The short answer
Nearly every breakfast cereal is low in saturated fat: 16 of the 17 we compared had 0.5g or less per 40g bowl. Granola is the exception. So for high cholesterol, the choice comes down to fibre and oats: pick a wholegrain cereal with plenty of fibre, ideally one made from oats, and go easy on the sugar.
Most fibre per 40g bowl in our table:
- Kellogg's All-Bran Original (UK): 10.8g fibre
- Kellogg's Bran Flakes (UK): 6.8g
- Nestlé Shreddies (UK) and Kellogg's Raisin Bran (US): 4.7 to 4.8g
- Cheerios Original, Quaker Old Fashioned Oats and Weetabix: about 4g, with oats in the first two
Lizi's Original Granola had the most saturated fat (3g per 40g), and Frosted Flakes, Crunchy Nut and Corn Flakes the least fibre (1 to 1.2g).
Label data only, not medical advice
This ranking compares what each pack's nutrition label says about saturated fat, fibre and sugar. It isn't a health rating of any brand. Some oat cereals carry an authorised claim about oat beta-glucan and cholesterol (see below), but we don't rank on claims. Recipes change, so check the label on the pack you buy. If your doctor or dietitian has given you specific limits, follow those.
17 cereals ranked by saturated fat
Every cereal is compared on the same 40g serving, a typical bowl without milk. UK packs give portions of 30 to 45g, and US labels list a cup, which weighs anything from about 30 to 60g depending on the cereal. Bands: Better 2g or less per serving, Occasional over 2g up to 4.5g, Treat over 4.5g. Sort by the fibre column to see the bigger differences.
| Kellogg's Frosted Flakes | 0g | 1g | Better |
| Kellogg's Raisin Bran | 0g | 4.7g | Better |
| Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats Original | 0g | 4.4g | Better |
| Cinnamon Toast Crunch | 0g | 2g | Better |
| Honey Bunches of Oats Honey Roasted | 0g | 2g | Better |
| Kellogg's Corn Flakes | 0.1g | 1.2g | Better |
| Nestlé Shreddies | 0.1g | 4.8g | Better |
| Kellogg's Special K Original | 0.1g | 2.4g | Better |
| Kellogg's Bran Flakes | 0.1g | 6.8g | Better |
| Weetabix Original | 0.2g | 4g | Better |
| Kellogg's All-Bran Original | 0.3g | 10.8g | Better |
| Kellogg's Crunchy Nut | 0.3g | 1.1g | Better |
| Alpen Original Muesli | 0.4g | 3.2g | Better |
| Cheerios Original | 0.5g | 4.1g | Better |
| Quaker Old Fashioned Oats | 0.5g | 4g | Better |
| Quaker Oat So Simple Original | 0.5g | 3.6g | Better |
| Lizi's Original Granola | 3g | 4.2g | Occasional |
Nutrition data from Open Food Facts, available under the Open Database License (ODbL). Product names link to each product's Open Food Facts page.
What the ranking shows
- Saturated fat isn't the problem, except in granola. Flakes, shredded wheat, bran cereals and oats all had 0.5g or less per bowl. Granola is baked with oil, and Lizi's Original adds coconut, so it had 7.5g per 100g, or 3g a bowl.
- Fibre varies tenfold. All-Bran had 10.8g per 40g, while Frosted Flakes, Crunchy Nut and Corn Flakes had about 1g. Wholegrain wheat cereals such as Shreddies, Weetabix and Frosted Mini-Wheats sat in between at about 4 to 5g.
- Oats bring a different kind of fibre. Oats contain beta-glucan, a soluble fibre that helps lower LDL cholesterol. Quaker Old Fashioned Oats and Oat So Simple Original are 100% oats, and Cheerios lists whole grain oats first. Alpen is 37% oats; Shreddies, Weetabix and the bran cereals are wheat.
- Sugar is where cereals differ most. Crunchy Nut (14.7g per bowl), Frosted Flakes (13.8g), Cinnamon Toast Crunch (11.7g) and Raisin Bran (11.5g, partly from raisins) against 1 to 2g for plain oats, Weetabix and Cheerios Original.
- US labels round. US Nutrition Facts round saturated fat under 0.5g per serving down to 0g, so the US cereals showing 0g may have a few tenths of a gram.
Oats, beta-glucan and the claim on the box
Oat beta-glucan is one of the few food components with an authorised cholesterol claim. In the UK and EU, a food that gives at least 1g of oat beta-glucan per portion can say that oat beta-glucan has been shown to lower blood cholesterol, as long as it also says the effect comes from 3g a day. In the US, foods made from whole oats with at least 0.75g of soluble fibre per serving can carry a claim that soluble fibre, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease, again based on 3g a day. You'll see these claims on some oat cereal packs, and they only apply to the oats, not the brand.
