Our latest article comes from Cat who has been working on the Surreal Cereal Review. As an endurance athlete with high interest in nutrition she was keen to try this cereal. She uses it for a number of weeks looking into the real nutritional value of this protein cereal. She is a wealth of knowledge on nutrition for exercise so the perfect member of the Trivelo Test Squad for this review.
Introduction to Cat
My name is Cat, I’m a 30-year-old triathlete/ultra-runner and all-round endurance sport addict. I am currently back at university in my final year of Sports and Exercise Nutrition. This was after realising that I wanted to pursue a career that I was more passionate about! As someone studying nutrition getting the opportunity to review Surreal Cereal was incredibly interesting. I was definitely curious to understand more about the product and how it could benefit athletes with a busy schedule.
I was sent all the current flavours of cereal Surreal have on offer:
- Peanut butter
- Cinnamon
- Cacao
- Frosted
Here’s what I thought…
Pros & Cons
First up they have minimal ingredients. Which are all easy to understand even if you don’t have a nutritional degree! All flavours have high levels of protein, zero sugar and low saturated fat. This is almost unheard of in most cereals currently on the market. There’s a nice variety of moreish flavours, with nothing artificial tasting and it tastes great with fruit, yogurt, milk, or even just straight from the box!
Summary of the Cereal
A high protein, low sugar cereal in a really nice variety of flavours. Surreal Cereal works perfectly for a breakfast cereal if you are looking to watch your carbohydrate intake. Or equally are looking for something with minimal ingredients and maximal taste! It can also be paired nicely with yogurt or fruit if you need a little bit more of a carbohydrate boost before a workout. But it is super convenient as a post workout snack and actually tastes really nice on eaten on its on. The peanut butter flavour is exceptional!
Would I buy these?
In short, 100% yes. As someone with a busy study schedule and a tough training schedule on top, this cereal is great as a speedy high protein breakfast. It is also great to take with me as a snack to nibble on throughout the day. The nutrient profile is impressive and the flavours are also a winner. The peanut butter one was a resounding firm favourite.
First Impressions
I’ll be honest, I was sceptical that something with such a good nutrient profile could also deliver on the flavour front. But I was pleasantly surprised. None of the flavours are offensive, in fact, they are positively moreish! The serving size is just right and is filling enough to last (and keep your blood sugar stable with zero sugar!). It is also nice paired with banana and Greek yogurt if you wanted something with a little more carbohydrate heavy or substantial.
Taste of the Cereal
If you are looking for something fairly neutral with just a hint of sweet, then the frosted flavour is definitely the best one to go for. The cinnamon flavour had a pleasant taste, not too overpowering as cinnamon flavours sometimes are. Surreal have got it just right. The cacao is nice and chocolatey. As someone who doesn’t favour chocolate it wasn’t my favourite but it was pleasant and definitely not too rich. The peanut butter flavour was exceptionally moreish and by far the best flavour of the lot. It was sweet without being overpowering.
Nutritional Breakdown
The nutritional breakdown of the cereal is pretty impressive. A 32g serving comes in at only 148kcal (roughly 7% of the average total daily calories), with 5g of fat and 0.5g saturated fat. It has 11g carbs. This breaks down further to be 1.3g fibre and 3.2g Erythritol. Meaning there’s actually only 6.45g of net carbs in a serving. Only 0.4g of sugar which compared with the average cereal on the market is pretty much unheard of!
In terms of macronutrients, they really triumph in their protein content. Each serving containing 14g!
The ingredient list is minimal. Which also came as a real surprise given that a lot of cereals contain a whole list of words that most of us have never heard of! Surreal has approximately nine ingredients depending on the flavour and no nasty additives or binders.
Health impacts from eating the cereal
If you are looking to regulate your blood sugar or avoid high carbohydrate cereals whilst retaining good flavour and getting a nice hit of protein this is the cereal for you. For endurance athlete’s it would probably need to be paired with another source of carbohydrate for it to be sufficient to fuel a workout. It definitely works as a convenient post workout snack. Especially if you are looking for real food over powders or supplements.
It is low in saturated fat which was a real surprise as often high protein snack foods or cereals are high in saturated fat and sugar. So, this was really impressive. It keeps you full without feeling heavy or sick and avoids the sugar crash from most cereals on the market.
Buy Surreal Cereal
Buy now – Buy the multipack of Surreal Cereal for £24 direct from Surreal.
Video Review of Surreal Cereal
Hear direct from Cat in her video review of Surreal Cereal.
