Is All-Bran Healthy? 10 Things You Should Know

Is All-Bran a healthy choice for breakfast?

If there’s one thing for certain in this world, it might be this: All-Bran can help you poop. But unfortunately, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a healthy breakfast in every way. Today, let’s take a deep dive into All-Bran nutrition. Is it really good for you?

All-Bran has an incredible 12g of fiber per serving, about twice as much as shredded wheat. It is also free of artificial colors and sweeteners. However, All-Bran is not completely healthy due to its high sugar content (6g to 12g per serving, depending on the flavor).

Below, we’ll explore All-Bran’s ingredients and nutrition facts in detail. We’ll look closer at its sugar and fiber content, whether it’s good for weight loss, and more. I’ll also compare All-Bran to Fiber One and oatmeal to see which is best.

Is All-Bran Good for You?

Here are the 10 specific questions I’ll be answering about All-Bran nutrition. Click any of them to skip ahead to that section—or just keep scrolling to read them all:

1. What Is All-Bran Made Of?
2. Is All-Bran High in Fiber?
3. What Kind of Fiber Is in All-Bran?
4. How Much Sugar Does All-Bran Have?
5. Is All-Bran a Processed Food?
6. Is All-Bran Good For Weight Loss?
7. Is All-Bran Healthier Than Fiber One?
8. Is All-Bran Healthier Than Oats?
9. Is It Ok to Eat All-Bran Every Day?
10. Is All-Bran Vegan?

1. What Is All-Bran Made Of?

Let’s start by looking at some All-Bran ingredients. There are only three main All-Bran cereals, so let’s cover them all. I’ll share my observations below the table:

All-Bran Product	Ingredients
All-Bran Original	Wheat bran, sugar, malt flavor, contains 2% or less of salt. [Added Vitamins and Minerals]
All-Bran Buds	Wheat bran, sugar, psyllium seed husk, contains 2% or less of salt, baking soda, annatto color, BHT for freshness. [Added Vitamins and Minerals]
All-Bran Complete Wheat Flakes	Whole grain wheat, wheat bran, sugar, brown sugar syrup, contains 2% or less of salt, malt flavor. [Added Vitamins and Minerals]

Here’s what I notice about these ingredients:

• All-Bran has wheat bran and other high-fiber ingredients. All-Bran Buds also have psyllium seed husk, adding even more fiber. Fiber is often one of the worst deficiencies in the modern Western diet, so this is definitely a positive. More on fiber below.

• All-Bran has added sugar. And the Complete Wheat Flakes flavor also has “brown rice syrup,” which is also basically sugar. The total sugar in All-Bran is surprisingly high for a “healthy” cereal. We’ll check how it compares to other brands below.

• All-Bran is free of artificial colors and caramel color. If you look at one of the main competitors of All-Bran, Fiber One, it has caramel color, which can potentially contain the carcinogen 4-MeI. But All-Bran has no real sketchy coloring dyes. There is just annatto color in All-Bran Buds, which seems safe for the most part.

• All-Bran has added vitamins and minerals. Fortified foods are not the best way to get all your vitamins and minerals—but this is still probably a positive point overall. All-Bran has added vitamin D, iron, and a mix of B vitamins.

• All-Bran Buds have BHT. BHT is a preservative, sometimes negatively associated with BHA, which may have cancer-causing effects at high levels. But the research is more reassuring for BHT. In fact, BHT may be anti-carcinogenic at low levels. So this ingredient should not really be a concern.

Overall, the All-Bran ingredients have some healthy aspects, along with not-so-good aspects (mainly sugar). In the next sections, we’ll look more at the details of the fiber content, sugar content, and other pros and cons.

2. Is All-Bran High in Fiber?

All-Bran cereal is very high in fiber. All-Bran Original has 12g of fiber per 2/3 cup serving (41g). All-Bran Buds have 17g of fiber per 1/2 serving (45g). This is about two to three times the fiber in each serving of shredded wheat.

