Greetings, dear guests of my blog! Of the large assortment of sweets, oatmeal cookies remain a favorite for many. It has a special taste and smell.
Now on store shelves, in addition to the classic one, you can find many variations: with cottage cheese, honey, fruits, nuts.
Oatmeal cookies, the benefits and harms of which are questioned by nutritionists, although tasty, can be harmful. As you know, everything is good in moderation. So what benefits does it bring and why is it dangerous?
Composition and calorie content
It is known that 100 g of oatmeal cookies account for about 470 kcal due to the large amount of sugar and margarine. If you take the calorie content of one cookie, it is about 80 kcal, and if you buy diet products, you can reduce the number of calories you consume to 300. If the treat is prepared according to a recipe containing dried fruit, it will be excessively calorie, although very healthy. 100 g of cookies contain 5 g of protein, three times more fat and almost 80 g of carbohydrates.
The calorie content of this product is quite high , but oatmeal cookies are very beneficial for the body. For example, eating a delicacy activates the mind and tones the muscles. Sweets contain healthy vitamins and minerals, and cookies are rich in iron and carotene.
The composition of oatmeal cookies can be anything and can be adapted to any modern recipe. But in its original form, you will definitely need porridge to prepare it - this is the base. Cookies contain various additives, such as candied fruits or chocolate.
Possible harm
Despite many beneficial properties, store-bought cookies can be harmful. Too much butter and sugar are used to make it. To make it healthy, it is better to do your own baking: reduce the amount of sugar, replace animal fat with vegetable fat. An alternative to sugar can be dried fruits, candied fruits, and honey.
To make oatmeal cookies healthy for your figure, you should not use eggs, fats or sugar when baking.
Composition and its harmfulness:
- Butter or margarine are high calorie foods. Although they are not very harmful to health, be careful if you are watching your figure;
- Sugar. There is a lot of it in store products. Now you can buy baked goods with fructose and a minimum of fat, although those who have tried them claim that they are not very tasty;
- Useful fillers - raisins, seeds, dried apricots, candied fruits, nuts. They add calories, but are good for human health. Dried fruits and nuts have a beneficial effect on the digestive system and improve skin condition;
- Preservatives. Thanks to these, the shelf life of the product increases. Be sure to pay attention to this indicator if you do not want to purchase a harmful product.
What's good for oatmeal cookies?
Overall benefit
Oatmeal cookies provide sufficient benefits to the body:
- normalizes intestinal function;
- increases body tone;
- stimulates mental activity;
- improves skin condition;
- helps counteract stress.
For women
Elderly women are especially recommended to include such sweets in their diet because it can remove all toxins and waste from the body, regulate the circulatory system and prevent the appearance of cholesterol plaques. And oatmeal cookies are especially useful for maintaining immunity and reproductive function.
For men
For men, cookies help improve reproductive function and normalize the nervous system . It is especially beneficial to use strong oatmeal cookies to improve cognitive function.
During pregnancy
The beneficial properties of the delicacy allow it to be used by pregnant women. However, they should eat oatcakes carefully and according to set standards because the presence of oatmeal may have a negative impact on health. If we talk about the positive effect, there is no doubt that manganese, which is part of the child’s brain activity, is especially good for making his bones strong. Since cookies help normalize bowel function, they are used by pregnant women. However, oatmeal cookies should be consumed with caution, as excessive consumption can have a negative effect on the functioning of the liver and pancreas.
When breastfeeding
At the beginning of breastfeeding, pediatricians recommend eliminating sweets from your diet . They claim that the presence of undesirable components that can cause allergies in a newborn. Chicken eggs are the first possible allergen. After a month, you can try eating cookies, but at the same time closely monitor the baby's health.
For children
According to experts, purchased oatmeal cookies can only be served from the age of three, but if you have them at home, you should try to treat your child to this sweetness within a year. If your child eats a few pieces for breakfast, it will definitely give him strength and energy throughout the day. If your child is seriously mentally and physically active, you can give him this sweet snack. Many children refuse to eat porridge in the morning, so... you can safely replace it with such a tasty option.
If you are losing weight
Many people who are losing weight wonder if they can eat oatmeal cookies while losing weight. If they are homemade cookies without various harmful additives, they can be used as a snack and satisfy the need for sweet food. But if the sweets were purchased at the store, nutritionists can only eat one piece per week. But you shouldn’t get too carried away with the homemade version; you can replace your breakfast every few days, but nothing more. To avoid injury from a bad product, it is better to prepare it at home or carefully study the ingredients at the store dessert. These should be equivalent to the quality of homemade cookies.
