I called oatmeal cookies unhealthy and I got blasted - why?

CharonCharon
CharonCharon Posts: 264 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I stated they had butter, white sugar, flour, chocolate chips, ect.
I consider all these things unhealthy.
But a couple of people say everything is healthy.
Is my wording wrong?
What would be unhealthy to those people in a cookie?

BTW - I like to eat in volumes.
I have never been able to do portion control in my entire life.
Oatmeal is a food I can eat and be full and be happy without guilt.
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Replies

  • maasha81
    maasha81 Posts: 733 Member
    Depends on the recipe ...there's oatmeal cookies made with mashed ripe bananas or applesauce. Never tasted it to compare with 'regular' oatmeal cookies
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
    edited August 2015
    its hard to single out foods as being bad, its the overall diet that matters. I let my kids eat cookies and milk nearly every day for snacktime, and they are both quite healthy.

    added- not homemade cookies either. Like chips ahoy, oreos, or little debbie oatmeal cream pies.
  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
    What is unhealthy about butter, white sugar, and flour?
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    edited August 2015
    Cookies are fine as long as you aren't eating like ten at a time. That would be unhealthy by cutting into your calories/macros.
  • MommyL2015
    MommyL2015 Posts: 1,411 Member
    Butter, white sugar, flour, chocolate chips--sounds like a pretty yummy cookie, if you ask me. Eating 10 of them, maybe not so healthy. One or two, absolutely nothing wrong with that at all.
  • mwyvr
    mwyvr Posts: 1,883 Member
    Oatmeal cookies as a large percentage of your daily diet: unhealthy.
    An oatmeal cooking as an occasional treat in a calorie reduced deficit diet? No problem.
  • techgal128
    techgal128 Posts: 719 Member
    The only way cookies are "unhealthy" is if you eat 5 pounds of them.
  • psych101
    psych101 Posts: 1,842 Member
    oh man they sound delicious - where do I sign up???

  • quiltlovinlisa
    quiltlovinlisa Posts: 1,710 Member
    I love oatmeal cookies.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    edited August 2015
    Homemade oatmeal cookies made with molasses,butter and raisins are awesome. Just ask my peeps!
  • andympanda
    andympanda Posts: 763 Member
    Do you have allergies that would cause health problems with any of the ingredients?
  • Jennloella
    Jennloella Posts: 2,286 Member
    add some maple and bacon.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.
  • MsJulesRenee
    MsJulesRenee Posts: 1,180 Member
    One cookie, healthy. The whole batch, unhealthy.
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
    CharonCharon wrote: »
    I stated they had butter, white sugar, flour, chocolate chips, ect.
    I consider all these things unhealthy.
    But a couple of people say everything is healthy.
    Is my wording wrong?
    What would be unhealthy to those people in a cookie?

    BTW - I like to eat in volumes.
    I have never been able to do portion control in my entire life.
    Oatmeal is a food I can eat and be full and be happy without guilt.

    Those aren't the same thing.
  • EmmaFitzwilliam
    EmmaFitzwilliam Posts: 482 Member
    My guess would be that others chafed at the judgmental nature of the comment. I don't consider butter "unhealthy". It's energy dense, and it's nutrient trade-off is negligible, but "nutrient dense" is not the only metric for personal assessments about food choices.

    Butter, sugar, white flour, and chocolate chips may not work for you, but nobody other than myself and possibly my doctor and/or my nutritionist gets to play "food cop" and pass judgment on my choices.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
    MFP has a... thing about this. I have never seen a diet and fitness site like this before. People get criticized for avoiding excess sugar, junk food, highly processed items, etc. I may very occasionally permit myself such an item, but I'm not going to pretend it's *healthy* AKA high in nutrients, because it isn't! Folks will equate the "processing" of placing fruit or vegetables in a bag with the processing of mashing things to a pulp, adding a ton of preservatives, artificial flavors and salt, and frying it. To avoid criticism, the only thing to do is to eat healthy for your own sake but never mention it anywhere but on your own home page. *smh*
  • Patttience
    Patttience Posts: 975 Member
    Well of course they are not unhealthy in themselves if you only eat one. But if they are a big and frequent part of your life they are a problem. Still i would not call them healthy but healthier than some other options perhaps.

