Oatmeal or whole grain cereal?

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shavasana
shavasana Posts: 17 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I am trying to decide if it's best to eat a bowl of whole grain cereal with Skim Milk or a bowl of plain oatmeal (with sweetener).

Seems like the cereal option has fewer calories, but less sugar than the oatmeal option.

What is the healthier alternative?
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Replies

  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    you talking about instant oatmeal or steel cut oatmeal (aka irish oatmeal)? Steel cut is better, but whole grain cereal is probably slightly better than instant oatmeal.
  • nicolina823
    nicolina823 Posts: 450 Member
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    I LOVE Kashi go Lean. 10 fiber 13 protein. Good stuff
  • rose1617
    rose1617 Posts: 469 Member
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    Whole Grain Cereal is way better than instant oatmeal esp. as far as sugar is concerned.
    SH Boss is right, steel cut oatmeal will be better than whole grain cereal.

    BUT... either is better than Fruit Loops... so woohoo for making a better choice!
  • 1Tammy2luv
    1Tammy2luv Posts: 8
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    Oatmeal helps you feel full longer and ,if you buy old fashioned, is also whole grain. Cereal usually has the kind of sugar content that makes your blood sugar drop quickly. There is brown sugar splenda (1/2 brown sugar,1//2 splenda) to make the oatmeal taste even better.
  • smuehlbauer
    smuehlbauer Posts: 1,041 Member
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    I eat the Quaker Instand Weight Control oatmeal for breakfast all the time.
    Keeps me filled up.
    160 cal
    3g fat
    6g fiber
    1g sugar
    And I usually have a banana or apple with it.
    Yum!
  • hiddensecant
    hiddensecant Posts: 2,446 Member
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    I vote for steel cut oats ... Quaker has some and it's 10 calories less than the instant stuff, hehe (not to mention far more nutritious).
  • oats4breakfast
    oats4breakfast Posts: 225
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    The problem with some of the "whole grain cereals" is that it's not always 100% whole grains and/or they get you on sugar or some other content. They often still contain refined grains and/or hydrogenated oils etc. For example, people seem to rave about Special K ... well they simply have a wonderfull marketing team at that company, it may have low cals and fat but it contains refined content, loaded with sugar/corn syrup and "other carbohydrates" ... whatever they are ?? Not so good for you depending on how you look at the foods you eat.
    I've also noticed that the calories may also be low, on these cereals, but the serving size is for a 5 year old.
    IMHO, Steel Cut Oats (SCO) all the way. As mentione dbefore, not instant oatmeal, the real deal that you have to add water and cook for 10+ minutes .. so make it up in large weekly batches. If you're interested in a 'real' healthy breakfast, then you really need to spend some time to make it up yourself, with known raw ingredients. Be it oats or quinoa or some other grain, needs to be raw and monitor what you put in.
    For sweatener, the best I've found is to simply slice up a banana and dump on the SCO. Every spoonfull of oats, make sure you get a slice of banana. It makes eating them less of a chore :)

    Some people will disagree, that's OK with me. Just giving my opinion (and others) that if you're serious about what you eat, and it being healthy, then most items we put down our cake holes, should be made from scratch with known good ingredients ... rather than dumping from a box or buying through a window.
  • shavasana
    shavasana Posts: 17 Member
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    you talking about instant oatmeal or steel cut oatmeal (aka irish oatmeal)? Steel cut is better, but whole grain cereal is probably slightly better than instant oatmeal.

    Its not instant oatmeal but its plain quick oats (maybe they are the same?) Does that make a difference
  • shavasana
    shavasana Posts: 17 Member
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    Oatmeal helps you feel full longer and ,if you buy old fashioned, is also whole grain. Cereal usually has the kind of sugar content that makes your blood sugar drop quickly. There is brown sugar splenda (1/2 brown sugar,1//2 splenda) to make the oatmeal taste even better.

    I add a TBSP of this to my oats! YUM!
  • stratdl
    stratdl Posts: 303 Member
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    I wholeheartedly :heart: agree with oats4breakfast! I LOVE steel cut oats! I can make up a batch of 4 servings (or more) in my rice cooker on the weekend. Then, during the week, I re-heat the oats in the microwave with bananas, cinnamon, 1/4 skim or almond milk, and/or walnuts and/or dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, blueberries, or apricots--yum!). VERY hearty indeed! Yes, it may be a lot of calories going on there, but I'm definitely not hungry for a long, long time! :bigsmile:
  • hiddensecant
    hiddensecant Posts: 2,446 Member
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    Quick oats are in the same category as instant oats. So your cereal is probably better than it.