How to eat oatmeal cookies?
It turns out that in order for store-bought sweets to be beneficial, you need to know how to take them correctly. For example, baked goods that contain a lot of starch, margarine, eggs and sugar should be consumed in minimal portions.
If you are watching your figure and health, do not eat store-bought oatmeal cookies every day. But if you really want it, it’s better to take it for breakfast (1-2 pieces) and wash it down with milk or tea without sugar.
Homemade baked goods made from oatmeal/flour should also not be consumed daily. But, of course, you can eat it more often without fear for your figure. The main thing is without fanaticism.
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Best regards, Irina Yarovikova
Oatmeal cookies in medicine
For diabetes
Many people believe that diabetes does not allow you to eat a lot of foods, including forbidden and sweet ones. However, if the product has an acceptable glycemic index, it can also be included in the diet and diabetes. A regular lunch should be made of regular vegetables or meat and a few oatmeal cookies for dessert. Experts recommend eating the treat for breakfast, combining it with low-fat kefir. But oatmeal cookies should be special - they should not contain ingredients with a high glycemic index. Typically, these cookies can be found in the store, it is worth noting that they are intended for diabetics. But the best option is to make your own sweets.
Important: the glycemic index of oatmeal cookies is 80.
If you have pancreatitis
With a disease such as pancreatitis, foods rich in fats and carbohydrates were excluded from the patient’s diet. But it’s hard to deny yourself the pleasure of pampering yourself with sweets. And so, if pancreatitis is not at an acute stage, eat a small amount of oatmeal cookies that do not contain fatty ingredients. But, as in the first case, the best way out of the situation would be homemade cookies, prepared according to all the recommendations and only from fresh and natural products. Sugar and fat should be excluded from the recipe, and cottage cheese should be used instead of these ingredients.
With gastritis
People familiar with a disease such as gastritis know firsthand how difficult it is to control yourself and follow a diet. Sweet lovers are especially upset about the strict rules. Indeed, when treating this disease, the patient should consume only those foods that will not irritate the gastric mucosa. Oatmeal cookies contain flour, and sometimes even two types . It is this component that causes heaviness in the stomach and can easily cause an inflammatory process. The cookies will be digested for a sufficient period of time and if there are any additives in them, the result will be a product that is contraindicated for a person suffering from gastritis. Therefore, with this disease, the doctor introduces a strict diet for the patient. This cannot be violated, and the use of oatmeal cookies is, unfortunately, strictly prohibited.
For the intestines
Oatmeal cookies have the most positive effect on the intestines. With regular consumption of sweets, it is clear that the stomach began to work like clockwork, and constipation disappeared. In addition, such cookies remove all harmful toxins from the body and remove cholesterol plaques. Accordingly, this normalizes the functioning of blood vessels. When intestinal function is normal, the skin automatically improves.
Nutrition for illnesses
What you can and can't eat:
cholecystitis. hemorrhoids in case of colitis gout confirmed for gastritis inflammation of the pancreas for diabetes
Constipated
Almost everyone has encountered the problem of constipation. You can improve your health and bowel function with specific medications, but diet is just as important. You can use oatmeal cookies, but don't worry about them. It is better that this sweetness is homemade .
Gout
Gout is a complex disease that affects metabolism. The essence of the problem is that the products of uric acid conversion are not eliminated, but, on the contrary, accumulate. To alleviate the condition of the body, you can use medications, but the most obvious effect will be a strict diet. But according to experts, you can afford to eat something sweet. You can. This also applies to oatmeal cookies. It is best to buy a special diabetic treatment, and if time permits, it is better to bake the cookies yourself. This way it will be more useful.
With colitis
Since colitis has several forms of exacerbation - acute and chronic - the diet will change at different stages. In the case of this disease, doctors recommend not eating for several days, and after fasting, the patient is prescribed a strict diet, on which you can forget about sweets in the store. Therefore, purchased oatmeal cookies should be excluded from your regular diet , but a homemade version of the sweets can be an occasional indulgence.
For the liver
Due to the fact that oatmeal cookies contain a huge amount of fiber, various vitamins and proteins, their regular consumption in reasonable quantities has a beneficial effect on the liver. But you should choose such a product in the store with caution, giving priority to the option that has the most natural composition.