Even the “Complete Wheat Flakes” flavor of All-Bran, which is much lower in fiber, is still higher in fiber than shredded wheat, Weetabix, and other whole-grain cereals. Truly, All-Bran is high in fiber.

Really, you could view All-Bran cereal as more of a fiber supplement than a normal cereal. Here is a table showing how All-Bran cereals compares to other brands for fiber content:

Cereal	Fiber per 100g
Rice Krispies	1.0g
Special K	2.3g
Corn Flakes	2.4g
Cheerios	9.4g
Weetabix	10g
Grape Nuts	12.1g
Shredded Wheat	13.3g
All-Bran Complete Wheat Flakes	16.2g
Uncle Sam	18.2g
All-Bran Original	29.3g
All-Bran Buds	37.8g
Fiber One	46.7g
Poop Like a Champion	57.5g

As you can see, All-Bran is not quite the highest-fiber cereal in the world, but it’s definitely toward the higher end when it comes to fiber content.

In fact, many people just mix some All-Bran into other cereals for extra fiber. For example, you could eat a bowl of Cheerios but add 1/4 cup of All-Bran Buds for an extra 8g or 9g of fiber.

If you eat a big bowl of just All-Bran alone, it may even be too much fiber for some people. (But we’ll discuss “How much All-Bran is too much?” below.)

Related Question:

• Is All-Bran good for constipation? All-Bran is a good source of fiber, which can soften stool and help prevent or relieve constipation.

3. What Kind of Fiber Is in All-Bran?

Each serving of All-Bran Original has 9g of insoluble fiber and 3g of soluble fiber. All-Bran Buds have a similar ratio of insoluble and soluble fiber. The fiber in All-Bran comes mostly from wheat bran.

Let’s discuss soluble vs isoluble fiber a bit. Soluble fiber is known for its ability to lower LDL cholesterol and blood sugar levels. It’s why Cheerios are often touted as a cholesterol-lowering food.

Well, All-Bran Origial has three times the soluble fiber per serving as Cheerios. All-Bran Buds have five times the soluble fiber of Cheerios.

And All-Bran has even more insoluble fiber. Insoluble fiber has its own benefits, including helping with regularity and with insulin sensitivity. (source)

It’s worth noting: The fiber in All-Bran is not mostly from whole-grain wheat or other whole foods. With All-Bran, you’re getting just the wheat bran for the most part. So you’re getting this concentrated source of fiber.

Some critics may complain that All-Bran is imbalanced in this regard. The fiber is not necessarily balanced with all the same micronutrients as in whole, in-tact grains.

So you can’t necessarily say All-Bran is “as healthy” as more natural high-fiber foods like beans or 100% whole wheat. It’s more complicated than just the amount of fiber. That said, considering the diets most people eat, the extra fiber in All-Bran is a good thing.

Related question:

• Does Kellogg’s All-Bran lower cholesterol? All-Bran should help lower LDL cholesterol as it is rich in soluble fiber. (source)

4. How Much Sugar Does All-Bran Have?

All-Bran has quite a lot of added sugar, with 8g per serving of the Original flavor. That is twice as much sugar as in Corn Flakes or Rice Krispies. All-Bran Buds has even more sugar, with 12g per serving. That is the same amount as in Frosted Flakes and Froot Loops.

The sugar in All-Bran certainly makes it taste better—but it comes at a cost. The American Heart Association recommends a limit of 25g of sugar per day for women and 36g per day for men.

And keep in mind: No added sugar is needed for human health. Really, the healthiest diet would likely just have natural sugar from fruit and whole foods. So for me personally, any amount of “added sugar” is a negative.

