Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and while we all strive to eat a large nutritious breakfast filled with protein, some days we’re just in a hurry/traveling – whatever it may be. And sometimes maybe your child is going through a picky eating phase and “only wants cereal” that week. Whatever the reason, sometimes a quick meal or snack like cereal is warranted but that doesn’t mean we have to grab the lucky charms or cinnamon toast crunch.
Most conventional cereal brands are filled with a looooooong list of toxic ingredients like red 40, yellow 5 & 6, blue 1, trisodium phosphate, corn syrup and others that can wreak havoc on the health of our littles. But don’t worry – I don’t like to give disappointing information without also giving you a solution or an alternative. Here are 5 organic cereal brands that have healthier (and simple) ingredients.
1. Lovebird (unsweetened)
Ingredients: Organic cassava flour, organic coconut flour, organic coconut oil, himalayan salt
Nutritional Info: 4g fiber, 1g sugar, 2g protein
2. Ezekiel 4:9 (original)
Ingredients: Organic sprouted whole wheat, organic malted barley, organic sprouted whole barley, organic sprouted whole millet, organic sprouted whole lentils, organic sprouted whole soybeans, organic sprouted whole spelt, filtered water, sea salt.
Nutritional Info: 6g fiber, 0g sugar, 8g protein
3. Forager (lightly sweetened O’s)
Ingredients: Organic cassava root, organic cane sugar, organic navy beans, organic pea protein, organic sunflower oil, water
Nutritional Info: 4g fiber, 2g sugar, 4g protein
4. Cascadian Farm (purely O’s)
Ingredients: Organic whole grain oats, organic whole grain barley, organic wheat starch, organic malted barley extract, sea salt, calcium carbonate, organic malted barley, vitamin E.
Nutritional Info: 4g fiber, 1g sugar, 4g protein
5. Nature’s Path (organic heritage flakes)
Ingredients: Organic wheat flour, organic wheat bran, organic wheat meal, organic cane sugar, organic oat flour, organic spelt flour, organic barley flour, organic millet, organic barley malt extract, organic quinoa, organic honey, sea salt.
Nutritional Info: 7g fiber, 5g sugar, 5g protein
There are other healthy organic cereal options out there and other variations of the brands listed here, but this should give you a good start! You can find them at your local health food stores and some online health food stores. Just make sure to read the ingredients when exploring 🙂
PS – the O’s make for a great toddler snack when they want something to munch on but you don’t want them to fill up before the next meal.