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

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.

techgal128 wrote: »

The only way cookies are "unhealthy" is if you eat 5 pounds of them.

"Challenge accepted!"

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.

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/

Caitwn wrote: »

It's just a teensy bit dramatic to say that the responses in that thread "blasted" you. I'm still looking for evidence of that. Maybe the abusive posts were deleted...

In the meantime, putting foods like oatmeal cookies into "good"/"bad" boxes within the context of a balanced diet doesn't make sense to me. But no cookie-type item, regardless of whether it's made like a traditional oatmeal cookie or the unspeakable aberrations made with bananas is something that would be a reasonable snack item for a person who identifies as a volume eater.

As another poster pointed out, oatmeal cookie recipes and the question of how to deal with snacks that may be appropriate for volume eaters are two different things. Maybe look for oatmeal recipes that emphasize savory rather than sweet?

I shudder at the thought of desecrating a oatmeal cookie with bananas, but since the thread already was established with an overload of drama, I shall keep my utter horror to myself. I make mine with a lot of brown sugar, butter, and vanilla..and occasionally include coconut flakes instead of raisins (so moist!) and bake them with a tablespoon of apricot preserves in the center. But they're not the kind of thing I'd keep handy as a regular snack.

If you wrote a blog, I'd subscribe

kshama2001 wrote: »

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.

There are things I like to eat in volume, but I am finding myself with some questions regarding oatmeal and the idea of it as a choice as a volume food. Oatmeal is a dense food, and tends to fill up most people fairly quickly. Especially as it tends to expand as it takes on liquid. Whatever is added to it can be what makes it more calorie laden.
Oatmeal cookies are delicious, but cookies are something I don't eat in volume because desserts are eaten in small portions to fit them into the calorie goal for the day.

Caitwn wrote: »

It's just a teensy bit dramatic to say that the responses in that thread "blasted" you. I'm still looking for evidence of that. Maybe the abusive posts were deleted...

In the meantime, putting foods like oatmeal cookies into "good"/"bad" boxes within the context of a balanced diet doesn't make sense to me. But no cookie-type item, regardless of whether it's made like a traditional oatmeal cookie or the unspeakable aberrations made with bananas is something that would be a reasonable snack item for a person who identifies as a volume eater.

As another poster pointed out, oatmeal cookie recipes and the question of how to deal with snacks that may be appropriate for volume eaters are two different things. Maybe look for oatmeal recipes that emphasize savory rather than sweet?

I shudder at the thought of desecrating a oatmeal cookie with bananas, but since the thread already was established with an overload of drama, I shall keep my utter horror to myself. I make mine with a lot of brown sugar, butter, and vanilla...and occasionally include coconut flakes instead of raisins (so moist!) and bake them with a tablespoon of apricot preserves in the center. But they're not the kind of thing I'd keep handy as a regular snack.

Nothing was deleted from her other thread. Its exactly as it was.

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*

+1

There is protein , carbs , and fat in this cookie, right? And it's different from the protein, fat , and carbs in some organic something or other? Or am I mistaken? Or do I just believe something that is wrong?