Watch the video to see which 8 cereals you should absolutely never eat.
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00:00We've all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day,
00:03yet the average American eats breakfast just three times a week.
00:07Cereal is an easy option, but there are so many choices.
00:10Here are eight cereals you should absolutely never eat.
00:13Unlike plain Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios contain a notable amount of sugar,
00:17enhanced with honey and brown sugar syrup.
00:20Just one cup of the cereal has more sugar than three of Chips Ahoy! Cookies.
00:24Honey Nut Cheerios have 10 more grams of sugar than plain Cheerios,
00:27which makes these a treat version of the original.
00:30The New York Times reports that Honey Nut Cheerios is also the variety that
00:34some parents might buy for their kids, while they buy the plain version for themselves,
00:38figuring that at least there are added vitamins and minerals in the sugary honey version.
00:42Despite being the most popular breakfast cereal in the U.S., an Environmental Working Group
00:46analysis found that a serving of the cereal contains 20 grams of sugar.
00:50The report states that eating excess sugar can increase your likelihood of obesity,
00:54type 2 diabetes, cancer, and heart disease, and that
00:58breakfast cereals are the fifth-highest source of added sugar in the diets of children under 8.
01:03That falls behind only ice cream, candy, and cookies.
01:07While Kellogg's Special K is marketed as a healthy breakfast cereal,
01:10its refined grains and lack of fiber makes it a not-so-great choice.
01:14The total added sugar is 4 grams, and the amount of protein is 7 grams,
01:18which doesn't sound terrible. But according to the Naked label,
01:21the health claim of this cereal is mostly marketing. Without fiber,
01:24those refined carbs could spike your blood sugar levels. Even though 4 grams of sugar
01:29might not seem like a lot, there are 29 total grams of carbohydrates in Special K,
01:33and most people probably eat more than a suggested serving.
01:36Special K is low in fat, which might be where all that health-related marketing comes from.
01:41But all those excess sugars in the form of empty calories can turn into fat.
01:45If you're looking for a truly healthy cereal, it's better to choose one with lots of whole
01:49grains and a low added sugar content. But if Special K is your favorite, maybe try adding it
01:54in moderation to lower sugar options, or at least know that it's a treat and maybe not a healthy
01:59start to the day. It's easy to see why organic products appeal to parents who want to give
02:04their kids the cereals they're begging for, but want to make sure they're not negatively
02:07affecting their health.
02:08Many parents may believe their children prefer a certain cereal because of its taste.
02:14After all, some have added sugars.
02:17And the claim on the Nature's Path website is that their cereals are made with only natural
02:21ingredients that parents can feel good about. But despite being organic and non-GMO,
02:25their Panda Puff cereal is packed with whole grain cornmeal, cane sugar, peanut butter,
02:30soy oil, and sea salt. It seems like this cereal is made with just sweetened corn and soy oil.
02:35Nutritiously dense? Maybe not.
02:37The rest of the EnviroKids line also seems to offer lower sugar and lower
02:41preservative variations on some of the popular breakfast cereals below,
02:45but it's also equally questionable. The Leapin' Lemurs have chocolate,
02:48chocolate flavor, and molasses, with 8 grams of sugar for a three-quarter cup serving,
02:53and the Koala Crisp swaps brown rice flour for the corn.
02:56A better choice would be Nature's Path's Mesa Sunrise, which adds flax seeds,
03:00buckwheat flour, quinoa, and amaranth to the corn base, with just 4 grams of sugar
03:05per three-quarter cup serving, though the low protein and fiber counts leave something to be
03:09desired.
03:11It's probably no surprise that Reese's Puffs are not the epitome of healthiness.
03:15You should probably only grab a box of Reese's Puffs off the shelf of the grocery store when
03:19you're planning to eat them as a high-sugar snack or dessert. They are not what a nutritionist
03:23would call a healthy breakfast. We've all had mornings when all we're craving is a bowl full
03:28of chocolatey, peanut buttery sugar that crunches, but you can't pretend that's good for you,
03:32whatever your body is telling you and whatever you drank the night before.
