Cereal Addict Makes Breakfast Extra Sweet By Cuttin’ Out The Bad Stuff

I am a cereal addict. Unfortunately, cereal companies are addicted to adding high fructose corn syrup, honey, whey, and tons of other non-vegan, non-healthy crap. What’s a cereal lover to do? Since I love lists, here are some things that I do to try and make my morning nosh healthy and some new ideas that I’ve found around the Web:

• Toss in some add-ins to spruce up the nutrition levels. Try shredded coconut, fresh or dried fruit, oats, seeds, or nuts.
• Make your own. Girlie Girl Army just posted a delicious — and healthy — sounding recipe for Orange Cardamom Pistachio-Date Granola.
• Double check the serving size on the nutritional label. Some cereals may look rather impressive with half the amount of sugar as others until you realize the serving size is also half the size. Vice-versa, too: some may look like they have a lot of sugar until you realize that the serving is extra large.
• Check out Men’s Health Eat This Not That. The site names Post Shredded Wheat as the “Eat This” option and Cap’n Crunch as the “Not That.”
• As with all processed foods, the fewer ingredients the better. Check how many different kinds of sweeteners are in there, too. A lot of cereals use multiple sugars.
• Look for the good stuff. Grab cereals that are high in fiber, whole wheat, and whole grains.

Aside from going to cereal rehab and finding a different morning meal and evening snack, what suggestions can you offer me? Chime in and let us know!