Written by Abby Gelineau, University of Minnesota School of Public Health Dietetic Intern
Updated October 22, 2024
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Kellogg’s Special K cereal offers you delicious rice and wheat flakes with a variety of options for flavors and extra crunch. This cereal also has the added benefit of being high in lots of great nutrients such as iron and folate.
Iron
Iron is a key nutrient that your body needs for oxygen to bind to hemoglobin so that it can be transported around the body. The cells in your body need oxygen to function, which means that ensuring you have enough iron in your diet is important. It is recommended by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Medicine, that adult women under the age of 50 consume 18mg of iron per day, and that adult women over the age of 50 and adult men consume 8mg of iron per day.
Iron can be found in foods such as nuts, beans, and certain vegetables, but one of the best sources of iron is fortified grain products, such as Special K cereal!
Folate
Folate is a water-soluble B-vitamin (also known as Vitamin B9). Where you probably have heard about folate is in reference to pregnancy. It is often recommended that a pregnant person should take a minimum of 600 mcg per day throughout pregnancy and while breastfeeding.(2) This is because a deficiency of folate can result in neural tube defects during the fetus’s development.(2) This can result in certain health outcomes such as Spina Bifida (when the neural tube doesn’t form properly resulting in an unformed backbone, leaving the spinal cord unprotected and often damaged).(3) While this is true, and folate is very important during pregnancy for this reason, folate plays a lot of other roles in health as well. Studies have shown potential impacts of folate consumption on heart disease, depression, cancer, and brain function.(2)
Folate can be found in foods such as beef liver, spinach, and fortified breakfast cereals such as Special K Cereal!(2)
Special K Cereal Frozen Yogurt Bars
By Sarah, Healthyish Foods, March 12, 2024
What You Need:
- 3 ½ cups Special K Zero Cinnamon Cereal OR Special K Cinnamon Pecan Cereal
- ½ cup peanut butter
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 cups of your favorite vanilla yogurt
- ¼ – ½ cup cinnamon (depending on how much cinnamon flavor you want)
What You Do:
- Line an 8×8 inch metal baking pan or silicone pan with parchment paper
Combine the cereal, peanut butter, and honey in a mixing bowl and mix until well coated. - Place the mixture into the prepared baking pan. Spread it out evenly and press firmly into the bottom of the pan.
- Freeze for 20 minutes
- While it’s in the freezer, mix the cinnamon and yogurt together.
Pour the yogurt mixture over cereal base, spread evenly, cover and freeze for 60-75 minutes for semi-frozen yogurt, or overnight for completely frozen bars. Completely frozen bars will have to be thawed for a few minutes before enjoying. - Using a sharp knife, cut the frozen mixture into evenly cut pieces to create 9 bars.
- Enjoy the bars on their own or topped with bananas or strawberries and drizzle with honey or a mixture of melted peanut butter and honey!
References
- Office of Dietary Supplements – Iron. Accessed October 22, 2024. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/
- Office of Dietary Supplements – Folate. Accessed October 22, 2024. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Folate-HealthProfessional/
- CDC. About Spina Bifida. Spina Bifida. May 22, 2024. Accessed October 22, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/spina-bifida/about/index.html
- Thomas-Drawbaugh S. Five Ingredient, Frozen Yogurt Breakfast Bars (cereal bars). Healthyish Foods. March 12, 2024. Accessed October 22, 2024. https://healthyishfoods.com/frozen-yogurt-breakfast-bars/
