There are two things I have been trying like the Dickens to change about my diet: 1) drinking more water, and 2) eating food with more fiber. The water part is hard for me because I don't like how plain water tastes (yes, water does have a taste, you know), and I have an unholy addiction to Diet Coke and energy drinks.
The fiber part is even harder. I love fresh fruits and vegetables, but that's not the issue. The issue is my lifestyle. I don't just have a full-time job. I have the fullest-time job possible, I blog, and I live alone. This combination makes it near impossible to cook proper meals that include fresh produce and grains with fiber. For a while, I was taking fiber supplements in the form of, you know, those "drink" things, but that stopped as soon as I realized how bloated I was getting from it.
FiberOne is a candidate in my quest for quick sources of fiber. FiberOne is a line from cereal and food company General Mills that has a few products, all focusing on high fiber. The basic cereal looks like any other fiber cereal - little "noodles" or "branches" - that definitely look too healthy to enjoy. General Mills has expanded the line with two more family friendly cereals, meaning that in the bowl, they look a lot less clinical.
I tried FiberOne Raisn Bran Clusters, which is FiberOne's entrant in the raisin bran cereal playing field, which is dominated by Kellog's Raisin Bran. However, if the marketing on the cereal box is accurate, FiberOne beats all other raisin brans with 40% of the recommended daily intake of fiber. Supposedly, that makes FiberOne's Raisin Bran Clusters the leader.
The fiber-ness is all well and good, but the question is, "How does it taste?" If it doesn't taste all that good, then what's the point, right?
The cereal looks like other raisin bran cereals with dark, bumpy flakes and raisins. However, FiberOne Raisin Bran Clusters have an additional item: the clusters! I tried everything dry first.
The flakes are much harder than I remember other cereals' being. They were also stickier, which was strange since they are supposed to be only "lightly" sweetened.The flavor wasn't bad but that texture wasn't optimal. The raisins were fine, but the thing that I liked the best about the cereal was the clusters, which there weren't enough of. With milk (I used nonfat soymilk), the flakes were softer, but they didn't get mushy, which is a huge plus. I only wish there were more of the crunchy little clusters.
I will definitely be finishing off this box.
Second Helping of Slashfood - June 19
Competitive-Eating Contest to Pit Humans Against Elephants
The Backyard Boom - The Hungry Bride
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-22-2007 @ 8:07PM
dani said...
All of the kashi cereals are very good and super high fiber, they have one called Vivre that is great and Heart to Heart, although not quite as much fiber is terrific. You can use the vanilla soymilk that has added fiber as well, although not nonfat its low and really good with cereal.
Also, if you pick and choose your sandwich breads you can find really tasty ones with 3 or 4 grams of fiber that are still great, its definatly trial and error, although give the bread a little squeeze, if there is no give, its gonna be dry and bad.
Reply
8-22-2007 @ 8:36PM
MJ said...
Love the bran flakes keep thoses raisins! Kashi tsstes like bird food. I do like the almond bars lots of whole almonds
Reply
8-22-2007 @ 9:36PM
Jennifer said...
Take note: If you up your fiber intake you had BETTER up your water intake. Trust me.
Can you say tummy full of cement?
Drink up!
Reply
8-23-2007 @ 2:27AM
Christy said...
Also, remember to slowly increase your fiber intake. If you starts with too much too quickly, you're going to feel like *ahem* crap!
The Fiber One snack bars are pretty good - a tad on the sweet side. But chase them with Pepto, they'll revisit you all day long!
Reply
8-23-2007 @ 3:29AM
slamb2002 said...
Thomas Light Whole Grain English Muffins
1/3 of your fiber, in a form that isn't cereal.
Reply
8-23-2007 @ 4:17AM
Michelle_ said...
There's always Colon Blow.
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2456020
All kidding aside, the above mentioned Thomas's Light Whole Grain English Muffins and Kashi go-lean cereal are my current favs. I sometimes go back to good old Grape Nuts (or the generic alternative).
All are packed with high fiber and leave out the (all too typical) massive quantities of high fructose corn syrup.
FYI, all of Thomas's other high-fiber bagels and muffins are packed with nutritionally worthless HFCS.
A fresh apple is also a high fiber, quite filling snack.
