If you’re a big fan of Chex Mix, you might be happy to know that they have a breakfast cereal variation called Cinnamon Sugar Chex Mix. This is a delicious version of Chex cereal, and can be a great way to start your morning with something tasty.
But here’s the thing – no doubt you noticed the ‘sugar’ part of that title, and this is likely to raise some alarm bells.
While sugary breakfast cereal has been eaten a lot over the last 50 years or so, it’s starting to be known that having so much sugar early in the morning might not be the best choice for you.
So then, is Chex Mix unhealthy for you? Is it going to cause you to gain weight or otherwise hurt your health? If you’re wondering about these questions – don’t panic! you’ve come to the right place.
In this article we’re going to be taking a total look at Cinnamon Sugar Chex Mix, keeping a close eye on its ingredients and what they offer your body.
We’ve also made sure to include a short FAQ to help answer any other questions you might be having.
What Is Cinnamon Sugar Chex Mix?
Cinnamon Sugar Chex Mix is a product from Chex that consists of crunchy cereal squares, each dusted with real cinnamon and brown sugar. The recipe is as simple as that – but is there more we can learn by looking closer?
If we take a look at the product highlights section on the Cinnamon Sugar Chex Mix website here, we can see that each serving comes with 13g of whole grain rice, the product is gluten-free, with no artificial colors or flavors, and that it includes no high fructose corn syrup.
All of this is positive, and from a first impression, we can see that the product avoids some of the more classically bad issues we’re used to with breakfast products.
A short look at the ingredients list reveals that this product contains Whole Grain Rice, Rice, Sugar, Canola and/or Sunflower Oil, Rice Fiber, Cinnamon, Molasses, Natural Flavor, Vitamin E, and Salt.
If we look closer, we’re able to see some of the vitamins and minerals that we’ll be getting with Cinnamon Sugar Chex Mix.
It includes Calcium Carbonate, Iron and Zinc, Vitamin A B, B2, B6, B1, A, B12 and D3. All of these are positive – especially Vitamin C which helps to keep cells protected and healthy, and Vitamin B12 which helps your body to form blood cells and DNA.
A Closer Look At The Nutritional Information Of Cinnamon Sugar Chex Mix
In this section, we’re going to break down some of the key ingredients, especially some of the more vague ones that could be difficult to understand. If you were wondering about any of the ingredients above, make sure to check below.
Canola Oil
Canola oil is a kind of oil that is made by crushing canola seeds. It is widely known as one of the best types of oil for maintaining a healthy heart. One of the main positives of canola oil is its low content of saturated fat, which can be a great way to lose weight.
Molasses
Molasses is a type of thick syrup that has been used for generations as a sweetener. Molasses comes as a result of the process that creates sugar, coming from crushed sugar cane and sugar beets.
It’s a cheap way to add flavor and substance to a food product and has a few health benefits – namely, it’s a good source of copper, selenium, and iron which help to make bones strong.
In many ways, you can think of molasses as a healthier alternative to sugar, but when paired with sugar (as it is in cinnamon chex mix,) it acts as additional sugar to your diet.
Natural Flavor
This is one that you’ll notice on a lot of different food products, and one that can be difficult to understand because of how vague it is. Is this some secretly terrible ingredient that the manufacturer doesn’t want you to know about?
Well yes and no. In short, natural flavors are substances extracted from a list of animal or plant sources.
For example, spices, fruit, vegetables, yeast, herbs, bark, buds, root leaves, dairy products, meat, poultry, seafood or eggs. Most of these ingredients will be added at a very small number and something that won’t affect your body too much.
Sugar
This is the big one, and the thing that most health-conscious people worry about. The truth is that we know very well that eating too much sugar can lead to serious weight gain or other health problems such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and some types of diabetes.
So then, is the amount of sugar in Cinnamon Sugar Chex Mix healthy for you? This really depends on how much you eat!
If you’re eating a bowl or two of Cinnamon Sugar Chex Mix every day, the sugar combined with the molasses content is going to give you quite a lot of added sugar that your body might not need. In moderation, a small amount of sugar isn’t going to do you too much harm.
It’s also worth noting that the cinnamon sugar mixture here includes more cinnamon than sugar, so a lot of the flavor comes from this instead.
Cinnamon isn’t bad for you on its own, in fact, it is known to lower blood sugar levels, reduce heart disease, and has a lot of other health benefits. Cinnamon sugar, on the other hand, has added sugar that is a little less healthy.
How Healthy Is Cinnamon Chex Mix?
Okay, so we’ve taken a quick look at some of the ingredients you might not be familiar with, we can begin to answer the question ‘Is Cinnamon Chex Mix Healthy?’
It certainly contains some ingredients that you wouldn’t want to consume in large amounts, for example, the mix of sugar and molasses. That said, there are some positives like the fact it’s gluten-free, and that it’s a good source of calcium and certain vitamins and minerals.
If you were looking to eat Cinnamon Sugar Chex Mix every day, you’d probably find that it would create some negative side-effects because of its sugar content; especially if you’re having a large bowl.
We would say that it is probably best enjoyed as an occasional snack. It’s a great alternative if you’re craving other types of sugary cereal, as it has been designed with a lot more care in terms of its customer’s health. It’s not a healthy snack, exactly, but it is much better than other choices you might have.
Final Thoughts
To conclude, we’d say that it’s safe to eat Cinnamon Sugar Chex Mix as part of an otherwise rounded diet.
It’s a great choice if you’re looking for a healthy snack, without missing out on some of the additional sugar content of other cereals.
If you’re really trying to promote weight loss, it might not be the healthiest snack for you, but it’s a good choice to combat cravings.
If you love cinnamon sugar chex mix, we would suggest having a small bowl every now and then!
