Cold Cereals For a Diabetes-Friendly DIet
Diabetics can eat all kinds of food, including many commercial cold cereals. According to the American Diabetes Association, or ADA, diabetics should eat cereals with 3g or more of dietary fiber and 5g or less of total sugar.
Diabetics can eat all kinds of food, including many commercial cold cereals. According to the American Diabetes Association, or ADA, diabetics should eat cereals with 3g or more of dietary fiber and 5g or less of total sugar. When choosing a healthy breakfast cereal, limit your intake of added sugar by skipping granolas and cereals with marshmallows, "frosting," dried fruits and chocolate flavoring. Also choose cereals that are higher in fiber. Fiber is an important nutrient to help you prevent weight gain and heart disease, for which diabetics have increased risk.
Corn and Rice
The sugar content of some corn and rice breakfast cereals won't derail a diabetic diet, but many of these cereals don't supply all the fiber you need. Corn flakes and puffed rice may not contain enough of the whole grain to provide that fiber, reports the CDC.
These cold cereals may contain refined grains, in which some of the plant fiber and other nutrients have been removed in processing. One corn cereal that meets the ADA criteria is General Mills Kix, with 3g of fiber and 3g of sugar per suggesting serving.
Oat
Oat-based cold cereals may deliver enough fiber for a diabetic diet, but most of them have too much sugar in the form of honey or brown sugar ingredients to include frequently for breakfast. People with diabetes may instead opt for natural hot oatmeals, which have less than 1g of sugar and plenty of fiber.
One cold breakfast cereal that satisfies ADA requirements is General Mills Cheerios. Like oatmeal, oat Cheerios offer 3g of fiber and only 1g of sugar in a suggested serving.
Wheat
Wheat cereals may be the best breakfast cereal addition to a diabetic diet. Read the nutrition facts on packages, though, because some of these cold cereals that are marketed as healthy have low sugar, but also low fiber. The top choice for people with diabetes might be Post Shredded Wheat, which has no added sugar and 6g of dietary fiber, according to the USDA Nutrient Database.
Additional healthy choices include Post Grape Nuts, with g of sugar and 7g of fiber; Kellogg's All-Bran varieties, which have 5g of sugar and up to 9g of fiber; and General Mills Wheat Chex, Wheaties and Whole Grain Total, which have 5g or less of sugar and 3g of fiber.