, and what Spetz and other experts have to say about these cereal picks:

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Classic General Mills Cheerios Are High in Fiber, Low in Sugar

Serving size 1 cup

Calories 100

Sugar 1g

Sodium 140mg

Fiber 3g

Fat 2g

Protein 3g

For a healthy breakfast, stick to classic Cheerios. “They contain a good amount of fiber and are low in sugar, all those things that we look for [in a healthy cereal],” Spetz explains. “Go with the plain Cheerios, not the honey nut or vanilla or any of the other flavors.” There are also many store-brand or generic versions of Cheerios, which are acceptable as well.

Need to add pizzazz to plain cereal? “Try adding some fruit to give it some sweetness,” Spetz suggests.

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Kellogg's All-Bran Complete Wheat Flakes Deliver When It Comes to Fiber

Serving size 3/4 cup

Calories 90

Sugar 5g

Sodium 210mg

Fiber 5g

Fat 0.5g

Protein 3g

“One of the main things that I look at is the fiber content,” says Gretchen Kauth Morin, RD, coordinator of nutrition services at Sindecuse Health Center at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. “The fiber recommendation is 20 to 35 g a day, and if you can get one-fourth of that at breakfast, that’s good.”

All-Bran is a cereal that really delivers on fiber, but Kauth points out that this cereal’s serving size might not seem substantial enough to many people. Add volume to your healthy breakfast and up the nutrition and flavor with cut berries, ¼ cup of dried fruit, or a small serving of nuts.

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General Mills Fiber One Original Is a Fiber Powerhouse

Serving size ½ cup

Calories 60

Sugar 0g

Sodium 110mg

Fiber 14g

Fat 1g

Protein 2g

A serving of Fiber One cereal provides just about one-half of the fiber you need for the entire day. That’s fine if you’re used to eating a lot of fiber, but Spetz cautions, "When your gastrointestinal tract is not used to a high amount of fiber, it’s best to do it gradually.” Otherwise you risk feeling uncomfortable because of excess gas, which can undermine your healthy choice.

If eating a very high-fiber cereal is one of your nutrition goals, start with a lower-fiber cereal and gradually work your way up over the course of a few weeks while increasing fiber at other times during the day.

Keep in mind: This cereal has no sugar because it is sweetened with Spenda (sucralose), which is not to everyone’s taste.

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Kashi 7 Whole Grain Nuggets Serves Up a Variety of Grains

Serving size ½ cup

Calories 210

Sugar 3g

Sodium 260mg

Fiber 7g

Fat 1.5g

Protein 7g

Spetz advocates looking carefully at nutrition labels to make sure that the grains in the cereals you eat are whole grains, not processed, and that they are at or near the beginning of the ingredients list.

Kashi 7 Whole Grain Nuggets are whole grain, Spetz says, even though when you read the nutrition label it will include a trademarked ingredient description that reads “Kashi Seven Whole Grains & Sesame.”

This brand, which may be found in the organic and health food sections of grocery stores or in the regular cereal aisle, is a little high in sodium, but you can always balance that out by opting for lower-sodium choices the rest of the day. It’s also a good idea to measure out your portion size to make sure you’re not going overboard.

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Kellogg's Bite Size Unfrosted Mini-Wheats Have No Added Sugars

Serving size 30 pieces

Calories 190

Sugar 0g

Sodium 0mg

Fiber 8g

Fat 1g

Protein 6g

Unfrosted Mini-Wheats may strike you as a bit dull, but think of this cereal as an opportunity to build a healthy breakfast. “It’s really great to pair a food that is high in protein, like milk or yogurt, with your cereal,” Spetz advises, adding that the combination is filling and satisfying.

Rather than opting for a frosted mini-wheat variety, which adds sugar and subtracts some fiber and protein, get sweetness by slicing in half a banana or sprinkling on a tablespoon of raisins or a dash of cinnamon, which adds flavor and may help control blood sugar spikes.

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Kashi GoLean Is Your High-Protein Cereal Solution

Serving size 1 ¼ cup

Calories 180

Sugar 8g

Sodium 115mg

Fiber 13g

Fat 2g

Protein 12g

Kashi GoLean has an unusually high amount of protein for a high-fiber cereal thanks to the addition of soy protein to the mix — a combination that could help you feel full longer.

It also contains a natural food dye, annatto, made from the outer coat of the seed of a tropical shrub. There isn’t a lot of research linking artificial dyes to health problems, Spetz says, “But if you’re of the opinion that you want to eat as whole as possible, skip them.”

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Post Shredded Wheat Spoon Size Wheat'n Bran Wins for Uncomplicated Ingredients

Serving size 1 ¼ cup

Calories 210

Sugar 0g

Sodium 0mg

Fiber 8g

Fat 1.5g

Protein 7g

You can’t get much simpler than Post Shredded Wheat Spoon Size Wheat’n Bran. It contains just two ingredients: whole wheat and bran, which makes it a great one to have in your pantry as part of your breakfast rotation.

“Factor in variety,” Kauth says. This will prevent boredom and give you different flavors, textures, and nutrition to choose from.

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Try Nature's Path Organic SmartBran for a Unique Variety of Grains

Serving size ½ cup

Calories 80

Sugar 6g

Sodium 130mg

Fiber 13g

Fat 1g

Protein 3g

Nature’s Path Organic SmartBran’s patented mix of whole grains includes psyllium seed husks, along with wheat bran and oat bran. Psyllium is available as a fiber supplement to help constipation, and sometimes to help reduce cholesterol, too. This cereal pick is a great choice to deliver those benefits without having to take a pill or mix up a powder form of the supplement in a drink.

Though some organic brands of breakfast cereals can be harder to find in stores and might be more expensive than more traditional supermarket brands, if you’d like to experiment with tastes and textures, it’s worth a try.

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