How to pick the healthiest breakfast cereal

3 tips for buying the healthiest kind of cereal

With more than 100 kinds of cereal in many grocery store aisles, choosing a healthy box can be like searching for a needle in a haystack. In order to spare your sanity and to help you make a healthy choice, we’ve done the work for you. We’ve outlined the key nutrition criteria you should pay attention to, based on the big three—sugar, salt and fiber.

—EatingWell Editors

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Go for Fiber

Aim to get fiber from whole grains—they should be listed as the first ingredient. Many cereals bump up fiber content with functional fibers (isolated, nondigestible carbohydrates), like inulin and oat fiber.

Look for: Dietary Fiber ≥ 3 g per serving

Related recipe from Eating Well: Almond-Honey Power Bar

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Limit Sodium

Some cereals are so low in calories you may be tempted to eat more. But if you double your portion, your breakfast can easily eat up a quarter of your daily allotment of sodium since many cereals hover around 200 mg of sodium per serving and milk adds another 100 mg sodium per cup.

Look for: Sodium ≤ 240 mg per serving

Related recipe from Eating Well: Maple-Nut Granola

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Save on Sugar

Look for sugar toward the end of the ingredient list (which means it has less of it). Also, watch out for multiple forms of sugar (and its many aliases, like fruit juice concentrate or evaporated cane juice).

Many cereals use dried fruit that’s been coated with sugar. Better to add fresh or unsweetened dried fruit for natural sweetness.

Look for: Sugar ≤ 7 g per serving

Related recipe from Eating Well: Cranberry Muesli

4 of 6 Photo: Paula Hible