Benefits of Ready to Eat Cereal.

Experts worldwide agree that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, for kids and adults alike. Ready to eat cereal ranks as one of the best choices available as part of a nutritious breakfast.

Some ready-to-eat cereals contain plenty of healthy ingredients, but they’re not all the same. The amount of sugar, fat and salt, as well as health-promoting nutrients, varies greatly among the different varieties. When choosing a cereal, it pays to check the nutrition facts label to be sure you’re getting the biggest nutrient bang for your buck.

Why cereal?

Cereal is typically a low-fat, nutrient-dense food with many essential vitamins and minerals. And in addition to delivering important nutrients and essential vitamins such as iron, B vitamins and zinc, cereal also provides the important benefits of grains.

Nutrient-Dense Energy

Whole-grain cereals have complex carbohydrates together with the nutrients needed to turn those carbs into energy and support your metabolism. The first item in the list of ingredients should be a whole grain, otherwise the cereal is not whole grain regardless of its name. Cereal may be fortified with vitamins and minerals, but the only way you’ll get fiber is from whole grains. You don't need to get 100 percent of the recommended intake of nutrients from a bowl of cereal. A reasonable amount is 10 to 25 percent of the daily value.

Ready-to-eat cereals contain nutrients that help keep your heart healthy, including potassium, magnesium, folate and vitamins B-6 and B-12. One of the biggest benefits comes from the fiber in whole grains that lowers cholesterol and may reduce your risk of having a heart attack. Even if you don’t worry about heart attacks now, researchers at Northwestern University found that eating a high-fiber diet between the ages of 20 and 59 lowered the risk of developing cardiovascular disease later in life. Watch for the amount of sodium because that raises blood pressure. A “low sodium” product should have less than 140 milligrams in a serving. The recommended daily intake of sodium for women is 1,500 milligrams.

Kids who eat breakfast are less likely to be overweight than those who don’t, and those who eat ready-to-eat cereal are less likely to be overweight than those who eat other kinds of breakfast. Eating breakfast may help children do better in school by improving memory, mood, psycho-social function, test grades and school attendance

Skipping breakfast is associated with a number of poor health outcomes and compromising behaviors among children and adults, including higher blood cholesterol and insulin levels, smoking, alcohol use, physical inactivity, eating disorders and unhealthy weight management practices.

Cereals with extra sugar aren’t normally the best choice, but sweetened cereals typically have fewer calories and more nutrients than cookies, cakes or other baked goods for those times when you crave something sweet. Muffins made from bran cereal can be grabbed on the go. Replace butter with applesauce and use skim milk for a low-fat muffin and boost nutrients with grated carrots, walnuts or raisins. Keep a healthy snack on hand by making a trail mix from any combination of whole-grain cereals, sunflower seeds, peanuts and dried blueberries. Try coating chicken breasts or fish fillets with crushed rice cereal instead of bread crumbs.