We’ve all seen the commercials these days by General Mills, promoting the “Whole Grain Nation”. Whole grain has been shown to be somewhat healthier than heavily refined grains. Products made with refined grain tend to be not much more than spun sugar. General Mills is now advertising their products as healthy just because of their whole grain content. I decided to take a look at what I thought was the least likely cereal to be healthy: Lucky Charms™.

I was a little surprised by what I found. Calorie-wise, the suggested serving size is only 110 calories. There is virtually no fat and the sugar content makes up only 7% of your daily recommended intake of carbohydrates. Some of the benefits of whole grain, though, don’t seem to make it into Lucky Charms™. One serving only contains 1 gram of fiber and 2 grams of protein. This isn’t horrible or unhealthy, but it’s not likely to give you a health benefit.

One thing that concerns me, is the very small serving size: 3/4 cup. Go find a measuring cup and poor 3/4 cup of Lucky Charms™. You’ll be underwhelmed by the small serving. That’s really the problem with breakfast cereals in general. The suggested serving sizes aren’t bad for you, but the portions are so small. Cereals are calorie dense products by nature, so you can easily eat too much.

I can’t honestly condemn Lucky Charms™ on a nutritional/health basis. It’s not great, it’s not bad. However, the marshmallows contain gelatin, and as a vegan, I can’t recommend it. I would suggest a less processed cereal without sugary bits.