By Tara Roberts
Sugar, honey, high-fructose corn syrup: No matter what you call it, the sweet stuff is a staple of American breakfast cereal.
Whether you’re looking to start the day without a sugar crash or prepping to veg out in front of Saturday morning cartoons, this guide will help you hit the sweet (or not-so-sweet) spot.
Ten popular cereals are rated on a lollipop-based system: A single Dum Dum Pop has four grams of sugar. For the sake of comparison, we picked ¾ cup as an average serving size (though we won’t shame you if you want to eat the whole box).
Cheerios The toddler set remains big on the toasty little O’s, but they’re still good when you’re a grown-up. If you must have sugar, add strawberries. Zero lollipops
Wheaties Crunch, texture and a hint of sugar and salt make for a wholesome bowl. Bonus: You can pretend you’re Mary Lou Retton. One lollipop
Fruit Loops The closest they come to fruit is “natural flavor,” but they’re not as sugar-laden as you might expect. Two lollipops
Grape-Nuts These crunchy nuggets do in fact contain as much sugar as Froot Loops. (Wayyyyy more protein and fiber, though.) Two lollipops
Frosted Mini-Wheats Sweet, sweet frosting might cover one side of these little biscuits, but flip them over and it’s all shredded wheat. Two lollipops
Nature’s Path Pumpkin Seed + Flax Granola Thought granola was synonymous with health? Think 10 grams of sugar per serving. Embrace the sweetness, seek out low-sugar brands or (our favorite) oven-roast your own. Two and a half lollipops
Lucky Charms Frosted Flakes Two sugary cereals had a baby, and it’s as sweet as you’d expect. Two and a half lollipops
Cap’n Crunch Original If the pillowy puffs seem unexciting, Peanut Butter Crunch and Crunch Berries have a teensy bit less sugar -- and Sprinkled Donut Crunch (it’s a thing!) has the same amount. Three lollipops
Golden Crisp If you grew up in the Vietnam era, you knew this stuff as Sugar Crisp. The name may have changed, but … Three and a half lollipops
Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs Calvin and Hobbes have been munching these (and slurping their sludgy milk) since 1986. If they were real, they’d be terrible for you. But admit it: You’d eat them anyway. Five (or ten or a whole bunch) lollipops
