Kashi Oat Flakes & Blueberry Clusters (breakfast 11.2.10)

Ok so it's been almost a week since I last posted, and I apologize for that. I've been very busy and didn't have a chance to document my meals. I hope you all had a great Halloween weekend and didn't eat too much Halloween candy. This morning for breakfast I got to "taste-test" a new cereal. When it comes to breakfast, I'm a big pour & eat person, so I'm always on the lookout for good breakfast cereals. Although this cereal has actually been around for a while now, I had surprisingly never tried it. It was Kashi's Heart to Heart Oat Flakes & Blueberry Clusters Cereal, which I ate along with a banana and a cup of coffee. Kashi describes this cereal as a delicious blend of crispy oat flakes and crunchy oat clusters made with sun-sweetened blueberries, one of nature’s best antioxidant fruits. It's advertised to reduce cholesterol with soluble fiber, support healthy arteries with 6 natural antioxidants, and reduce blood pressure since it's low in sodium. It's made with whole grains, including whole grain oats and Kashi's seven whole grain blend. The flakes are sweetened with a distinct blueberry flavoring, and are very crunchy and hearty. The blueberries appear freeze-dried, and coated with small whole grains such as oats. Therefore, they're crunchy as opposed to chewy, and actually taste like wild blueberries. The flakes are large, the blueberry clusters add flavor and texture, and it stays crunchy to the end of the bowl. So overall it ranks pretty high on the taste scale, but nutritionally, this cereal isn't the greatest. It's a bit high in calories, with 200 calories per cup, and has more sugar than I'd like, with 12 grams per cup. The first two ingredients are oat bran and rice, which isn't too bad, and the third ingredient is evaporated cane juice crystals (sugar). The next two ingredients are whole grain rolled oats and Kashi's Seven Whole Grains and Sesame Blend. Again, pretty good. But the next ingredient is evaporated cane juice syrup (sugar), then brown rice syrup (more sugar), and then malt extract
(even more sugar). As if that weren't enough, if you look a few ingredients down, you'll see honey. That's a lot of sugar. So yes, this cereal tastes good, but now we know why. To sum it up, this cereal is a tasty and somewhat healthy breakfast choice, just not one I'd eat every day. But if you're like me and you love cereal, you should definitely get yourself a box of this. It's got to be better than half the other commercial cereals out there.