The effect is real but modest. The 2026 ACC/AHA cholesterol guideline notes that three 28g servings of oatmeal a day lower LDL by less than 5 mg/dL (0.13 mmol/L). Oats work best as one part of a wider change, such as the Portfolio Diet, and alongside eating less saturated fat.
How to choose a cereal
- Look for wholegrain first in the ingredients. Oats, whole grain wheat or bran, rather than milled corn or rice.
- Check the fibre. In the UK, 6g or more per 100g counts as high fibre. Most of the wholegrain cereals here clear that; the corn flakes don't.
- Check the saturates on granola and clusters. Coconut, palm oil and chocolate push it up. In the UK, 1.5g or less per 100g counts as low and more than 5g as high.
- Watch the sugar. In the UK, more than 22.5g of sugars per 100g counts as high. Plain oats, Weetabix and shredded wheat let you add your own fruit instead.
- Think about the milk. 125ml of whole milk adds about 2.5g of saturated fat, more than any cereal here except granola. Skimmed, 1% or an unsweetened plant milk adds far less.
Make your own bowl
Our low-cholesterol breakfast ideas include overnight oats and 14 quick breakfasts with saturated fat for each. For the milk, our plant milk ranking compares soya, oat, almond and coconut drinks.
Check any cereal before you buy it
Scan any product’s barcode in Heart Tracker to see its saturated fat per serving, then log your bowl to track your saturated fat and fibre for the day alongside your cholesterol results.
Download Heart Tracker FreeHow we ranked them
We picked best-selling breakfast cereals in the US and UK, from Cheerios and Frosted Flakes to Weetabix, porridge oats and granola, and took each one's nutrition data from Open Food Facts, an open database built from product labels. To catch mistakes, we compared each product's current record with an earlier copy and left out any where the saturated fat, fat or sugar didn't match. That excluded three, including Fiber One and Kellogg's Fruit 'n Fibre. We also left out Honey Nut Cheerios, whose per 100g figures were really per serving.
All cereals are compared on 40g, calculated from the per 100g values, without milk. Percentages are of 13g, the American Heart Association's suggested daily limit for saturated fat on a 2,000 calorie diet. The NHS upper limit is 20g a day for women and 30g for men. The full dataset and the script that builds it are kept with this page and refreshed periodically.
Cereal and cholesterol: quick answers
What is the best cereal for high cholesterol?
Almost every cereal is low in saturated fat, so choose on fibre and oats. In our comparison, All-Bran (10.8g fibre per 40g) and Bran Flakes (6.8g) had the most fibre, and plain oats, Oat So Simple and Cheerios are made mainly from oats, which contain beta-glucan. Granola had the most saturated fat.
Is Cheerios good for cholesterol?
Cheerios Original lists whole grain oats as its first ingredient, and had 0.5g of saturated fat, 4.1g of fibre and 2.1g of sugar per 40g in our table. Oats contain beta-glucan, a soluble fibre linked with lower LDL. Flavoured versions such as Honey Nut Cheerios have much more sugar.
Is porridge good for high cholesterol?
Yes. Plain porridge oats had 0.5g of saturated fat and about 4g of fibre per 40g, and oats contain beta-glucan, the soluble fibre behind the authorised oat cholesterol claim, which is based on 3g of beta-glucan a day. Make it with water, skimmed milk or unsweetened soya, and top with fruit rather than sugar.
Is granola bad for high cholesterol?
Granola can be high in saturated fat when it is baked with coconut, palm oil or chocolate. Lizi’s Original Granola had 3g per 40g, against 0.5g or less for every other cereal we compared. Check the saturates per 100g, and use a smaller portion as a topping.
Is Weetabix good for high cholesterol?
Weetabix is 95% wholegrain wheat and had 0.2g of saturated fat, 4g of fibre and 1.7g of sugar per 40g (about two biscuits). It is a low-saturated-fat, high-fibre choice, though it doesn’t contain oat beta-glucan.
Sources
- Open Food Facts (product nutrition data, ODbL)
- Commission Regulation (EU) No 1160/2011 (authorised oat beta-glucan cholesterol claim, retained in GB law)
- FDA: 21 CFR 101.81, soluble fiber and coronary heart disease
- 2026 ACC/AHA dyslipidemia guideline (JACC) (oatmeal and LDL)
- American Heart Association: Saturated fat
- UK Department of Health: Front of pack nutrition labelling guidance (saturates and sugars thresholds)