Cheerios, manufactured by General Mills, is an O-shaped oat breakfast cereal. The brand offers several varieties, including a chocolate-flavored cereal called Chocolate Cheerios. The recommended serving size of this cereal is 3/4 cup. One serving provides numerous vitamins and minerals, but does not provide a significant amount of calories, sugar or fat. The amount of calories, sugar and fat can quickly add up if you consume multiple servings, however, so make sure you keep track of how much cereal you are actually consuming.
Calories, Fat and Cholesterol
A 3/4 cup serving of Chocolate Cheerios contains 100 calories, with 10 of these calories coming from fat. Adding 1/2 cup of skim milk adds an additional 40 calories, with an extra 5 of those calories coming from fat. The cereal has 1.5 g of total fat in each serving. Based on a 2,000-calorie diet, this is 2 percent of the daily total value of fat. It also has 0.5 grams of polyunsaturated fat. The cereal itself does not contain any saturated fat or monounsaturated fat, but adding a 1/2 cup of skim milk adds 0.5 g of saturated fat and 0.5 g of monounsaturated fat. This cereal does not contain any trans fat. Chocolate Cheerios do not contain cholesterol, but adding a 1/2 cup of skim milk may add up to 5 mg of cholesterol.
Sodium and Potassium
One serving of Chocolate Cheerios continas 170 mg of sodium, which is about 7 percent of the daily recommended value. Eating the cereal with 1/2 cup of skim milk brings the total amount of sodium to 230 mg, which is about 10 percent of the daily recommended value. Chocolate Cheerios also has 80 mg of potassium in each serving, which is about 2 percent of the daily recommended value. The total amount of potassium increases to 280 mg when 1/2 cup of skim milk is added to the cereal. This would put the meal at about 8 percent of the daily recommended value of potassium.
Carbohydrates and Protein
Each serving of Chocolate Cheerios has 22 g of total carbohydrates. This is about 8 percent of the recommended daily value. Adding 1/2 cup of skim milk increases the total amount of carbohydrates to 28 g, which would put the daily recommended value percentage at around 9 percent. The cereal has 2 g of dietary fiber, which is about 7 percent of the daily value of fiber. These numbers do not change when milk is added to the cereal. The cereal also contains 9 g of sugar, but this number increases to 15 g of sugar when 1/2 cup of skim milk is added. Chocolate Cheerios also contains 1 g of protein per serving. Adding skim milk to the cereal results in a total of 6 g of protein. The FDA recommends that most adults get more than 50 g of protein every day.
Vitamins and Minerals
Chocolate Cheerios also provides many essential vitamins and minerals. Each serving of the cereal offers 10 percent of the recommended daily value of vitamins A, D and calcium, and provides 25 percent of the daily recommended value of vitamin C, thiamin, iron, niacin, riboflavin, vitamin B-12, vitamin B-6 and zinc. It also offers 4 percent of the recommended magnesium and phosphorus, and 50 percent of the daily value of folic acid. The daily recommended value of vitamin A and thiamin are increased by 5 percent when a 1/2 cup of skim milk is added. Adding skim milk also increases the daily recommended values of riboflavin and vitamin B-12 an additional 10 percent, vitamin D an additional 15 percent, phosphorus an additional 11 percent and magnesium an additional 4 percent.
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