Cereal think outside the bowl: this breakfast staple is getting a makeover with our dos and don'ts for filling your morning bowl.(FOOD: OFF THE SHELF)(Kashi Co.)(Back to Nature Inc.)(Nature's Path Foods)

Let's face it: Cereal is often guilty of almost every cardinal sins of nutrition. Sugar. Marshmallows. Food dyes. Artificial flavors. More sugar. But before it became an American breakfast staple with sky-high sugar counts, cereal had a clean record--as a nourishing food for health spa patients. In 1863, sanatorium operator and vegetarian lames Caleb Jackson invented the first cereal in an attempt to combat the digestive woes of a population that routinely ate meat for breakfast. The cereal, which he named Granula, was composed of heavy bran nuggets that required overnight soaking to be chewable.

Fast forward to the 1950s, when cereal morphed into an almost dessert-like food, with up to 56 percent sugar packed in one bowl! Today, many grocery aisles still overflow with not-so-healthful options, but fortunately, it is possible to return to cereal's noble roots. The fight kind can provide a host of nutritional benefits, from fiber to B vitamins like folate and niacin to minerals like iron, magnesium, and selenium.

Lighten Up

"I always recommend looking for a cereal that's flaky or puffy as opposed to dense and nuggety; lighter cereals usually contain fewer calories per portion than more dense ones," says Elisa Zied, MS, RD, author of Feed Your Family Right! and a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. With any cereal, it's best to eat no more than 1-2 cups per serving, she advises. This can contain up to two whole-grain servings while leaving room for low-fat milk or other add-ons.

Be a Label Lover

"Look for three key numbers [on labels]: calories, fiber grams, and sugar grams," says Zied. She recommends cereals that contain no more than 200 calories per cup, provide at least 4 g of fiber, and add up to less than 15 g of sugar per serving. Stay away from labels that list sugar, dextrose, and high fructose corn syrup as ingredients, particularly if they are among the first five ingredients.

Go Grainy