How to Pick a Breakfast Cereal

By Team Beachbody

The healthiest breakfast is whole grain cereal. If you're trying to lose weight or just need a lot of energy, your best bet is a hot cooked cereal of whole grains, such as oat groats, barley, wheat berries or oatmeal.

If you prefer cold cereal, you need to check the list of ingredients carefully. The FIRST ingredient should be a whole grain.

Once you've eliminated all the brands made with refined grains, check for added sugars (you want little or none) and fiber (you want a lot).

The fiber content listed on the nutrition label can be confusing because it's based on serving size, and very light cereals (such as puffed wheat) show very little fiber per serving, but an acceptable amount when you adjust for weight. Cereals made from bran (whole grains with the outer covering removed) will have higher fiber content than cereals made from whole grains (which have the "germ" and starchy parts of the grains as well as the fiber), but they can be harder to digest.

Recommended: Cereals made from whole grains (little or no added sugars).

• Cheerios—General Mills
• Chex, Wheat—General Mills
• Grape Nuts—Post
• Healthy Choice Toasted Brown Sugar Squares—Kellogg's
• Just Right with Fruit & Nuts—Kellogg's
• Kashi—Kashi Company
• Mini-Wheats, Raisin Squares—Kellogg's
• Muesli—Familia
• Nutri-Grain, Golden Wheat—Kellogg's
• Oatmeal Crisp—General Mills
• Oatmeal Squares—Quaker
• Organic Healthy Fiber Multigrain Flakes—Health Valley
• Puffed Wheat—Quaker
• Shredded Wheat—Post
• Total, Whole Grain—General Mills
• Wheaties, Crispy 'n' Raisins—General Mills

Recommended: All-bran or high-bran cereals (little or no added sugars).

• 100% Bran—Post
• All Bran, bran buds—Kellogg's
• Bran Flakes—Post
• Chex, Multi-Bran—General Mills
• Complete Wheat Bran Flakes—Kellogg's
• Complete Oat Bran Flakes—Kellogg's
• Fiber 7 Flakes—Health Valley
• Fiber One—General Mills
• Oat Bran—Quaker
• Oat Bran Flakes—Health Valley
• Oat Bran Flakes with Raisins—Health Valley
• Organic Bran with Raisins—Health Valley
• Raisin Bran—Kellogg's
• Raisin Bran Flakes—Health Valley
• Raisin Bran, Whole Grain Wheat—Post
• Total, Raisin Bran—General Mills