Ask Levi: How Does Kashi GoLean Compare to Oatmeal and Other Cereals?

Today’s question is about Kashi GoLean cereal, and where it fits in compared to oatmeal and your common cereals…

Hey I was wondering if you could review kashi GoLean cereal (hot or cold). The nutrition facts look good but I get confused when reading the list of ingredients, which is considerably lengthy. How does it compare to oatmeal or other cereals?

Thanks,
Kathy McGene

Hi Kathy,

Oh yes, Kashi GoLean. I’ve had quite a bit of the cold cereal. I really enjoyed it – nice and crunchy, not too sweet.

It does contain quite a few ingredients, but they are about as healthy and natural as it gets for cereal. It is mostly whole grains with a few additions. For sugar, you’ll see evaporated cane juice crystals and honey. For oil, they use expeller-pressed canola oil. And that’s it.

While no one is going to argue that those ingredients are more healthy than a bowl of spinach, they’re great for a bowl of cereal! The GoLean is way better than common cereal! And the only way to beat it would be to make your own steel cut oats.

Now, I haven’t tried the GoLean hot cereal, but it looks similar – long list of ingredients, but mostly whole grains, and no garbage.

On the other hand, I have tried the Kashi Heart to Heart instant oatmeal. It’s too sugary for me. I swear it was like spooning sugar straight into my mouth!

Why might that be? Well, it does contain twice the amount of sugar per serving as the GoLean cereal line!!

I had these single-serving cups you could add water to and cook in the microwave. Each cup was 200 calories, but there was very little oatmeal in it. But it was packed with 15g sugar, which is equivalent to having 4 tsp sugar in there! I think 1 tsp would have been plenty for me.

For my parting thoughts, I’ll tell you how I view cereal…

I usually place cereal into three ranks.

1. Oatmeal

First is oatmeal, made with steel cut or rolled oats. That’s as natural and unprocessed as you can get using grains from the store.

2. Cereal without the junk ingredients

Second, Kashi GoLean, Cascadian Farm, and some other cereals. They have the healthiest ingredients lists, but are still refined and processed compared to oatmeal. I don’t eat these very often any more, but if you need calories to fuel your training, go ahead and eat this stuff without worrying.

3. Sugary cereals

Third, the sugary kids stuff. I avoid all of it, even stuff like Raisin Bran, which is filled with added sugar and even high fructose corn syrup.

So if you avoid the sugary junk and stick with Kashi GoLean and oatmeal, you’ll be fine!

Coach Levi

Levi Bloom is an experienced endurance athlete who has been training and competing for over 17 years. A former Cat 1 road and mountain bike racer (professional class on the regional circuit), he is now a cycling coach (USA Cycling Level 3 Certified) and sports nutrition coach (Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certified).

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