Here's Why You Should Never Eat Dry Cereal Alone For Breakfast

It's perfectly fine to be alone while eating dry cereal for breakfast, but it's not always a good idea to eat dry cereal alone for breakfast. Cereal is one of those foods that many of us developed a love for at a very young age. Maybe your favorite was Golden Grahams or Apple Jacks, or the uber-sugary ones like Honey Smacks or Frosted Flakes. Or maybe Cinnamon Toast Crunch was the one you preferred because it had the best leftover milk flavor. You probably fixed yourself a bowl every morning before catching the bus without thinking twice about it.

Nowadays, there are dozens of popular cereal brands to choose from, and while some have ingredients that provide nutritional benefits, let's be honest ... the ones that many of us prefer or buy wouldn't qualify as a "healthy cereal." But there's another reason that you shouldn't eat dry cereal as your only meal for breakfast.

Prevention lists 15 of the best healthy breakfast cereals and oatmeals, but you probably won't recognize most of them. The one you likely will recognize ranked No. 1: Cheerios. Not the Honey Nut, though. Just regular Cheerios. Unsurprisingly, you won't find any of the childhood favorite cereals on the list. That's because many of those cereals are high in carbs, but not the healthy kind.

According to Healthline, many breakfast cereals contain a lot of added sugar, which can quickly increase blood sugar levels if it's your first meal of the day. What goes up must come down, so you might not make it to lunch before your body experiences a blood sugar drop, leaving you feeling hungry again prematurely.

This is why it's so important that your cereal contain at least 3 grams of fiber. SFGate claims fiber takes longer to digest than sugar, which means you'll feel full for a longer period of time and be less likely to snack. If your cereal doesn't have at least 3 grams of fiber, you can add a slice of whole grain toast to the meal, or sprinkle some almonds on top of the cereal.

So although it won't kill you to eat a bowl of sugary cereal for breakfast every once in a while, if you want to avoid overeating, add some fiber to the bowl.