With so many breakfast cereal options on the market these days, it can be overwhelming to know which to choose. Have you ever wondered what to look for when choosing a healthy breakfast cereal? One factor to consider when looking for a healthy option is the fiber content. Let’s take a closer look at why fiber is important and how to choose high fiber breakfast cereals!
Why Does Fiber Matter?
Fiber is extremely important for our overall health and well-being. The benefits of high fiber diets are nearly endless. Fiber is the key nutrient for promoting gut health, as the fiber we eat fuels the good bacteria in our guts which provides us with numerous health-promoting benefits! Additionally, fiber reduces inflammation and promotes metabolic health. As a result, it reduces our risk of conditions such as type 2 diabetes (T2DM), cardiovascular disease, depression, acne, colon cancer, and countless others.
The benefits of fiber extend beyond long term disease prevention, appearing in our daily lives. For example, fiber is extremely satiating, allowing us to feel fuller for longer. This in turn leads to improved food choices at later meals, more stable energy and blood sugar levels, and greater focus throughout the day!
How Much Fiber Do We Need?
So, how much fiber do you need to see these benefits? The recommended intake for fiber for adults is 25g per day for females, and 38g for males. However, most Canadians only consume half of this (1).
Luckily, your morning breakfast cereal is an easy way to get closer to this goal. Try to look for cereals with at least 4g, or if possible 6g or more, of fiber per serving on the Nutrition Facts Table. Let’s now look at some examples of cereals that meet this criteria.
High Fiber Breakfast Cereals: Options
(The following fiber amounts are all per 1 cup serving and the brands are listed in brackets).
Classic Options (2, 3)
- Shredded Wheat (Post): 7g
- All Bran (Kellogg’s): 5g
- Honey Clusters (Fibre One): 13g
- Flax Plus Cinnamon Flakes (Nature’s Path): 7g
- Cinnamon Puffins (Barbara’s): 6g
- Original Muesli (Blue Menu): 8g
- Corn Squares (Quaker): 4g
- Shreddies (Post): 6g
- Harvest Crunch Original (Quaker): 8g
- Really Nutty Raisin Muesli (Dorset Cereals): 8g
- Weetabix (Weetabix): 7g (*per 3 biscuits which is comparable to 1 cup of other cereals)
- Many more!
Gluten Free Options (2, 4, 5, 6, 7)
If you follow a gluten free diet, finding high fiber cereals can be a little more challenging. But don’t worry, there are still options! For instance:
- Sunrise Crunchy Maple (Nature’s Path): 6g
- Chocolate Puffs (Farm Girl): 10g
- Coconut Crunch (Nuco): 8g
- Power O’s: Original Toasted Rice & Bean Cereal (Love Grown): 4g
- Gluten Free Muesli (Bob’s Red Mill): 12g
Some of these gluten free options may be harder to find at standard grocery stores, but are often available at local health stores and online. There are also many more conventional options that are wheat free such as Quaker’s Corn Squares and Barbara’s Cinnamon Puffins. However, these are not certified gluten free, and thus are not safe for people with celiac disease due to the potential for cross contamination.
Oats
One of the simplest (and healthiest!) solutions to a high fiber breakfast is oats! Oats contain a special type of fiber called beta-glucans which are linked to improved digestive and gut health, decreased blood cholesterol and thus cardiovascular disease, and better blood sugar control and thus reduced risk of T2DM.
Oats contain roughly 9g of fiber per cup (uncooked), are highly affordable, readily available, and easy to prepare! If you don’t like classic oatmeal, experiment with alternatives such as overnight oats, baked oats, or using oat flour in pancakes and other recipes. Certified gluten free oats can also be purchased, making them a suitable option for most people with celiac disease (a small portion of people with celiac are also sensitive to oats, so ensure you consult your healthcare provider first).
Other Tips
Read the Nutrition Facts Table Carefully!
When choosing your cereal, there are a couple more considerations to keep in mind! First, although terms like “whole grain,” “bran,” and “multigrain” are good clues to fiber content, they don’t tell the whole story! For example, Multigrain Cheerios actually only contain 2g per cup (2)! Instead, make sure to read the number of grams of fiber on the Nutrition Facts Table and consider the listed serving size at the top of the label.
Mix it Up!
Additionally, it is not necessarily the best choice to find the #1 highest fiber cereal and only ever buy that one. In fact, it’s a really great idea to mix up which cereal you buy week to week! This is because different cereals contain different types of fiber. Eating a wider variety of different sources of fiber (from different types of grains, nuts, seeds, fruits, legumes, etc) leads to greater microbiome diversity and therefore gut-health-related health benefits. Sometimes, fiber diversity can even be found within one given cereal. Specifically, while some cereals’ fiber comes only from one ingredient (often wheat), others’ come from multiple ingredients like quinoa, barley, flax, psyllium husk, oats, corn, nuts, or dried fruit.