    I would ignore who ever blasted you.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10235906/healhty-oatmeal-cookies-no-such-thing

    I would hardly call the answers in your other thread "getting blasted." It looks like people were asking for clarification on your goals and more specific details about you wanted. But if you want to know what those particular posters were thinking, it might be better to ask in your previous thread where they're more likely to see the question.
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
    gothchiq wrote: »
    MFP has a... thing about this. I have never seen a diet and fitness site like this before. People get criticized for avoiding excess sugar, junk food, highly processed items, etc. I may very occasionally permit myself such an item, but I'm not going to pretend it's *healthy* AKA high in nutrients, because it isn't! Folks will equate the "processing" of placing fruit or vegetables in a bag with the processing of mashing things to a pulp, adding a ton of preservatives, artificial flavors and salt, and frying it. To avoid criticism, the only thing to do is to eat healthy for your own sake but never mention it anywhere but on your own home page. *smh*

    I think this is inaccurate. What's happening is this: labeling food as junk, and jumping on terms like processed. People get a little too excited about those type of things. Food like ice cream and pizza get labeled as 'junk' while containing ingredients that should not put them into that category. Even potato chips get called 'junk' while being made of potatoes, oil, and salt.
    Processing gets a bad rap, but pasteurizing is a process, and without it, we'd not have safe milk to drink. Frozen vegetables are processed. So is whole grain bread.
  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
    gothchiq wrote: »
    MFP has a... thing about this. I have never seen a diet and fitness site like this before. People get criticized for avoiding excess sugar, junk food, highly processed items, etc. I may very occasionally permit myself such an item, but I'm not going to pretend it's *healthy* AKA high in nutrients, because it isn't! Folks will equate the "processing" of placing fruit or vegetables in a bag with the processing of mashing things to a pulp, adding a ton of preservatives, artificial flavors and salt, and frying it. To avoid criticism, the only thing to do is to eat healthy for your own sake but never mention it anywhere but on your own home page. *smh*

    It is because this site is mostly about not labeling anything non-poisonous as "unhealthy" and learning to enjoy things in moderation, and understanding the CICO concept for weight loss. People are not criticized for avoiding excess anything. The key word is excess though.
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    The best thing to make with oats? Oat flour shortbread. I have celiac disease and was missing shortbread, and I did some research and discovered that original shortbread was likely made with oats in the first place. I use good grass fed butter and raw sugar to make this and everyone who's ever had it prefers it to wheat shortbread.

    Oat flour, butter, sugar. So good.

    One cookie, part of a healthy overall diet. The point was made earlier and it bears repeating... all foods provide nutrition. Cookies can be dense sources of fat or readily available energy (good for active people like myself), ice cream has protein, etc. Treats aren't nutritionally void.

    This isn't to say they are the most nutritionally dense items you can eat. They probably provide less in the way of micronutrients, but that is why context matters and you can't judge foods without looking at the whole diet. A diet rich in nutrient-dense food can handle some food that's not as nutrient-dense. It's not that big a deal.

    I look at it this way. I like eggplant. It's not the most nutritious vegetable out there, but I still eat it. I doubt many of the healthy eating types would have issue with people who choose lower nutrient vegetables like eggplant or celery in their diets.