03:36The General Mills website paints the nutrition as a pretty picture by mentioning that they
03:40contain added vitamins and 11 grams of whole grains, while containing no artificial colors,
03:45preservatives, or high-fructose corn syrup. However, there's still corn syrup and Hershey's
03:49chocolate in the mix, and the web experience leaves you feeling as though the nutritional
03:53label is masquerading as healthy, making the product seem even less so.
03:58"...whoa, you have candy for breakfast? She said, not candy, Reese's Puffs cereal!"
04:04What? Raisin Bran's not healthy? The cereal does have a healthy reputation,
04:08but Raisin Bran actually has more sugar per serving than Fruit Loops, with a whopping 17
04:14grams. There's slightly less added sugar than the popular Kids cereal, but that's for a smaller
04:18serving of Raisin Bran. Some of that sugar comes from raisins, but there's also regular white sugar,
04:23brown sugar syrup, and malt flavor in the cereal itself, most likely to mask that not-so-naturally
04:29delicious Bran. With 5 grams of protein and 0 grams of saturated fat, Raisin Bran isn't all bad,
04:35but it's not a particularly healthy breakfast option, either. The best way to eat Raisin Bran,
04:39if you truly love it, might be to combine a small portion with one of the low-sugar breakfast
04:43cereals mentioned later in this list. Or just add a handful of unsweetened raisins to any of
04:48the alternatives, and that should do the trick. If you think those colors are all natural,
04:53think again. In addition to the fact that these multi-colored rings all actually taste the same,
04:58they're packed with Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 1, and Yellow 6, which aren't there to be healthy
05:03or even delicious. The name is actually Fruit Loops with a double O because there's no actual
05:09fruit in them, and they've been sued several times because of this fact. Other ingredients
05:13in Fruit Loops include Bt, a controversial preservative that's been added, quote,
05:18for freshness, and the hydrogenated oils, also known as trans fats, and 12 grams of added sugar
05:24per serving. According to Spoon University, Fruit Loops are 44 percent sugar by weight.
05:29Kind of seems like they should be grouped with the candy bars in your local grocery store.
05:33So why are Fruit Loops so popular? They're iconic, colorful, and are pretty delicious.
05:38And as with Reese's Puffs, there's added vitamins, along with some great marketing,
05:42to make up for what's lacking in the rest of the product. But still,
05:45probably not the most nutritious option for a morning routine.
05:49Cinnamon Toast Crunch is absolutely delicious, but like actual French toast that you douse
05:53in cinnamon sugar, this is more of a treat than a nutritionally dense breakfast food
05:57that could get you through your morning without a sugar crash. Sugar is the source of 28 percent
06:02of the calories in each serving, and there are just two grams of protein and two grams of fiber
06:07per serving, meaning that the sugar is going to shoot right through you with nothing to slow it
06:11down. Simple sugars like those in Cinnamon Toast Crunch rank high on the glycemic index, and
06:17according to the National Institutes of Health, you shouldn't eat too much of them in a single
06:21sitting, since they can push your blood sugar up too high. All of this sugar makes Cinnamon
06:25Toast Crunch cereals seem more like a candy than a food. Despite the added vitamins and minerals,
06:30which, like the other poorly-ranking cereals on this list, seem to be there as a solution
06:34to the lack of nutrition included, this is not a breakfast option you should be eating regularly,
06:38especially considering that there are so many other quality,
06:41healthy, and tasty breakfast cereal options to choose from.
06:44"...really sweet, really sweet and quite nice."
06:47Yeah, you might not necessarily have something like that for breakfast every morning, though."
