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Did you know that 36% of Australians eat breakfast cereal in the morning? Breakfast cereals are a convenient and easy way to start your day.

Made up of grains and often fortified with vitamins and minerals, breakfast cereals can be a healthy and filling breakfast option. However, as you may have noticed there is a variety of choices, ranging from multicoloured fruit loops to sachets of porridge and box’s of All Bran.

Continuing on with Whole Grain Week, we have decided to put together this guide to choosing a healthier breakfast cereal. Master breakfast, hit your fibre requirements and stay full for longer!

What to look for in breakfast cereal?

The higher the fibre, the better!

Fibre is the indigestible part of plants and a type of carbohydrate that keeps our digestive system healthy and has been proven to reduce the risk of a variety of chronic diseases, for example cardiovascular disease. Women require 25g of fibre per day and men 30g. A high fibre cereal will contain at around 10g of fibre per 100g.

Go for wholegrain

Whole grains not only have a higher fibre content, but they will also keep you full for longer. How do you know if a cereal contains an adequate amount of whole grains? Look for a cereal that has at least 50% whole grains - either it will be loud and clear on the front of the box or whole grains will be one of the first 3 ingredients in the ingredient list on the back of your cereal box.

Watch out for sodium

Even though breakfast cereals may scream ‘sweet’, they too may contain a fair bit of hidden sodium. Therefore, the lower the sodium content, the better! Try to aim for lower than 400mg per 100g.

Aim for less sugar

A rule of thumb when it comes to sugar is to try keep it below 15g per 100g. Generally the higher sugar cereals will also lack fibre and wholegrains, and are therefore not the best options when it comes to breakfast.