For hemorrhoids
For hemorrhoids caused by constipation, a person must follow a strict diet prescribed by the doctor. A properly selected treatment regimen is aimed at normalizing the functioning of the intestines by cleansing it. Medicines often do not help fight this disease, and the patient must eat on a strict schedule. For foods that are difficult to digest, cause fermentation in the intestines, cause bloating, and even cause constipation, doctors safely carry muffins and all baked goods, including oatmeal cookies. Therefore, when treating hemorrhoids, you should forget about sweets or replace them with fruits or berries.
If you have cholecystitis
Cholecystitis is cholecystitis that impairs digestive functions. With this disease, doctors recommend avoiding oatmeal cookies for a number of reasons: cookies have a high calorie content, which has a very negative effect on the functioning of the stomach. Adding various food additives, flavor enhancers and leavening agents can cause heaviness and discomfort in the stomach.
Due to the presence of fat in sweets, desserts can cause processes such as bloating or fermentation.
Oatmeal Cookie Recipes
Modern cooking is replete with a variety of oatmeal cookie recipes, but not every one of them can be called successful. Of all the abundance of methods for preparing dessert, only a few of them allow you to prepare not only a tasty, but also healthy, and also truly dietary product. In other cases, you won’t be able to lose weight and enjoy dessert at the same time.
Classical
The simplest and most delicious cookies are the classic recipe. It does not require any specific products, but allows you to prepare a dietary treat in the shortest possible time. To create a dessert according to a traditional recipe, for one serving you will need 200 g of butter, 170 g of wheat flour, 150 g of sugar, 2 eggs and 1.5 cups of oatmeal. In addition, to improve the consistency of the dessert, it is recommended to take 2 teaspoons of baking powder.
Important! It is strongly not recommended to replace butter with spreads and margarine. They not only worsen the taste of baked goods, but can also negatively affect its consistency.
Step-by-step cooking instructions:
- Combine the butter and sugar, then combine it with the eggs and mix everything until smooth.
- Add oatmeal, flour and baking powder to the mixture. Knead the dough.
- Place the dough in a deep container, cover it with cling film, and refrigerate for about 1 hour.
- Form small cakes, place them on a baking sheet with parchment (pre-greased with butter). The cookies should be baked in the oven at +180°C for 15–20 minutes.
On kefir
This recipe is considered the lowest calorie. By replacing butter and sugar with lower-calorie ingredients, it was possible to obtain an ideal dietary dish while maintaining its excellent taste. To create it, you should take only 200–250 g of oatmeal, 350 ml of kefir and half a glass of any dried fruit.
You will be interested to learn about the features of preparing and consuming buckwheat with kefir.
To prepare the dessert you need:
- Pour kefir over the oatmeal and place the semi-finished product in the refrigerator for about 35–60 minutes.
- Grind dried fruits into arbitrary pieces. Their sizes should be minimal.
- Combine the kefir-oat mixture with dried fruits and form small cakes from the dough. Bake them in the oven on a baking sheet with parchment at +180°C for about 20–25 minutes.
With cottage cheese
Another popular dish is the so-called oatmeal-curd cookies. As in the previous version, it has a minimal negative impact on the figure, while the presence of cottage cheese makes it possible to diversify the diet, as well as supply the body with easily digestible protein and calcium. This dessert is prepared from 110 g of oatmeal, 110 g of cottage cheese, 2 egg whites, raisins and cinnamon (to taste).
Did you know? Cottage cheese is considered one of the oldest fermented milk products. The technology of its production was brought to perfection long before our era. At the same time, unlike today, a specific clot was used as a starter, which formed in the stomach of calves during the period of feeding with mother's milk.
In order to make the dish, you should:
- Grind the flakes to coarse grains.
- Mash the cottage cheese, combine it with egg whites and raisins, then bring everything until smooth.
- Combine the ground oatmeal and curd mass, and then knead the dough well.
- Form small pancakes from the mixture and bake them at +180°C (15–20 minutes).
Without flour and sugar
This recipe will perfectly satisfy the need for treats for almost any sweet tooth. Despite the fact that it does not contain traditional sweeteners, the baked goods are no less bright. At the same time, it is possible to preserve the traditional taste of the cookies almost without changes. The classic method of preparing such a homemade dish requires the cook to 500 g of oatmeal, the whites of 3 eggs, half a teaspoon of vanillin, a pinch of cinnamon and a generous handful of raisins.
Harm and contraindications
In addition to its beneficial properties, oatmeal cookies have a number of contraindications:
- Due to the high calorific value of oatmeal cookies, they should be avoided by people who tend to be overweight.
- When producing cookies, manufacturers add a variety of flavor enhancers, relaxants and other ingredients to sweets that can cause an allergic reaction.