06:51You know the crazy sweet milk that's leftover after your corn pops have sat in your bowl for
06:55a while? You know how you look forward to that milk after crunching through those sugary corn
06:59balls? Yeah, that should be called dessert. That milk is like something Christina Tosi of
07:04Momofuku Milk Bar would create and everyone would appropriately eat as a nostalgic,
07:08childlike treat, not as a healthy breakfast. Along with the other high-sugar cereals on this list,
07:13corn pops are the kind of treat your parents probably shouldn't have bought you,
07:17but that you were probably always begging them to put in the grocery cart.
07:20If you think the reason kids love them so much is probably evidence that corn pops are nowhere
07:25near healthy, you would be right. The cereal clocks in with zero grams of fiber and 15 grams
07:30of added sugar, which includes both sugar and corn syrup, and only two grams of protein.
07:35In other words, corn pops could spike your blood sugar while also possibly leaving you more hungry
07:40later. So if those cereals are the ones to avoid, which ones should you be putting in your bowl?
07:44Here are a few to try.
07:47These oat-free, gluten-free clusters are at the top of their class for crunchy bites.
07:51They're also definitely not as bone-dry as some of the other health options on this list.
07:55Because let's be honest, healthy eating can be tough. It gets a respectable B
07:59on Fujicate despite having less fiber than other healthy cereal options.
08:03So for a granola, it's really not bad. You get tons of crunch from the blend of nuts, corn,
08:08brown rice, beans, millet, teff, and seeds. And the sweeteners are cane sugar combined
08:13with maple and caramelized pear juice. There's only seven grams of sugar in a
08:17one-third-of-a-cup serving of the cranberry-almond-maple flavor,
08:20which tastes plenty sweet and juicy. It also makes a perfect topping for a quick dessert
08:25yogurt parfait, in case you prefer to save your sweetened crunchy foods for snacks and treats.
08:30Kellogg's All-Brand Buds are definitely not as delicious as any of the beloved sugary cereals
08:35on this list. But they probably weren't meant to be, because they do a heck of a job keeping you,
08:39quote, regular thanks to wheat bran being the first ingredient, according to Kellogg's.
08:44There are 11 grams of fiber in one serving of All-Brand Buds,
08:47which is just under half of your daily needs if you're a woman. Keep in mind that a serving is
08:52one-third-of-a-cup, so if you eat an entire cup, you will most likely meet your fiber needs for
08:56the day. But eating a whole cup also means you'd be eating the daily recommended sugar limit for
09:01women, which is 24 grams. This pushes All-Brand Buds way above more nostalgic options like Fruit
09:06Loops and Reese's Puffs when it comes to sugar content. Another downside of these buds is that
09:11there's not much protein per serving — three grams, to be exact — to keep you feeling full.
09:16So our suggestion is to combine a serving of this with a low-sugar cereal or lots of berries,
09:21nuts, and seeds for texture, flavor, and joy. Because who would eat bran for fun?
09:26This Kashi 7 Whole Grain Puff Cereal gets a decent score on the Environmental Working Group's
09:31website. It's not organic-certified, but it has a decent amount of protein and fiber. It's also
09:36made with non-GMO hard red wheat, brown rice, oats, barley, rye, buckwheat, and sesame seeds,
09:42and is completely unsweetened, unlike a lot of other Kashi products, including the company's
09:47Go Lean Honey Almond Flax Crunch cereal with its 12 grams of sugar per a three-quarter-cup serving.
09:52So it may mean that the 7 Whole Grain Puff Cereal is kind of bland on its own,
09:56but it seems good for you, so you can eat a whole one-and-a-half-cup serving, which is much larger
10:01than most other commercial cereals, without the worry that you'll go overboard on sugar.
10:05But if flavor is what you're after, you may want to add some fruit, yogurt,
10:08or a bit of another cereal if you want some sugar. Just remember that while the cereal
10:12is crunchy on its own, it could soften up and turn mushy in milk. So eat quickly unless you
10:17like your cereal soft. And if you want a sweet treat, the 7 Whole Grain Puff
10:21Cereal is also great for baking into whole-grain Rice Krispie treats.