Mcdonald’s Oatmeal (Sadly) Not Much Better than a Sausage

callipygianchronicle
callipygianchronicle Posts: 811 Member
edited September 24 in Food and Nutrition
Just read an excellent opinion piece from Mark Bittman regarding the poor nutrition in Mcdonald’s Oatmeal. Below is an excerpt, you can read the entire piece here: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/how-to-make-oatmeal-wrong/
Incredibly, the McDonald’s product contains more sugar than a Snickers bar and only 10 fewer calories than a McDonald’s cheeseburger or Egg McMuffin. (Even without the brown sugar it has more calories than a McDonald’s hamburger.)
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Replies

  • yalisa0424
    yalisa0424 Posts: 173 Member
    It is really good but yes it is full of sugar at 32 grams!!!
  • iamhealingmyself
    iamhealingmyself Posts: 579 Member
    Just read an excellent opinion piece from Mark Bittman regarding the poor nutrition in Mcdonald’s Oatmeal. Below is an excerpt, you can read the entire piece here: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/how-to-make-oatmeal-wrong/
    Incredibly, the McDonald’s product contains more sugar than a Snickers bar and only 10 fewer calories than a McDonald’s cheeseburger or Egg McMuffin. (Even without the brown sugar it has more calories than a McDonald’s hamburger.)
    Heaven forbid anyone should ever eat anything that's NATURAL and unprocessed and preserved and sweetened to high heaven. I have heard too that it doesn't taste all that great, even with all the additives. Maybe they should reconsider the TYPE or BRAND of oatmeal they are using then they can get rid of all that other crap and it might taste half decent.
  • Seesaa
    Seesaa Posts: 451
    if it is pre packaged they are pretty much stuck...
  • yrodri44
    yrodri44 Posts: 10
    Wow. I was curious about it but probably would have ended up trying it then looking up the nutrition facts. Thanks.
  • JenBrown0210
    JenBrown0210 Posts: 985 Member
    Just read an excellent opinion piece from Mark Bittman regarding the poor nutrition in Mcdonald’s Oatmeal. Below is an excerpt, you can read the entire piece here: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/how-to-make-oatmeal-wrong/
    Incredibly, the McDonald’s product contains more sugar than a Snickers bar and only 10 fewer calories than a McDonald’s cheeseburger or Egg McMuffin. (Even without the brown sugar it has more calories than a McDonald’s hamburger.)
    Heaven forbid anyone should ever eat anything that's NATURAL and unprocessed and preserved and sweetened to high heaven. I have heard too that it doesn't taste all that great, even with all the additives. Maybe they should reconsider the TYPE or BRAND of oatmeal they are using then they can get rid of all that other crap and it might taste half decent.
    . It is NASTY! I got it once when it first came out before we started our lifestyle change. Not worth it!
  • trailrunner_jules
    trailrunner_jules Posts: 15
    on the other hand you can make oatmeal in your microwave in less time than it takes to go through the drive thru! what is McD's thinking?
  • AngelsKisses75
    AngelsKisses75 Posts: 595 Member
    Keep in mind they serve their oatmeal with choices. The biggest choice is to grab your breakfast at home and by pass McDonalds altogether. :ohwell:
  • Tuckersn
    Tuckersn Posts: 149
    Does that surprise anybody? The only thing I've found that I can get away with there is the salad, and thats with grilled chicken and lite dressing. And, even that, is sodium filled . . . so not very often do I even do that. I make a salad at home and hardly has any sodium, its more filling and better . . . I'm sure the oatmeal is the same, except with sugar. =0)
  • MsFitnFabulous
    MsFitnFabulous Posts: 432 Member
    Yikes! That's scary. But what I've come to expect from McDonald's
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
    I make my own plain oatmeal at home and add a little splash of vanilla soymilk, a tiny bit of pecans, cinnamon, blackberries or blueberries and a teeeeeeny squirt of maple syrup :) YUM.
  • RedHotRunner
    RedHotRunner Posts: 850 Member
    Does that surprise anybody? The only thing I've found that I can get away with there is the salad, and thats with grilled chicken and lite dressing. And, even that, is sodium filled . . . so not very often do I even do that. I make a salad at home and hardly has any sodium, its more filling and better . . . I'm sure the oatmeal is the same, except with sugar. =0)
    I almost fell off my chair when I found out how much sodium was in the grilled ceaser with light dressing. No more micky D salads for me.!
  • Liss1
    Liss1 Posts: 49 Member
    Wow, im def. opting for the burger!
  • grouch201
    grouch201 Posts: 404 Member
    Guess now's as good a time as any to encourage anybody who hasn't seen Super Size Me to check it out. It's free on Hulu:

