Protein Cereal Options

• Yield:1 serving
• Difficulty:Easy
• Time:5 minutes

Americans buy 2.7 billion boxes of cereal each year, and 92% of American households have bought a box of it at least once this year. Let’s face it, cereal is awesome. Most of us have eaten it every single day since we were old enough to put solid food in our mouths. It’s a comfort food that mom fed us—even if we frequently dumped most it over our heads as toddlers.

Most cereals claim to be health foods. Yet, they are loaded with sugar, GMOs (genetically modified organisms), and high glycemic carbohydrates. That’s why you typically don’t find them on bodybuilder’s diets. These types of carbs can turn into fat quicker. They also make your insulin spike. So, you crash an hour or two after eating them. Another thing about cereal is that they are laughably low in protein—even if they claim to be high in protein. ‘High Protein’ cereal can usually boast about having a whopping 8 grams tops (usually more like 4.5 grams of protein). We are going to change that right now! I will let you know what to look for so you can find the right cereal—and how you can add more protein.

To add protein, we are going to add a scoop of EFX Sports protein (any kind—vanilla or chocolate) to some unsweetened almond milk, which will blow the taste of regular boring old milk clear out of the water! I did this today when I ran out of instant oatmeal (a cardinal sin right there), and I was staring at a box of steel cut oats, which takes 30 minutes to cook. I have things to do, people to see, no-can-do on the 30 minutes to cook breakfast scenario! There was a box of organic crispy rice cereal languishing in the back of the fridge, so I decided to give it a try. WOWSERS—what a pleasant surprise! Why had I not thought of cold cereal with protein in it earlier?

Since all cereals have nutrition that is glaringly different from type to type, I’m going to give you a hint of what to look for next.

Are you looking to avoid sugar? The cereal industry uses 816 million pounds of sugar annually to make cereal. Check the ingredient list on the cereal box for: sucrose (not to be confused with sucralose, which is a no-calorie sweetener), barley malt, dextrose, maltose, rice syrup, maple syrup, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), molasses, fructose sweetener, evaporated cane juice, cane crystals, anhydrous dextrose, malt syrup, beet sugar, brown sugar, caramel, carob syrup, coconut sugar, corn syrup solids, fruit juice concentrate, glucose, golden syrup, honey, Medjool dates, maltose, mannose, saccharose, treacle, turbinado sugar, etc. Brands use all these names in place of plain old honest sugar. The average RDA is 25-38 grams of added sugar per day. So check the nutrient list to see if the sugars (under carbohydrates) are a reasonable number. Try to keep it under 20 grams.

The other thing to avoid with cereal is GMOs. Look for organic non-GMO cereals, which will not have these. it should clearly state it on the box. Lower glycemic organic non-GMO cereals are really the ideal to buy. You can find them easily in your local health food or grocery store. Good options include: crispy rice (only 110 calories for 2/3 cup!), cereals made from quinoa, oats, rye, spelt, buckwheat, etc. Sprouted grains cereals are an extra plus—they are easier to digest!

Ingredients:

• 1 scoop of EFX Sports protein in any flavor
• A measured portion of your chosen cereal
• 8 ounces of unsweetened almond milk in regular or vanilla

Nutrition:

Simply add the nutrition for the protein and almond milk I’ve provided to the nutrition on your chosen box of cereal to get the whole picture.