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Special K – The Extended Selection
Dietitians have long been recommending Special K cereal to clients as a low fat, moderate fibre breakfast cereal option. This advice in no longer simple since Special K has extended their cereal line. The original cereal is now labelled as Special K Original. But that does not mean the new Special K versions are not good options. Let us take a look at them comparatively.
Special K Original,- an iron and fibre enriched mix of rice, whole wheat and oat flakes
Advantage- a slightly sweetened version of the original flakes with crunchy fibre pieces added
Fruit and Nut-original flakes plus raisins, cranberries, almonds and oat/wheat clusters
Forrest Berries- original flakes plus blackberries and strawberries
Oats and Honey-original flakes plus barley, triticale and honey
The table below gives nutritional values per 3/4 cup serve, as this is an average serve. The weight for this serve will vary between 30-40g)
Per ¾ cup Special K (ranges 30-40g) | Calories | Kilojoules | Protein (g) | Fat (g) | Saturated Fat (g) | Carbohydrate (g) | Sugars (g) | Fibre (g) |
Original | 111 | 465 | 5.9 | 0.1 | 0 | 19.95 | 4.4 | 2.0 |
Advantage | 106 | 442 | 4.1 | 0.2 | 0 | 18.8 | 5.5 | 5.3 |
Fruit & Nut | 151 | 630 | 6.2 | 1.8 | 0.2 | 25.3 | 7.8 | 3.2 |
Forrest Berries | 111 | 465 | 5.5 | 0.2 | 0 | 20.4 | 7.5 | 2 |
Oat & Honey | 167 | 697 | 7.8 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 29.6 | 8.8 | 4.3 |
There is not a great difference in calorie/kilojoule content between the cereals. If you are on a restricted calorie/kilojoule diet then you would be best to stick to Original, Advantage and Forrest Berries. The nuts and honey in the other options add extra calories/kilojoules.
The fat is negligible in all varieties except the fruit and nut but this has healthy unsaturated fats in the nuts. The saturated fat is still very low. If you are restricting total fat, then you may like to choose another option.
Sugar content is recommended to be less than 10g per serve. Original and Advantage fall well below the sugar recommendations. Fruit and Nut, Forrest Berries and Oat and Honey are all less than the recommendation, but are much closer to the maximum 10g per serve. Understandably, it is the natural sugar from the dried fruit and the honey that is accountable for this. Being natural sugars, these cereals still make better options than those with added refined sugars.
Fibre is another key nutrient when looking at cereal comparison. The Heart Foundation recommends 25-30g of fibre per day. Cereal consumption can have a big impact on ones daily fibre intake. Choose a cereal with 3g or more of fibre per serve. Special K Advantage, Fruit and Nut and Oat and Honey all provide more than 3g of fibre per ¾ cup serve. Original and Forrest Berries fall slightly below this with 2g of fibre per ¾ cup. This fibre serving is still generous compared to other popular cereals such as corn flakes and Nutrigrain which contain less than 1g of fibre per ¾ cup. Still if you are looking for a very high fibre breakfast cereal, All-bran Original contains 15.3g of fibre per ¾ cup and bran flakes contain around 6g of fibre per ¾ cup.
Not all cereals are equal, and you are unlikely to find one that satisfies your tastes and your specific nutrient needs in one box. Think small quantities of 2 or 3 cereals to give the balance that you are aiming for. This way you can reduce kilojoules, fat and sugar and increase fibre. Here are a few cereal mixes.
½ cup Special K Original plus ¼ cup Special K Fruit and Nut – reduces overall fat and increases fibre
½ cup Special K Original plus ¼ cup Special K Oat and Honey - reduces kilojoule and sugar content and increases fibre
½ cup Special K Advantage and ¼ cup Special K Forrest Berries – increases fibre
½ cup Special K Oat and Honey plus ¼ cup Special K Fruit and Nut – a sweet and nutty taste keeping total fat, kilojoules and sugar minimal
½ cup Special K Advantage plus ¼ cup Special K Fruit and Nut plus ¼ cup Allbran – a high fibre breakfast
Added to site on : Monday, 28 April 2014