Snack Review: Fiber One Honey Clusters Cereal
Whenever I speak to people who monitor their dietary lifestyle, they seem knowledgeable about the major components. They track their carbohydrate, protein, and fat intake religiously; however, when I inquire about their fiber intake, I get met with blank stares.
Despite its lack of popularity in dietary discussion, it’s a vital component of maintaining homeostasis. For those who aren’t familiar with what fiber is, it’s a generic term given to the portions of plants that when consumed are not digestible. It can be anything from cellulose to chitin to lignin. Why is this good? Well, for starters, since our bodies lack the enzymes to digest fiber, we cannot convert it to sugar, and thus it has no caloric effect (this is why a piece of celery has so few calories in it, aside from it being mainly water).
Within fiber, there are two delineations: soluble and insoluble fiber. Essentially, soluble fiber conforms to a gelatinous state in liquids, while insoluble remains intact. Each in turn has varying effects on your body from preventing colon cancer (insoluble) to lowering LDL cholesterol (soluble).
Part of the reason I feel fiber is not generally consumed in its recommended dosage is because of the foods that contain them. Since it is a component of plants, you’ll only find them in various grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds. And let’s be honest, how many of us snackers out there munch on kidney beans or flax seeds when there are cookies available?
Well, in my effort to promote healthy snacking, I was on the prowl for a snack that could double as being tasty and chock-full of fiber. Because of the nature of fiber’s construction, and when considering what sort of snacks use those ingredients, I figured my best bet was a grain product, and so I waltzed down the cereal/breakfast aisle at my local H.E.B.
Browsing through the cereals, it was inevitable that I would stumble across Fiber One. I had been reared on sugar cereals since birth, being a huge fan of Lucky Charms and Kix, but gave them up once I started bodybuilding in college because of their horrible nutrition track record. Not even remembering the last time I ate a bowl of cereal, I eagerly chose the Fiber One Honey Clusters variety.
Now, most cereals pretend they are healthy because they are made from whole grains and fortified with trace amounts of vitamins and minerals. So what? You can make chocolate chip cookies with fortified whole-wheat flour and that doesn’t mean it’s healthy! However, I was muy impressed with this cereal.
For starters, there’s sixteen grams of fiber (13 insoluble) per serving here. That’s over fifty percent of your daily requirement. Though only 12.5 percent of calories are derived from protein, that is two to three times higher than your average cereal. Plus, one cup is only 160 calories with 6 grams of sugar.
So it’s loaded with fiber and gets the Robby seal of approval for health, but what does that matter if it tastes like… like… like… fiber? Well, here’s the good news: it tastes great too.
The smell is reminiscent of toasted honey, which is indicative of Honey Bunches of Oats, another cereal I am fond of, but not even in the same league as this nutritionally. And the taste and look of the flakes and clusters is rather identical, so much so that someone could easily confuse the two.
What I enjoyed most about the flavor was that it wasn’t too sweet, and even the mild sweetness was derived from a honey flavor, as opposed to the overly displeasing sucrose variety from pure sugar. The flakes are crunchy, and remain that way in the milk.
Though I ate my first bowl with some almond milk, I consumed my second straight out of the box and wasn’t disappointed a bit. It’s kinda like granola in the sense that you can just toss it in a bag and snack on it all day.
It’s hard these days to stay at the top of your healthy eating game when you’re bombarded with so many snacking options that are counter to what you really need. I am happy to say that this is a product that harmoniously embraces the worlds of snack and health and doesn’t compromise on flavor or pleasure.
Buy Fiber One Honey Clusters Cereal Online:
- at Amazon.com
7 Comments
Jim on January 10th, 2009
There was a new Fiber One breakfast bar wrapped up in my newspaper this morning. Sounds like an advertising blitz!
Rain on January 22nd, 2009
I’ve been eating this cereal for a long time now
and I love it. I totally agree with your comments about it.
cheerleaderrr on January 25th, 2009
I discovered this cereal when looking for a good breakfast before school in the mornings, and although this leaves me hungry before lunch, it’s delicious and the nutrition facts are outstanding.
Snackerrific » Snack Review: Fiber One Bar Oats & Chocolate on February 9th, 2009
[...] always loved Fiber One products, especially their cereal. Like many other companies, Fiber One started coming out with lots of cool products, and I decided [...]
cereal_Eater on June 28th, 2009
Wish it didn’t have “High Fructose Corn Syrup” other than that it’s great.
cereal_Eater on July 18th, 2009
That’s interesting….jut noticed it has twice the salt as Frosted Flakes.
I like this cereal so I shouldn’t complain I guess.
Ziggy on January 7th, 2009
I hadn’t looked at the side of this box at the store. There are so many that say they are full of fiber, and are really not. This looks to be a good choice, I’m ready to try it.
Thank You