Here’s a table comparing the sugar content of many popular cereals, including All-Bran cereals at the top:

Cereal	Serving Size	Total Sugars	Added Sugar
All-Bran Original	2/3 cup (41g)	9g	8g
All-Bran Buds	1/2 cup (45g)	12g	12g
All-Bran Complete Wheat Flakes	1 cup (37 g)	7g	6g
Cheerios	1 1/2 cup (39g)	2g	2g
Corn Flakes	1 1/2 cup (42g)	4g	4g
Froot Loops	1 1/3 cup (39g)	12g	12g
Frosted Flakes	1 cup (37g)	12g	12g
Frosted Mini-Wheats	25 biscuits (60g)	12g	12g
Grape Nuts	1/2 cup (58g)	5g	0g
Multi-Grain Cheerios	1 1/3 cup (39g)	8g	8g
Raisin Bran	1 cup (59g)	17g	9g
Rice Krispies	1 1/2 cup (40g)	4g	4g
Shredded Wheat	1 1/3 cup (60g)	0g	0g
Special K	1 1/4 cup (39g)	5g	4g

As you can see, All-Bran Buds are actually among the highest-sugar cereals. If avoiding added sugar is a priority of yours, you can see there are much better choices.

If you want a high-fiber, low-sugar cereal, I would specifically recommend that you look at shredded wheat, Weetabix, Cheerios, Fiber One, or just oatmeal.

Related question:

• Is All-Bran cereal high in carbs? Yes, most of the calories in All-Bran come from carbs. All-Bran Original cereal has 32g of total carbohydrates per serving. All-Bran is not low-carb or keto-friendly.

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5. Is All-Bran a Processed Food?

“Processed food” is a bit hard to define. Technically speaking, slicing up an apple in your kitchen might count as “processing.” But when we talk about “processed food,” we usually mean something else.

In practical terms, the big signs of processed food are when the ingredients have some of the following:

• refined grains or flour
• sugar
• vegetable oil
• salt
• monosodium glutamate (MSG)
• artificial sweeteners
• artificial colors (like red 40)

So, how does All-Bran measure up in this regard? All-Bran should be considered a processed food due to the high amount of added sugar.

Also, despite the potential health benefits of wheat bran, it is literally a processed ingredient, too. It is not a “whole grain” if you’re only eating the bran, after all.

So, yes, All-Bran is processed food. It’s not nearly as bad as ultra-processed foods like soda and Twinkies. It does have redeeming qualities (mainly the fiber content). But yes, it is processed food.

Related question:

• Is All-Bran considered whole-grain? All-Bran is not actually “whole grain” since the main ingredient is wheat bran, not whole wheat. The exception is All-Bran Complete Wheat Flakes, which are indeed made with whole-grain wheat.

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6. Is All-Bran Good For Weight Loss?

All-Bran is an okay food to include in a weight-loss diet, but it’s not completely ideal. Compared to other cereals, it has a lot of fiber to fill you up—but it also has empty calories, with 8g of added sugar per serving.

By itself, eating All-Bran will not make or break your weight loss diet. Weight loss depends on your overall diet and lifestyle.

Choosing high-fiber foods like All-Bran can help you feel satisfied on fewer calories, making it easier to lose weight. But ideally, you’d also focus on lower-sugar options.

For that reason, an even better weight-loss cereal would likely be plain shredded wheat. Or Fiber One cereal, which is similar to All-Bran but without the sugar. Eating one of those, you’d likely feel fuller for longer, on fewer calories.

You can also aid your weight loss journey with your choice of milk. Did you know that unsweetened almond milk is only about 30 calories per cup? That’s only ~25% of the calories of 2% cow’s milk.

In the end, as long as you’re burning more calories than you’re eating, you should be able to lose weight—whether those calories include All-Bran or not. But certainly, this cereal could fit into a smart weight-loss plan.

Related Question:

• How many calories are in a bowl of All-Bran? A small bowl of All-Bran might have about 190 calories. That would be 2/3 cup of All-Bran Original and 3/4 cup of skim milk.

• Is All-Bran good for losing belly fat? Specific foods cannot help you lose fat from a specific area of your body—that is a myth. Fat loss is a total body process, and it depends on your overall diet and lifestyle—not one food you eat. For more information, read my post on how to get six-pack abs.

