You may have seen Surreal cereal on your socials or heard about it from a friend, and one thing is for sure: there is a lot of hype around Surreal. A fairly new cereal company waging a war on the sugar-laden cereal conglomerates who have long dominated the supermarket aisles (and determined many of our childhood waistlines), this company professes to offer a high-protein, high-fibre cereal which has absolutely no sugar and – the most important bit! – tastes good too.
You might be a trepidatious about the concept. After all, isn’t so-called ‘healthy cereal’ just like eating cardboard? If you’re like me, you might buy bran flakes, top with a bit of honey, maybe some seeds, and pray that it tastes the same as the satisfying childhood favourites while also keeping you full until lunchtime. It isn’t very satisfying, and personally keeps me full for about 1.5 hours.
Could Surreal be the answer to finding satisfying cereal that is healthy, too? I looked into it.
What ingredients are in Surreal cereals?
Surreal promote themselves as high-protein, low-carb cereal, but what could be in the ingredients to make that possible without the cereal tasting like sand?
Let’s look at the ingredients in the three most supermarket-available flavours:
Surreal Cocoa ingredients
Soya Protein, Tapioca Starch, Sunflower Oil, Sweeteners: Erythritol, Steviol Glycosides, Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder (9%), Pea Protein Concentrate, Inulin, Calcium Carbonate, Emulsifiers: Soya Lecithin,
Natural Flavourings
Surreal Cinnamon ingredients
Soya Protein, Tapioca Starch, Sunflower Oil, Sweeteners: Erythritol, Steviol Glycosides, Inulin, Pea Protein, Calcium Carbonate, Natural Cinnamon Flavouring with other Natural Flavouring (2%), Emulsifiers: Soya Lecithin
Surreal Frosted ingredients
Soya Protein, Pea Protein, Pea Starch, Rapeseed Oil, Sweeteners (Erythritol, Steviol Glycosides), Inulin, Soya Lecithin, Natural Flavouring
Surreal Peanut Butter ingredients
Soya Protein, Pea Protein, Pea Starch, Rapeseed Oil, Sweeteners (Erythritol, Steviol Glycosides), Peanut Flour, Inulin, Soya Lecithin, Natural Flavouring
The components of the Surreal cereals are soy and pea protein for 12-13g of plant-based protein per bowl, and also includes Stevia and Erythritol for that much-needed sweetness. There are no grains which is why it is carb-free and gluten-free.
Is there a lot of protein in Surreal cereals?
With around 12-13g of protein per bowl of Surreal, that’s equivalent to two eggs, four tablespoons of peanut butter, or two slices of wholegrain bread. Coco Pops and Cheerios have just 2g and 3g protein, respectively.
Protein bars contain around 20g of protein per bar although they are heavily processed with tonnes of sweeteners and palm fat. Plus, they’re very expensive and not filling at all, so you can’t really compare against the other protein-rich healthy breakfast alternatives.
Related: Are protein bars good for you?
Surreal uses a mixture of soy and pea protein across its cereals range which makes it a vegan and vegetarian-friendly protein blend that is high in iron and just as filling as dairy-based protein.
Related: Animal vs plant protein
Short answer: Yes, Surreals cereals are very high in good-quality protein.
Is Surreal cereal very low in sugar?
Surreal cereals contains zero sugar in all of its cereals. In comparison to other popular cereals on the market, this is largely unfounded with most cereals including up to 13g of sugar (around 3 teaspoons of sugar).
The lowest sugar cereal alternatives are Weetabix (2g per serving), Bran Flakes (5g per serving), and Shreddies (5g of sugar).
Related: What are the 10 healthiest low sugar cereals?
The sugar content in Surreal is replaced with a few natural sweeteners. Of course, ideally there wouldn’t be any sweeteners in it, but then it really would taste bland. Because the sweeteners are high-quality, it stops the temptation to overload an otherwise ‘healthy’ cereal with honey or syrup, which just renders the ‘low sugar’ product meaningless.
Related: Are Weetabix Protein good for you?
Short answer: Surreal cereal is very low in sugar in comparison to other satisfying cereals.
Is Surreal tastier than other cereals?
Comparing like-for-like against the cereal with the nearest nutritional profile (low sugar, low carb, high protein), Surreal knocks it out of the park. Surreal cereal immediately feels moreish like cereals of yore with a crunchy texture that you usually only get from sugar-laden alternatives.
Despite the moreishness, by the time you get to the end of the bowl, you feel satisfied due to the fibre content and the grain-free ingredients which don’t cause any additional sugar spikes. And yet, you slurp the milk from the bowl like a child who has just finished their favourite Crunchy Nut cornflakes. And which, as an adult, you would feel guilty for effectively having dessert for breakfast.
There are few things wrong with Surreal cereal (apart from how hard it is to find a similar alternative when all the boxes run out!)
My Wellbeing Journal 