- If you eat dessert in large quantities, you may have stomach problems (most often this is an upset).
- Patients with diabetes should be especially careful when consuming this product because it contains a lot of sugar, and only choose a special diabetic product that is made with fructose.
- For some diseases, such as gastritis, only natural oatmeal cookies are allowed in their diet. Candies should not contain food additives or fillers such as jam or chocolate.
- Oatmeal cookies are an independent product and are usually seasoned with tea, milk, kefir or yogurt. In the process of losing weight or in case of various diseases, you should not overuse it, and the best time to eat oatmeal cookies is in the morning. In order not to harm your health, it is best to bake sweets at home. In this case, you can control the set of products from which baking will be made.
What are the benefits of oatmeal cookies made from natural ingredients?
- helps improve the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract
- copes with constipation
- gives vigor, strength, energizes, removes excessive irritability
- significantly improves the condition of the dermis
- maintains muscle tone
- saturates quickly
- ensures healthy hematopoiesis
- lowers bad cholesterol (cholesterol-lowering foods)
- oats suppress depression
Does it harm the body? As you already understand, cookies do not have a fat-burning effect. It contains only a minimal amount of fat and helps “not break” during the diet. Nutritionists do not recommend purchasing the product in a store due to the high percentage of additives + sugar. Plus, consuming cookies in large quantities can lead to increased acidity and the formation of gastric juice, which in turn leads to an exacerbation of gastroenterological diseases.
How to select and store oatmeal cookies
Oatmeal cookies are a sweet treat that is loved by both adults and children. Usually the breakfast delicacy is eaten with tea. In modern production, various food additives have begun to be used, which are not very useful. These additives are neutral or may have a negative effect on the human body. They are used by dishonest manufacturers to give candies the correct color, volume and aroma. For your tea to be successful, you must choose more natural and high-quality cookies in the store. To make the right choice of delicacies, you must follow a few simple rules.
To choose a good cookie for hanging, it is recommended to taste it. Usually at a trade market the seller allows a small tasting. There is no need to be shy, and you should try to be gentle whenever possible. Cookies prepared according to the classic recipe should not have any flavoring additives in the form of fruit or chocolate . If this taste is clearly felt, we can conclude that the composition of the cookies is far from natural. It should not taste too sweet when consumed in the mouth. It is best to choose regular classic cookies, without sugar. Even if it breaks into pieces, this option is not worth buying: sugar damages your teeth and also affects your taste.
The second way to rate oatmeal more than cakes. As you know, the composition of the dough directly depends on who prepared it. It may contain animal products that are prohibited on an empty stomach. But if the sweetness is made without prohibited ingredients on an empty stomach, it can be eaten. But you can look at it from a different point of view. Even if the product is completely plant-based, it is still sweet. And during Lent, it is better to refuse such temptation, because food should only retain strength and satisfy hunger, and not spoil a person. If a person is naturally sweet, then giving up sweets can make him sad or depressed. To prevent this, you can eat sweets whenever possible.
Beneficial features
When losing weight, oatmeal cookies are not only a source of energy, as well as a favorite treat, but also a very healthy product. The main ingredient is oatmeal or oatmeal, one of the essential superfoods. The product is often included in diet menus due to its unique balanced composition. Using oatmeal, you can prepare not only traditional porridge, but also create a delicious low-calorie dessert. By using healthy sweets, you can avoid not only apathy and mood swings, but also breakdowns with subsequent weight gain.
It is worth remembering that you can only eat home-made oatmeal cookies on a diet. Store-bought products contain trans fats, preservatives, emulsifiers, and flavor enhancers. To ensure comfortable and quick weight loss, it is better to use recipes for healthy, low-calorie baked goods; the composition and quality of the ingredients can be controlled independently.
Benefits of oatmeal cookies for weight loss:
- improves the functioning of the digestive system;
- helps with constipation;
- quickly saturates with energy;
- lifts the mood, gives vigor;
- improves complexion, helps with hair loss and brittleness;
- due to the content of vitamins and minerals, it saturates the body with nutrients;
- lowers cholesterol levels.
On a diet, oatmeal cookies can be eaten for breakfast or as a first snack. Contains carbohydrates - the main source of energy necessary for normal life. If you enjoy dessert in the evening, even a light, low-calorie product will turn into fat deposits. You should also not have a traditional tea party, which slows down the absorption processes. It is optimal to combine with fruits, berries or fermented milk products - kefir, yogurt. It will become a complete meal, providing a good mood and a feeling of fullness for a long time.