    http://www.hulu.com/watch/63283/super-size-me
  • BethanyMasters
    BethanyMasters Posts: 519 Member
    I didn't even have to read anything to come to the conclusion that it was probably complete garbage.

    I don't even consider anything that comes from MCdonald's as edible.
  • callipygianchronicle
    callipygianchronicle Posts: 811 Member
    I’ve never tried it. But I would have assumed it was simply cooked oats + toppings. But why the “oatmeal” needs to contain seven ingredients and the “cream” an additional seven, is beyond me. Especially for people trying to make healthy choices when they eat out, this oatmeal is like a joke being played on them. I don’t trust McDonalds to protect my health, but I still…why did they have to take wholesome oatmeal and turn it into mystery porridge?
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
    Is anyone really surprised? It's McDonald's. They're not known for serving health foods. And, oatmeal really isn't that great for breakfast. It's not filling and has a ton of calories. I like oatmeal, a lot. But the last time I tried to eat it I couldn't make it with milk, couldn't add hardly any sugar and it still came out close to 500 calories.
  • KellieR56
    KellieR56 Posts: 135 Member
    I used to work for a McDonald's. WORST company ever. If they don't take care of their employees...why would they care about their customer's and their nutrition. It's really bad food
  • melodyg
    melodyg Posts: 1,423 Member
    I think it is exaggeration on the part of the author to say that McD's oatmeal is no better than a sausage biscuit. OF COURSE it is better to make your own oatmeal over buying it! But even making your own, you will find that oatmeal is high in carbs and even higher when you add fruit and brown sugar! It is complex carbs that are better than the simple sugars in a Snickers bar though.

    Do I think that McDonald's oatmeal should replace regular oatmeal made at home? No. But I personally am happy to have another healthier option for the times that I do have to eat breakfast on the road... and McDonald's is often all that is available. (When we go on long road trips we usually leave before dawn and so we are hungry by the time McDonald's opens!) Fast food shouldn't be a default option for anyone... but I'll take oatmeal (or even the Egg McMuffin, which is consistently one of the healthiest options for a fast food breakfast) over a sausage biscuit any day!
  • EricInArlington
    EricInArlington Posts: 531 Member
    my wife tried it and said it was all watery and she had to wait for the oatmeal to take in the water, it was just instant oatmeal with some fruit dumped on top. I hate Mcdonald's everything!
  • Tiffany1111
    Tiffany1111 Posts: 17 Member
    It's McDonalds they will also make things that appear to be healthy and nutritious into something not. I eat the reduced sugar Quakers instant oatmeal (only 120 calories) and it takes 1 1/2 minutes to make. So yummy.
  • oceanrose78
    oceanrose78 Posts: 133 Member
    For goodness sakes it's McDonalds. I've had the oatmeal once, I was hungry, and had to get up too early to make breakfast. So I had half a container of oatmeal. No brown sugar. I actually thought it was ok. Basically quick oats with a bunch of fruit and some maple flavoring. Yes, making it at home is better, but for a fast food breakfast, it was my best choice available that day.