Reply
8-23-2007 @ 7:26AM
Sam U. said...
Oatmeal! Simple, delicious, plain old oatmeal.
3/4 of a cup of oatmeal, a cup of skim milk, and a banana runs you not quite 500 calories and gives you 8-10 gms of fiber.
Plus, its all natural fibers. FiberOne, kashi, etc use industrial and/or chemical processes to extract oat bran, soy fiber, etc and re-add it into their dry cereals. Why not eat whole foods which our bodies know how to handle instead of scientific creations?
If your cereal must be dry, cheerios are just fine -- two cups of cheerios, a cup of skim milk, and a banana gets you again, 8-10 gms of fiber and less than 500 calories, and they're still whole foods (more or less).
Just my 10 cents. Good luck with your quest!
Reply
8-23-2007 @ 9:24AM
Jon said...
Trader Joe's has bread that's got 6 grams of fiber per slice. It's soft, but not too soft, and very tasty. A couple pieces of that, as toast or a sandwich, gives you almost half your RDA of fiber.
Reply
8-23-2007 @ 10:28AM
Fash said...
I second the recommendation for Fiber One bars. They're good - the chocolate chip is sweeter and more dessert-like; the peanut butter is less so and more suited for a midday snack.
I don't care for the Fiber One cereals, but 1/3 cup of Bran Buds cereal in a cup of yogurt adds nice crunch and flavor. They look a lot like Grapenuts, but they won't shatter your teeth.
Reply
8-23-2007 @ 10:39AM
jsmylie said...
I'm a Cream of Wheat man.
Is that a good thing or a bad thing? :/
Reply
8-23-2007 @ 12:00PM
sarah said...
One of my favorite high-fiber breakfast cereal concoctions is a bowl of 1/2 Grape Nuts, 1/2 raw oats combined with fruit (I like blueberries or fresh peaches), drizzled with honey and finished off with low-fat milk.
Reply
8-23-2007 @ 12:17PM
Stephanie said...
I have become semi-addicted to Kellogg's All-Bran Extra Fiber. Sure, it's in a twig-like form, but I think it tastes really good with some milk. Just a half cup - so little - gives you 13 grams of fiber at only 50 calories. It's amazing.
Reply
8-23-2007 @ 12:41PM
Michelle said...
My favorite "good for you" cereal is Nature's Path Organic Optimum Power Cereal Blueberry typical flakes and twigs but especially yummy (malty). Get some you won't be sorry.
Reply
8-23-2007 @ 12:48PM
PEGGY said...
yeah, i love kashi good friends. it not only tastes good, it makes me feel like i'm eating something good for me!
Reply
8-23-2007 @ 10:46PM
Stephanie said...
Im going to be the odd one out and comment on the water issue ;)
I've loved water ever since I was little (hated milk), but I agree with you that water DOES have a taste. However it's BAD water that has a taste. I have found that Smart Water, Fiji and especially Aqua Panna have no taste at all and are therefore amazing. Also, to get rid of that 'taste' try icing filtered water or whatever you may be using.. it works for me!
Reply
8-24-2007 @ 12:04AM
Becky said...
Get the Orowheat double fiber bread! Two slices are 50% of your daily fiber!!
Reply
8-24-2007 @ 3:02PM
Debbie said...
FiberOne bars are full of crap. A better alternative I've found is the Gnu Fiber bar- http://www.gnufoods.com/ A little pricier than most bars but tastes great and is completely natural. One little bar has %50 of daily recommended fiber!
Reply
8-24-2007 @ 6:57PM
marie said...
Along the lines of the previous post... I like CLUE Bars(http://www.cluebar.com)- also all natural and no HFCS. 4 grams of fiber from something that tastes like a cookie? I'm there!
Reply
8-25-2007 @ 11:54PM
Jessica said...
I really like this cereal on occasion, but found it to almost have a maple taste... I'm not saying I mind, I just thought it was a little interesting. Your thoughts?
Reply
8-27-2007 @ 6:41AM
BeaSting said...
Water's a pretty sad substitute for diet soda, so I switched to plain seltzer. I like the Vintage Original Seltzer brand that comes in 12 oz. cans, chilled. (The flavored seltzers are a little too sweet for my taste, but are fine if cut with some plain seltzer for a bit of variety.)
Reply