7. Is All-Bran Healthier Than Fiber One?

Fiber One cereal is likely healthier for most people than All-Bran. Fiber One has 150% of the fiber found in All-Bran cereal, and more importantly, Fiber One is sugar free. Meanwhile, All-Bran has 8 grams of added sugar per serving.

Depending on your specific nutritional needs and goals, you may find either cereal to be better for you, though. So let’s take a look at some specific nutritional factors:

• Sugar: Fiber One wins. Fiber One cereal has no added sugar. Meanwhile, All Bran has 8g of added sugar. That’s pretty high, about 2/3 as much sugar as Frosted Flakes, per serving! Fiber One has sucralose, which may have downsides, too—but All Bran’s sugar content seems worse.

• Fiber: Fiber One wins. Fiber One has about 1.5x the fiber content of All Bran. They are both remarkably high in fiber, however. So All-Bran will still get the job done. But if you want maximum fiber power, Fiber One is the winner.

• Sodium: All-Bran wins. All-Bran has about 30% less sodium than Fiber One. Specifically, Fiber One cereal has 140mg of sodium per serving, while All-Bran has 95mg. So if you need to minimize your sodium intake, All-Bran is a little better.

• Protein: All-Bran wins. Fiber One cereal only has 3g of protein per serving, but All-Bran has 5g. So if you’re trying to hit a specific protein intake, All-Bran may help you get there a little bit faster.

Overall, Fiber One is probably healthier for most people. The amount of sugar in All-Bran would be the most significant nutritional difference for most people. So, unless you really hate artificial sweeteners, Fiber One is probably the better choice.

8. Is All-Bran Healthier Than Oats?

Oatmeal would typically be considered healthier than All-Bran, as it is less processed. All-Bran has quite a bit of added sugar, and it’s made primarily from wheat bran, not whole wheat.

All-Bran has a remarkable amount of fiber, but it doesn’t come in the context of whole grains. Instead, you just get the bran. With oatmeal, you’re truly getting a whole food, in a more pure form—and whole foods are generally healthier.

That said, if you add a bunch of sugar to your oatmeal, it would no longer be healthier than All-Bran. Really, the biggest benefit of choosing oatmeal would be avoiding the 8g of added sugar in each serving of All-Bran.

9. Is It Ok to Eat All-Bran Every Day?

There should be no problem for most people eating All-Bran every day, if the serving sizes are appropriate. However, if you eat too much All-Bran at once, you could experience gas, bloating, loose stool, or other side effects from eating more fiber than you’re used to.

When increasing your fiber intake, it is best to increase it gradually. If you normally have the average American fiber intake, and then suddenly you eat multiple big bowls of All-Bran in a day, that could be a bit of a shock to your system.

Personally, I know I got gas the first time I ate a very high-fiber cereal like All-Bran, likely because I ate too much at once. It’s better to start with a small serving, maybe just mixing a bit into another cereal that you already eat. Then gradually increase it over time.

Also, you should always keep room in your diet for a variety of healthy foods. If you eat too much of any one cereal, you may not have enough room left for vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, beans, and other wholesome whole foods.

Another way to ensure dietary variety is to eat your All-Bran in different ways. If you eat All-Bran every day, consider eating it with different fruits, maybe with nuts or seeds, mixed in with different cereals, or with other foods on the side.

10. Is All-Bran Vegan?

All-Bran is typically considered vegan. It doesn’t have any milk, egg, or meat ingredients. However, All-Bran does have two “gray area” ingredients for vegans—added sugar and vitamin D3.

Many fortified cereals have added vitamin D3, which is technically not vegan since it comes from lanolin (from sheep’s wool). Many vegans are ok with this since it’s such a minor ingredient, but technically it’s not vegan.

Another ingredient that can be controversial for vegans in many cereals is sugar. Non-organic sugar is often filtered with animal bone char. So, this is likely another area where All-Bran is not completely vegan on all levels.

However, most vegans would let these little details slide. Most vegans would be okay with eating All-Bran. Just don’t eat it with cow’s milk!

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