    Not every bite has to be a superfood.
  • MsJulesRenee
    MsJulesRenee Posts: 1,180 Member
    gothchiq wrote: »
    MFP has a... thing about this. I have never seen a diet and fitness site like this before. People get criticized for avoiding excess sugar, junk food, highly processed items, etc. I may very occasionally permit myself such an item, but I'm not going to pretend it's *healthy* AKA high in nutrients, because it isn't! Folks will equate the "processing" of placing fruit or vegetables in a bag with the processing of mashing things to a pulp, adding a ton of preservatives, artificial flavors and salt, and frying it. To avoid criticism, the only thing to do is to eat healthy for your own sake but never mention it anywhere but on your own home page. *smh*

    What a bummer to not enjoy a simple cookie :( Maybe find a website that advocates "healthy" eating instead so you can be yourself? Although I'm sure there won't be as many long term success stories there, it is not a long term solution for most people.
  • RockstarWilson
    RockstarWilson Posts: 836 Member
    techgal128 wrote: »
    The only way cookies are "unhealthy" is if you eat 5 pounds of them.

    "Challenge accepted!"
  • mwyvr
    mwyvr Posts: 1,883 Member
    These semantic debates are rarely interesting.
  • KittensMaster
    KittensMaster Posts: 748 Member
    gothchiq wrote: »
    MFP has a... thing about this. I have never seen a diet and fitness site like this before. People get criticized for avoiding excess sugar, junk food, highly processed items, etc. I may very occasionally permit myself such an item, but I'm not going to pretend it's *healthy* AKA high in nutrients, because it isn't! Folks will equate the "processing" of placing fruit or vegetables in a bag with the processing of mashing things to a pulp, adding a ton of preservatives, artificial flavors and salt, and frying it. To avoid criticism, the only thing to do is to eat healthy for your own sake but never mention it anywhere but on your own home page. *smh*


    Exactly how I see many on MFP

    Just learn to ignore them.

    The conversations defending eating those junk foods just don't happen at the gym.

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    gothchiq wrote: »
    MFP has a... thing about this. I have never seen a diet and fitness site like this before. People get criticized for avoiding excess sugar, junk food, highly processed items, etc. I may very occasionally permit myself such an item, but I'm not going to pretend it's *healthy* AKA high in nutrients, because it isn't! Folks will equate the "processing" of placing fruit or vegetables in a bag with the processing of mashing things to a pulp, adding a ton of preservatives, artificial flavors and salt, and frying it. To avoid criticism, the only thing to do is to eat healthy for your own sake but never mention it anywhere but on your own home page. *smh*

    You're right. It's mind-boggling.

  • Unknown
    Unknown
    edited August 2015
    This content has been removed.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    CharonCharon wrote: »
    I stated they had butter, white sugar, flour, chocolate chips, ect.
    I consider all these things unhealthy.
    But a couple of people say everything is healthy.
    Is my wording wrong?
    What would be unhealthy to those people in a cookie?

    BTW - I like to eat in volumes.
    I have never been able to do portion control in my entire life.
    Oatmeal is a food I can eat and be full and be happy without guilt.

    People here are trying to understand each other.

    Maybe next time say "low calorie."

    Here is a low calorie recipe for Baked Oatmeal.
    http://www.jillianskitchen.com/2011/11/14/baked-oatmeal/

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    CharonCharon wrote: »
    I stated they had butter, white sugar, flour, chocolate chips, ect.
    I consider all these things unhealthy.
    But a couple of people say everything is healthy.
    Is my wording wrong?
    What would be unhealthy to those people in a cookie?

    BTW - I like to eat in volumes.
    I have never been able to do portion control in my entire life.
    Oatmeal is a food I can eat and be full and be happy without guilt.

    As you add things to oatmeal to make it cookie-like, it will become less feasible to eat it in volume.

    Nevertheless, here are two recipes for portable treats that I enjoy which contain oats, but not butter, white sugar, or flour, and you could replace the chocolate chips in the second recipe with raisins.

    https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/no-bake-peanut-butter-granola-bars/
    https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/chocolate-peanut-butter-bites/

    If you want to eat oats in volume without guilt, how about oatmeal with strawberries? Of course, this is less portable.

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