Cereal—Is there any such thing as a healthy variety?

Have you walked down the cereal aisle lately? There are a million different varieties (slight exaggeration) that boast “whole grain,” “low sugar,” “high fiber,” or “heart healthy” benefits. But are there really ANY good cereals?

Let’s take a closer look at some of the benefits or detriments to claims made by cereal producers.

Added Sugar vs. Natural Sugar

Increasingly, breakfast cereal makers are offering more nutritious, low-sugar options. The trick is trying to find them amidst the Cocoa Puffs, Frosted Flakes, or Lucky Charms-like sugary options on the grocery shelves.

As always, ignore the health claims plastered on the front of the box and READ THE LABEL.

If a cereal has 10 grams of sugar in a 30-gram serving, that means the cereal is one-third sugar.

Even if that same cereal boasts that it’s “High in Fiber,” it hardly matters if it’s 30% sugar.

Companies often add fiber to sugary cereals to give parents a false sense of security. Keep in mind that 1 teaspoon of sugar = 4 grams.

So, for example, Cheerios has 1 gram of sugar per serving so that is less than a teaspoon. Frosted Flakes has 11 grams of sugar, or almost 3 teaspoons.

As a point of reference, an Old Fashioned Donut from Dunkin Donuts has 9 grams of sugar, less than 2 teaspoons.

Sugar numbers will also include any sugar from fruit. So, if you’re eating raisin bran, don’t be concerned if the natural sugars from the fruit make the sugar content a little higher.

Read the ingredients—if it’s real fruit, it’s okay.

Load Up on Whole GrainsWhen looking for a whole grain cereal, the first or second ingredient on the label should be whole grain wheat or oats.

If the first or second ingredient is refined, the cereal probably isn’t very healthy overall.

Watch for the words100% whole grain and if the word “whole” doesn’t appear before each grain assume it is refined.

Be wary of health claims that highlight “grams” of whole grain.

As with sugar, you need to compare the amount of whole grains to the overall serving size.

If the serving size and grams of whole grains are close, that means the cereal is almost 100% whole grain.

There are some exceptions to the 100% rule. Some cereals are low in whole grains because they are high in other nutritious ingredients like bran, nuts, fruit and soy.

As always, look at the first two ingredients listed.

Ignore Bogus Health Claims

The front panels of cereal boxes are plastered with all sorts of health declarations, such as the touting of weight loss benefits.

Here are a few to be wary of:

• Fake fruits. The “strawberries” in your Kellogg’s Strawberry Delight Bite Size Mini-Wheats are most likely a mix of food dyes and gelatin (icky!).

The “raspberries” floating in your bowl are likely to have more salt than raspberry powder.

Any fruit listed on the label should be described as “real.”

• Yogurt clusters.They sound healthy, but the yogurt coating is essentially oil and sugar and has no health benefits.

• Calories count. Cereals, especially heavier ones with granola, are higher in calories than people realize.

Think about how tiny a serving size of a quarter-cup is. Are you only going to eat such a small amount?

Generally people consider cereal to be a low-calorie health food so they tend to fill up the bowl, eat it, and fill it again.

10 Cereals to Consider Buying

Here are popular cereals recommended by the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity:

• Post Bran Flakes – 130 calories, 5 g of fiber, 1.5 tsp. sugar per cup

• Kashi GOLEAN -140 calories, 10 g of fiber , 1.5 tsp. sugar/cup

• General Mills Fiber One  – 110 calories, 10 g of fiber, 1 tsp. sugar/cup

• Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheats Little Bites – 190 calories, 6 g of fiber, 3 tsp. sugar/cup

• Whole Foods 365 Organic Raisin Bran, 180 calories, 6 g of fiber, 4 tsp. sugar per cup

• Post Shredded Wheat Origi-nal, 150 calories, 5.3 g of fiber, 0.4 g of sugar per 2 biscuits (46 g)

• Barbara’s Bakery Shredded Wheat, 140 calories, 5 g of fiber, 0 g of sugar per 2 biscuits (40 g)

• Kashi 7 Whole Grains Puffs, 70 calories, 1 g of fiber, 0 g of sugar per cup

• Kashi Island Vanilla, 250 calories, 6 g of fiber, 2.5 tsp sugar per cup

• Kellogg Unfrosted Mini-Wheats Bite Size, 200 calories, 6 g of fiber, 1 g of sugar per 30 biscuits (59 g)

Hope this helps you when you are scanning those confusing cereal aisle shelves!

See you all at the Old Forge Farmers’ Market on Friday, behind the Old Forge Hardware Store It’s open from  2 to 6 p.m.