Here are some examples from our high fiber brands listed above that offer multiple types of fibre: (2, 6, 7)
- Honey Clusters: wheat, corn bran, oats, chicory root extract (inulin fiber)
- *Caution with this cereal if you suffer from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) as many people experience digestive symptoms from high amounts of inulin fiber
- Really Nutty Raisin Muesli (Dorset Cereals): cashews, dates, brazil nuts, hazelnuts, almonds, raisins
- Gluten Free Muesli (Bob’s Red Mill): oats, raisins, almonds, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, brown rice crisps, dried apple, coconut, pumpkin seeds
- Sunrise Crunchy Maple (Nature’s Path): quinoa, corn, buckwheat, amaranth
- Power O’s: Original Toasted Rice & Bean Cereal (Love Grown): navy beans, lentils, garbanzo beans, brown rice flour
Furthermore, varying your cereal choice also provides a wider range of other nutrients. For instance, one cereal may be high in omega 3 while another may be highly fortified in iron, each of which promotes our health in different ways! You can tailor these choices to your individual needs. For example, if you suffer from low iron levels, you might want to opt for a high iron cereal more frequently (like Weetabix which has 40% of daily iron needs per serving!), even if it means a slightly lower fiber content. You may also choose your cereal by considering other aspects of the ingredients list that you value. For example, while Quaker’s Harvest Crunch granola has an impressive 8g of fiber per cup, it also contains 23g of sugar (double that of Cinnamon Toast Crunch!) and 450 calories (compared to most cereals containing roughly 120-170 calories per cup) (2). Ultimately, a balanced and individualized approach is best.
Is There a Place for Low Fiber Cereals?
Does this mean you can never eat your favourite low fiber breakfast cereal again? Of course not! In fact, it is important not to eliminate your favourite foods, as this can leave you feeling restricted or emotionally unsatisfied, which is not good for your health either! While sometimes it is perfectly okay to eat a simple bowl of Frosted Flakes or Rice Krispies as is, here are some tips to incorporate them more often without sacrificing your high fibre breakfast plan:
- Mix ½ a bowl of your favourite low fiber cereal with ½ a bowl of a high fiber one to get both the emotional/taste satisfaction and benefits of fiber
- Add high fiber toppings to low fiber cereals such as: nuts, seeds, hemp hearts, ground flax meal, chia seeds, berries. Aim for diversity, mix it up day to day and week to week!
- Consider your day as a whole: on a day you choose to eat a low fiber breakfast cereal, you can still reach your daily fiber needs by eating extra fiber at other meals. In particular, try to eat a high fiber, veggie-rich lunch to avoid feeling over-hungry later on, rather than waiting all the way until dinner to get your fibre in.
Key Message: High Fiber Breakfast Cereals
Overall, increasing the fiber in your diet is one of the best steps you can take to improve your mental and physical health. It can not only reduce the risk of disease long-term, but promote better digestive, cognitive, and physical health in your daily life. Regardless of whether you adhere to a gluten free diet, there are numerous high fiber breakfast cereal options you can choose from to help you reach the 25-38g daily fiber goal. Remember to mix up your cereal choices and toppings week to week for optimal benefits, and that all foods (including low fiber cereals!) fit into a healthy diet in moderation.
Sources
1. Canada.ca [Internet]. Government of Canada; 2019 [updated 2019 Jan 22; cited 2025 Jun 4]. Fibre; [about 2 screens]. Available from: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/nutrients/fibre.html.
2. Zehrs Markets Supermarket: Grocery Shop Online or Instore [Internet]. Loblaws Inc; [cited 2025 Jun 4]. Available from: https://www.zehrs.ca/en/food/pantry/cereal-breakfast/c/28183.
3. Weetabix Original Classic Cereal, 14 ounce [Internet]. Amazon; Available from: https://www.amazon.ca/Weetabix-Original-Classic-Cereal-Ounce/dp/B000VK2LO2.
4. Cocoa Cereal, Artisan Keto Cereal [Internet]. Amazon; Available from: https://www.amazon.ca/Farm-Girls-Strawberry-Cereal/dp/B08KS49YN5/ref=asc_df_B08KS49YN5?mcid=af72dd0d3ea23fe58e0b6ac9eb4b4361&tag=googleshopc0c-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=706745871256&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10214241129319272096&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9001011&hvtargid=pla-2247482340635&gad_source=1&th=1.
5. Nuco Coconut Crunch cereal, 300g [Internet]. Available from: https://naturamarket.ca/nuco-coconut-crunch-cereal-300g.html?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=15281865803&gbraid=0AAAAADfUXIqwYMSQZUgG7ImGLC5QHcBrC&gclid=Cj0KCQjwotDBBhCQARIsAG5pinN9DNAb5HOWrRIVYnL9sPMVgOviusKAwgRtQJQ_8ebR1hMEfRqo0dEaAreHEALw_wcB.
6. Love Grown Power O’s Toasted Bean & Rice Cereal Original, 227g [Internet]. Available from: https://naturamarket.ca/love-grown-power-o-s-toasted-bean-rice-cereal-original-227g.html?srsltid=AfmBOoqW20wkcRsJLdrOGOeC6_id6fOEDtfYtMFcf1CFrkg-GX7dkEfR.
7. Bob’s Red Mill, muesli, gluten free, 16 oz (453 g) [Internet]. iHerb LLC; Available from: https://pe.iherb.com/pr/bob-s-red-mill-muesli-gluten-free-16-oz-453-g/4645.
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