Why you should add whole-grain cereal to your diet

Whole-grain cereal is tasty, widely available and incredibly healthy! Here are some simple ways to add the nutritious cereal to your diet.

Eat a whole-grain cereal for breakfast three times per week. That means starting each morning with a bowl of cereal, milk and fruit. You can't get much healthier than that.

• Just find a cereal — or several — that you'll be happy to face first thing in the a.m. We're happy to report that there are dozens upon dozens of choices crowding supermarket shelves.
• Be sure yours fits our "superfood" criteria for cereal: It should be made with whole grains, contain at least four grams of fibre, and have only modest amounts of added sugar or corn syrup.
• The first item on the ingredients list should be a whole grain, such as whole wheat or whole oats. Look at the sugar content, too. Remember that four grams of sugar equals 5 millilitres (1 teaspoon). So if you see 12 grams of sugar, the cereal's got the equivalent of 15 millilitres (3 teaspoons) of sugar. Lower is better; four to five grams is great to strive for.
• We recommend a moderate fibre level, from three to six grams. Higher-fibre cereals contain more bran — the high-fibre, low-nutrition outer covering of the grain. It serves one purpose — pushing things through your colon more effectively.
• High-bran cereals don't include the germ or the endosperm of the grain, and that's where all the great fats and vitamins and phytonutrients are.
• If you eat whole grains, beans, and fruit and vegetables throughout the day, you won't need a high-fibre cereal. But if you'd rather make a huge dent in your fibre quota first thing in the morning, remember to include other true whole grains throughout the day to make up the missing nutrients.

Keep a small box of high-fibre cereal in the cupboard to use as a crunchy topping on yogurt, oatmeal, fruit salads and green salads.

• It almost acts as a fibre supplement.

The B vitamins added to cereals leach into milk quickly.

• Be sure to spoon up the milk at the bottom of the bowl to get the cereal's complete nutritional offerings.

You'll get loads more fibre than before, yet at the same time ease the transition to a new breakfast habit.

• The next week, fill your bowl with two-thirds higher-fibre brand and one-third old favourite.
• The week after, try sprinkling a little of your old standby over your new favourite cereal as a topping.

To eat more, start with old-fashioned oats and add a little brown sugar or maple syrup (or both!), dried or fresh fruit, chopped nuts and fat-free milk.

• You'll get about four grams of fibre per cup.

• Bring a saucepan of water to a rolling boil, add the oats and bring the water back to a boil.
• Turn off the heat, cover the pan and take a shower. In 10 minutes, the oats will be ready to eat.

• This delicious, stick-to-your-ribs porridge takes 45 minutes to cook, unless you know this chef's secret: The night before, bring the oats and water to a boil, cover, and turn off the heat. In the morning, simply simmer for five to 10 minutes, until the oats are as tender as you like.

Whole-grain cereal is a nutritious part of any diet. Keep this guide in mind and get the most out of whole-grain cereal by eating it regularly.