    Try to look into steel cut oats though. They're awesome.
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
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    Quick oats are in the same category as instant oats. So your cereal is probably better than it.

    Actually that isn't true - Quick Cooking Oats are rolled, whole grain oats, just processed differently to reduce cooking time (basically each oat is sliced in half). Many people don't like them because they are mushier. I prefer the mushiness. Steel cut oats are firmer oats, and a lot chewier.

    I add 1/4 cup almond milk (with the other 3/4 cup being water) and a tablespoon of natural peanut butter to my oats, they are so filling and delicious.
  • pressica
    pressica Posts: 361
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    I wholeheartedly :heart: agree with oats4breakfast! I LOVE steel cut oats! I can make up a batch of 4 servings (or more) in my rice cooker on the weekend. Then, during the week, I re-heat the oats in the microwave with bananas, cinnamon, 1/4 skim or almond milk, and/or walnuts and/or dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, blueberries, or apricots--yum!). VERY hearty indeed! Yes, it may be a lot of calories going on there, but I'm definitely not hungry for a long, long time! :bigsmile:

    I have never thought to make my SCO in the rice cooker. Thanks for the idea.
  • hiddensecant
    hiddensecant Posts: 2,446 Member
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    I wholeheartedly :heart: agree with oats4breakfast! I LOVE steel cut oats! I can make up a batch of 4 servings (or more) in my rice cooker on the weekend. Then, during the week, I re-heat the oats in the microwave with bananas, cinnamon, 1/4 skim or almond milk, and/or walnuts and/or dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, blueberries, or apricots--yum!). VERY hearty indeed! Yes, it may be a lot of calories going on there, but I'm definitely not hungry for a long, long time! :bigsmile:

    I have never thought to make my SCO in the rice cooker. Thanks for the idea.

    I have to get a rice cooker!
  • hiddensecant
    hiddensecant Posts: 2,446 Member
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    You guys might know the answer to this question. I once had this dish that looked like oats. But it had the consistency of rice or couscous (not like oatmeal).

    Any idea what it was?
    Quick Cooking Oats are rolled, whole grain oats, just processed differently to reduce cooking time
    Oh, how do you cook those?
  • antiadipose
    antiadipose Posts: 447
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    wait.... why?? how long do the SCO take to cook????

    i use rolled oats right now but i wanna try sco.. but if were talking slow cookers here.... im waaay too hungry in the AM lol
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
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    Quick cooking oats can either be made in the microwave (takes like 1:30) or on the stove top. So much easier than waiting for 20-30 minutes for steel cut (though those are yummy too!).
  • oats4breakfast
    oats4breakfast Posts: 225
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    wait.... why?? how long do the SCO take to cook????

    i use rolled oats right now but i wanna try sco.. but if were talking slow cookers here.... im waaay too hungry in the AM lol

    Make it up one day a week (or as needed) a big enough batch to last 5 days. There's a few different ways to do it (soaking etc) but basically, you invest some time one one day with a big batch, the microwave it to heat up (like 1minute) in the morning. We usually soak it overnight (memory says 2 cups of oats in 6 cups water) then boil/simmer it for 10-15 minutes "at some point in time" the next day. Let it cool, stick it in a big container in the fridge and done. Just spoon out some in the morning, reheat, top with banana or honey or something and eat.
    It's good and easy then .... and almost impossible to overeat too. So, don't forget that too when considering portions and cals. Some cereals I feel like you can eat an entire box .... and could do so too... then be hungry later. But SCO ... ha ha ha ha just try and overeat it. Impossible. And whatever you ate tends to last for a few hours.
  • antiadipose
    antiadipose Posts: 447
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    thank uuuu!!!
  • hiddensecant
    hiddensecant Posts: 2,446 Member
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    I cook it the night before and stick it in the fridge. I like it cool now that my mornings are warm. Of course you can nuke it when you wake up if you prefer it warm or hot.

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