    Fast food is just that - fast food, not healthy food fast. There's really no such thing.
  • kouzzzz
    kouzzzz Posts: 540 Member
    If you are trying to lose weight, stay away from fast food, restaurants and take out.
  • shreddingit
    shreddingit Posts: 1,133 Member
    well who ever thought it was healthy was smoking something that day! lol...I never once craved that and im a big oatmeal fan, but i buy sugar free and i never mix fruit with anything...yuk!
  • jsheph1
    jsheph1 Posts: 79 Member
    I love McDonalds - I know its bad, but I love it anyway. Oatmeal is nasty, I would never order it at McDonald's, if I am going there I am going all out. I much prefer grits to oatmeal.
  • pandafoo
    pandafoo Posts: 367 Member
    I've tried it before and I rather like it! Both times I've had it was at the airport, and it was the healthiest choice I could make there, compared to all the breakfast wraps, danishes, sausage and peppers, etc. The raisins, cranberries, and apples do add sugar but it's from natural sources. Of course, we could always make oatmeal or other healthier options at home, but if you're on the run, McD's oatmeal is not that bad of a choice. :)
  • cmw72
    cmw72 Posts: 390 Member
    I don't understand the whole McDonald's oatmeal concept. It literally takes one minute to cook oatmeal on the stove, which is a lot quicker than it would take to go through the drive-thru anyways. Anybody can make it too, as it requires zero cooking skill beyond boiling water. And oatmeal is cheap to make ... probably just a few cents per serving.

    Unless you were out of town, or otherwise forced to eat McDonald's food ... I don't get it. :huh:
  • crackerjack345
    crackerjack345 Posts: 129 Member
    Here's another quote from that same article

    "Like so many other venerable foods, oatmeal has been roundly abused by food marketers for more than 40 years. Take, for example, Quaker Strawberries and Cream Instant Oatmeal, which contains no strawberries, no cream, 12 times the sugars of Quaker Old Fashioned Oats and only half of the fiber."

    So, in other words, quaker instant oatmeal mixes made at home are really no better than Mcdonald's oatmeal, other than the portion size is smaller. Weight for weight, nutritionally, they are about the same, so the only advantage is that it's cheaper to throw it in the microwave at home than stop at mcd's.

    I'm certainly not one to sing Mickey-d's praises, but I also don't think it's right to demonize them when Quakers been doing basically the same thing for years.

    Lastly, are you serious about the sausage biscuit, dude? Let's compare: sausage biscuit has 200 more cals, 31 gr of fat compared to 4.5 in the oatmeal(13 of which are saturated), 10X the sodium, and about half as much fiber. Give me a break. Of course the oatmeal isn't as healthy as preparing something from scratch at home, but let's not discourage people from making the best out of a bad situation when it arises. Sheesh!
  • cmw72
    cmw72 Posts: 390 Member
    Of course the oatmeal isn't as healthy as preparing something from scratch at home, but let's not discourage people from making the best out of a bad situation when it arises. Sheesh!

    This I agree with wholeheartedly. People will give you crap for eating a Lean Cuisine because despite the fact that you're trying to eat healthier, it still came out of a box. But nobody will say anything to you when you're horking down that double cheeseburger!

    Sometimes I think people forget that at one point, we were all cramming our face with fast food, and not everybody is as far along in this process. There is a lot to be said for mitigating the damage and making the healthiest choice available to you at the moment.

    I still don't see McDonald's Oatmeal as a viable breakfast solution long-term, but compared to the sausage biscuit ... it's a no brainer.
  • pkd1
    pkd1 Posts: 170 Member
    I like the Mcdonalds oatmeal, I have a friend that works there and she told me how they make it, so i tweeked it and make it at home for under 200 calories and not all the sugar, but if your in a hurry and theres not a option at 10 AM, iD still get the oatmeal there. But thats just me
  • Janworkingitout
    Janworkingitout Posts: 434 Member
    Of course the oatmeal isn't as healthy as preparing something from scratch at home, but let's not discourage people from making the best out of a bad situation when it arises. Sheesh!

    This I agree with wholeheartedly. People will give you crap for eating a Lean Cuisine because despite the fact that you're trying to eat healthier, it still came out of a box. But nobody will say anything to you when you're horking down that double cheeseburger!

    Sometimes I think people forget that at one point, we were all cramming our face with fast food, and not everybody is as far along in this process. There is a lot to be said for mitigating the damage and making the healthiest choice available to you at the moment.

    I still don't see McDonald's Oatmeal as a viable breakfast solution long-term, but compared to the sausage biscuit ... it's a no brainer.

    Agree!
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