How healthy are breakfast cereals?

In supermarkets, the shelf with breakfast cereals is getting bigger and bigger. Almost all breakfast cereals are whole grains and that is a positive. Because whole grains provide you with fiber and many vitamins and minerals. The fibers provide satiety so after a breakfast with whole grains you are not hungry again very quickly. In addition, you usually eat them together with dairy. If you also eat some fruit with it, you have a balanced breakfast. Because a healthy breakfast consists of grain products, dairy and fruit. Because there are so many different types of breakfast cereals, we have listed them for you.

breakfast porridge

The most famous breakfast porridge is of course Brinta, but there are more instant cereals like this. You sprinkle them in warm or cold milk, stir and you can eat your porridge. Usually it concerns pre-steamed whole-grain cereal flakes, without any further addition. It is better to avoid varieties with added sugar. Look for this on the label with the ingredients. It is better to control the amount of sugar you add.

cornflakes

The cornflakes breakfast has come over from the United States. The original variant consists of corn flakes, but there are also other cereals. The fiber content is low. And sugar is always added because that is part of the production process of the flakes, so they become crispy. Many packages contain flakes with added vitamins and minerals. If you eat a healthy and varied diet, you do not need that supplement of vitamins and minerals through your breakfast.

muesli

This is a mixture of cereal flakes, nuts, seeds and possibly dried fruit. And that composition makes it a healthy breakfast product, provided no sugar has been added. Look at the labels and include a type without sugar, glucose syrup or another sugar in the list of ingredients.

crispy muesli

Ever wondered what makes crispy muesli crispy? Crispy muesli – also called cruesli – is nothing but muesli mixed with sugar (or honey) and fat. This is then baked so that it becomes nice and crispy and tastes sweet. The sugar content is therefore also high. There are brands that provide as much as 3 lumps of sugar per serving.

Granola

Granola is actually nothing more than another – healthier sounding – name for crunchy muesli. For this, too, grains, nuts and seeds are mixed with honey or another sweetener and some fat. That’s baked. Most granolas are a bit lower in sugar than the crispy mueslis.

Children’s cereals

Chocopops, rice krispies, smacks, loops… there are many fantasy names in the whole group of cereals especially for children. They are eaten just like cornflakes with milk or yogurt. They usually consist of puffed grains (rice, corn, wheat) with a good amount of sugar and the fiber content is usually low.

Oatmeal

The cheapest and healthiest pack in the breakfast cereal is oatmeal. You already have a kilo of a house brand for 50 cents. This is the purest product among the breakfast cereals, because it only consists of pre-steamed oat flakes. You sprinkle it in milk and bring the milk to a boil. You boil the milk for a few minutes and the porridge is ready. Also nice and cold with yogurt or cottage cheese. Full of fiber and without sugars.

* Analyzes packaging dated 30-1-2019
** Without dairy