Vector Cereal Nutrition Information

Vector cereal, more accurately known as Vector Meal Replacement, is a cereal from Kellogg's that's advertised as more than a breakfast cereal and is an entire meal in a bowl. Vector contains whole-grain wheat, rice and rice flour, soy protein, salt, cinnamon, shortening, vegetable oil, whole oats and soy lecithin. It is sweetened with sugar, honey, molasses and barley malt syrup, and it contains artificial compounds that lend flavoring and color. Butylated hydroxytoluene is included as a preservative. BHT is a controversial compound that some critics fear may contribute to cancer.

A 55-gram serving of Vector without milk, which is equivalent to about 1 1/4 cups, contains 215 calories. Approximately 25.2 of these calories have 2.8 grams of total fat. Most of this fat, about 1.5 grams, is heart-healthy, polyunsaturated fat and 1.4 grams of linoleic acid, a type of omega-6 fatty acid that may help support brain health. Vector contains a trace amount of saturated fat and no cholesterol per serving.

Each 1 1/4-cup serving of dry Vector provides 5.5 grams of protein. That's nearly as much protein as you'd obtain from eating one whole egg, or about 9.8 percent of the daily protein requirement for men and almost 12 percent of the protein recommendation for women. With the exception of the added soy, the protein that Vector provides is incomplete, so you should supplement it throughout the day with other animal- or plant-based protein sources.

Of the 44 grams of carbohydrates contained in a serving of Vector, 11 grams are simple added sugars such as fructose and glucose. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that you should limit your intake of added sugars as much as possible. Vector is, however, a good source of dietary fiber, with 3.2 grams in every 1 1/4 cup. For a man, this is 9 percent of his recommended daily fiber intake; for a woman, it is 11 percent of her daily needs.

Vector is enriched and fortified with a wide variety of vitamins and minerals. Enriched nutrients are those lost during processing that the manufacturer has replaced, such as B vitamins like niacin. In this case, fortified nutrients, including iron, vitamin D and copper, weren't present in significant amounts in the original food and were included during Vector production. For an adult on a 2,000-calorie diet, a serving of Vector is an excellent source of manganese, biotin, iodine, zinc, folate and vitamins C and E.

Healthy adults should have not more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium each day. A 1 1/4-cup serving of dry Vector has 220 milligrams of sodium, an amount that fulfills 9.5 percent of that limit. If you're on a sodium-restricted diet and can have only 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day, Vector would account for 15 percent of your daily limit in each serving. If you're concerned about your sodium intake, eat Vector in moderation.