Make sure you don’t add extra sugar or salt to your porridge as this will undo all your good work – instead, try adding a banana or some fruit for extra sweetness. For every 80g that you add it will be one of your 5-a-day at the same time. Granola with chocolate has all the same issues that regular granola has, in that it's high in fat and sugar, but with added chocolate - so even more fat and more sugar! Granola with chocolate is best enjoyed as an occasional treat. Shredded whole wheat cereal with low-fat milk is the best choice of conventional breakfast cereals, because it doesn’t contain any added sugar or salt, and is high in fibre. Watch out, though, for the kind with fruit fillings, which may contain added sugar, or that are ‘frosted’ as they will almost certainly will have sugar added. Instead try adding fresh fruit such as a banana or berries for sweetness. Shredded Wholewheat, Raisins (23%), Glycerine, Niacin, Iron, Vitamin B 6, Riboflavin (B 2), Thiamin (B 1), Folic Acid, Vitamin B 12.

Cereals like cornflakes or puffed rice served with low-fat milk – can be part of a healthy breakfast but are low in fibre so not as good a choice as a wholegrain cereal. Adding a piece of fruit will help to balance your breakfast as well as making it more filling to eat. These cereals, and their wholegrain equivalents, usually come with added sugar and salt but also often have added vitamins and minerals which are good for your overall health. Other low-fibre unsweetened cereals (like crisped rice or malted flakes) will be similar from a heart health point of view.

Disclaimer

For a ready to eat cereal that is an even more heart-healthy start to the day, swap for a shredded whole wheat cereal or no added sugar or salt muesli (see above) as these don’t contain any added sugar or salt. The cereal has been subsequently manufactured by numerous other suppliers under a generic brand, often in supermarkets' " own brand" range. In the United Kingdom, Tesco, Sainsbury's and Waitrose have all produced their own versions of the cereal. Sign up to our fortnightly Heart Matters newsletter to receive healthy recipes, new activity ideas, and expert tips for managing your health. Joining is free and takes two minutes. I’d like to sign up 2. No added sugar or salt muesli Sugar-frosted cornflakes are high in sugar and low in fibre as well as usually coming with added salt. Sugar-frosted flakes are usually nutritionally similar to other sweetened cereals like chocolate rice cereals, or honey-nut coated cereals.Swapping to an unsweetened equivalent, like cornflakes or puffed rice, would be a good first step and add a serving of fruit for one of your five- a-day plus some added sweetness. We’ve ranked the most popular cereals from best to worst based on their nutritional value – in particular added sugar, fibre content, salt. Read on to get your day off to a heart-healthy start. 1. Porridge

No added sugar muesli contains a mixture of grains, fruit and nuts and the combination will differ between brands and varieties so the amount of oat beta glucans will be more variable than porridge, which is made only of oats. The dried fruit that is added should provide all the additional sweetness you need and will also count towards your five a day but choose a muesli with no added sugar and be aware that many fruit and nut mueslis (especially tropical fruit versions) contain sweetened dried fruit, which means they have sugar added even if it isn’t listed separately on the ingredients. Banana chips are another popular muesli ingredient that will contain added sugars and saturated fats. Wholegrain cereals like bran flakes, malted wheat cereal and wheat biscuits are high in fibre and will also have sugar and salt added to them usually, so avoid adding any more sugar and opt for fruits or berries for sweetness. The wholegrains mean they are high in fibre and so have benefits for your digestion too as well as your heart health. Porridge is our top choice for a heart healthy breakfast – when it is made with low-fat milk or water and unsweetened. All porridge oats are wholegrains and they all contain a soluble fibre called beta-glucan, which can help lower your cholesterol level if you have 3g or more of it daily, as part of a healthy diet. (A 40g serving of porridge oats contains 1.6g of beta-glucan.) As well as this, you’ll be getting the fibre from the whole grains, plus there is no added sugar or salt.