Does your breakfast cereal provide enough fibre?

Is your breakfast cereal giving you the fibre you need? HFG shows you the best way to start your day.

While most of us know to check out the sugar levels in cereals, it’s just as crucial to consider fibre. The recommended daily intake of fibre for both women and men is 25g, so healthier cereals ideally have 5g or more of fibre per 100g.

Why fibre is so important

Fibre is your gut’s best friend. It helps to keep you regular and feeling full, which plays a part in managing your weight. Some fibre types reduce cholesterol absorption. This reduces your risk of heart disease, and helps control blood sugar levels which reduces type 2 diabetes risk.

Fibre also feeds your gut ‘microbiome’ — those trillions of bacteria that live in your gut. These play a big role in immunity, controlling inflammation and synthesising vitamin K2 to strengthen bones. Your fibre-loving microbiome also helps absorb minerals, such as calcium, and produce short-chain fatty acids that help protect you from bowel cancer.

By simply choosing a high fibre cereal for breakfast — one that includes whole grains such oats, barley and wheat — you can quickly boost your fibre intake. But not all fibres are the same …

The right fibre is key

Your body needs three types of fibre to function optimally.

1. Soluble fibre, mostly found in wheat, adds bulk to your stools
2. Insoluble fibre is a prebiotic that fuels good bugs in your gut
3. Resistant starch is the fibre most strongly linked with lowering your risk of bowel cancer.

Most of us fall short on insoluble fibre and resistant starch but, by adding oats and barley to our daily diet, this is fairly easy to fix.

BARLEYmax, a barley grain that’s been developed by the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), has higher levels of resistant starch than regular barley. It is now included in many breakfast cereals, and boosts your intake of all-important resistant starch.

Fibre in common breakfast cereals

Rolled oats/oatmeal

Approx 5.4g of fibre per 45gm

Buckwheat, date, coconut and pecan granola

Approx 5g per 50g serve

Cornflakes

Approx 4g per 40g serve

Weet-bix

Approx 3.3g per 30g serve

For healthy breakfast ideas, you might be interested in our delicious breakfast recipes.