Are Bran Flakes Healthy? We take a close look at this classic Kellogg’s breakfast cereal
The Kellogg's breakfast range features a variety of iconic cereals, and Bran Flakes is easily one of the most recognisable brands in the range. Bran Flakes first launched in 1915, and have since become one of the most popular high fibre cereals in the UK. People will often choose to eat Bran Flakes due to the high fibre content, but are Bran Flakes a healthy choice overall? We wanted to take a close look at this popular cereal to see how healthy it actually is, let's get into it:
What are Bran Flakes made of?
Like many of the healthier cereals from Kellogg's, Bran Flakes are actually made from quite simple ingredients (although not as simple as something like Shredded Wheat). The main ingredients are Wholewheat and wheat bran, which make up 59% and 18% of the cereal respectively. The rest of the cereal is made from ingredients including wholewheat flour, barley malt, and sugar. We imagine many people might be surprised to see sugar listed as one of the ingredients as Bran Flakes don't taste particularly sweet, but sugar is actually the 4th ingredient listed.
What are the nutritional statistics of Bran Flakes?
Let's start with the obvious: as we've mentioned previously, Bran Flakes are an extremely good source of fibre. This nutrient is needed in our diet to ensure that our digestive system and bowels are working efficiently, and a lack of fibre will ultimately leave you feeling constipated, and tired and may lead to conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome. Bran Flakes contain 17g of fibre per 100g, which is really high. To put that into context, Corn Flakes only contain 3g of fibre per 100g.
Although the fibre content of Bran Flakes is really impressive, we have to admit that we were a bit disappointed by some of the other nutritional statistics of the cereal. For example, 100g of Bran Flakes contains 14g of sugar. This is almost double the amount of sugar you'll find in 100g of Corn Flakes, which contain just 8g of sugar. And it's also only 3g less sugar per 100g than you'll find in Coco Pops, which we found quite shocking. Bran Flakes are also high in fat - you'll find 2.2g of fat in 100g of Bran Flakes, which is actually 0.3g more fat than you'll find in 100g of Coco Pops!
Despite being high in fat and sugar, Bran Flakes are actually relatively low in calories compared to other cereals. You'll find 358 calories per 100g of Bran Flakes, which is exactly 20 calories fewer than you'll find in the same amount of Corn Flakes. Bran Flakes are also low in salt with just 0.66 of salt per 100g, whereas Corn Flakes contain 1.1g of salt per 100g, almost double the amount found in Bran Flakes.
Final thoughts - are Bran Flakes healthy?
Bran Flakes are a great source of fibre and are actually quite low in calories too, but they're surprisingly high in sugar. If you want to eat a breakfast cereal which is high in fibre then there are alternatives which don't contain nearly as much sugar.
We hope this guide helps to show you how healthy Bran Flakes are. Let us know what you think of our guide in the comments. If you want to read something similar, check out our guide about how healthy Weetabix is.