Athletic-Minded Traveler

Your Oatmeal Questions Answered

Steel Cut, Old Fashioned Flakes, Instant? What is the best oatmeal choice when I am making oatmeal at home? And what about instant flavored "packets" of oatmeal? Are they nutritionally bankrupt? And last, how about the oatmeal offered at fast food joints? Thumbs up or down?

We look at the variety of oatmeal available at stores, share our oatmeal recipe, and delve into what is offered "on the road." 

Oats at the Grocery Store (Home Base)

Take a look at the below chart & realize that “steel cut” & “old fashioned” are no better than "instant" in terms of fiber, protein and calories.  Also keep in mind that the serving sizes in following data are for uncooked oats. 40 grams uncooked translates to about 220 grams cooked -- which you will see is the most common serving size offered at places like Starbucks, Jamba Juice, Panera Bread, Au Bon Pain, and Corner Bakery.

Our Advice: Go with what tastes good, and what works for your lifestyle. You don't have to opt for a slow cooked oat to get the fiber and protein. And read the label if you enjoy "pre-flavored" oats. Quaker's Instant Maple Brown Sugar is a sugar and sodium bomb compared to Nature's Path Hemp+ and the Umpqua Oats "No Guilt". NO sodium! 

Instant Oats Specifics

• Nature's Path Hemp Plus is lower in sugar than the other flavored instant varieties. It has 6g sugar and is lower in sodium than any Quaker option. Other Nature's Path flavors have more sugar. For example the Maple Nut has 11g. But all Nature's Path varieties are fairly low in sodium at around 100mg.  (*Nutrition for Nature's Path Hemp Plus to right.)
• Ingredients. Nature's Path contains oats, evaporated cane juice, nuts, seeds fruit, & flavorings. That is it. Quite different is Quaker. The high fiber, low sugar, and weight control varieties all contain sucralose and 200+ mg sodium along with a bevy of other "ingredients". Instant oatmeal flavored packet NO BRAINER:  Pick Nature's Path.
• Umpqua is certainly a contender in the flavored category. We love that there is an unsweetened option that relies on fruit and nuts for added flavor. It is the one we detail above called "No Guilt". It comes in a "tub" and the serving size is larger than the packets. It also has superior ingredients: Rolled oats, flax seeds, chia sees, blueberries, apples. LOVE it! All the other Umpqua flavors, like the Nature's Path, contain evaporated cane juice to sweeten.

Bottom Line: Nature's Path for instant packets. Umpqua for a "travel bowl".

When you are home and have time to whip up a big batch of oatmeal, we think you may like our recipe for MAXIMIZING flavor and MINIMIZING salt and sugar.

Athletic-Minded Traveler's Acai Oatmeal Recipe

We use a quick-cook, old-fashioned oat (Typically Trader Joe’s) and prepare a big batch for the week. To maximize taste and minimize added sugars, this is what we do:

What you'll need:

• 1 packet Nature’s Path Hemp Plus
• 3 Cups Old Fashioned Oats
• 4 Cups water
• 1-2 Cups “milk” – We’ll use Organic Fat Free or 365 Brand Original Almond Milk
• 2T (or more) Cinnamon
• 1-2T Buckwheat Honey
• 1 Unsweetened Acai Packet (added at end and stirred in) *Click for our earlier post about Acai.
• Bananas

Directions: Combine first 4 ingredients and heat to a super low boil and immediately turn down heat. Add more milk if needed. Add cinnamon and honey and stir. Add Acai and stir. Done.  It’s all good stuff! Even our “sweetener” offers nutritional/health benefits. Kids love it. Each morning we heat some up and add chopped bananas. This is our AM staple.  

Oats "On the Road":  I want my oatmeal! Where should I go?

First, can you BYOO? If yes, pack the Nature's Path packets or the Umpqua Oats. If packing the porridge is a no-go, then you'll be happy to learn that quick serve restaurants understand that oatmeal is a morning favorite; and the BIG Boys of fast food have stepped up to the oatmeal bowl.  Thankfully, the options at fast food eateries are sensible, as long as one doesn’t go on a topping free for all. 

Our Advice: Order plain and select 1 or 2 toppings max based on your taste and nutritional goals.

** Read more Food Posts ** Our Everything Food Archives!!

CONCLUSIONS

• There are good oatmeal options available at fast food eateries that are under 250 calories.
• Most quick serve joints offer plain oatmeal as a base and a choice of toppings. Not too surprising, Dunkin Donuts does not. At McDonalds you must specifically request the oatmeal plain and toppings on the side 
• Nearly every place uses "slow cook/whole grain oats", but as we discovered above, from a nutrition standpoint, it doesn't really matter
• Corner Bakery's version contains milk and Jamba's has soy milk. Why not almond milk?? It's better.
• We'd skip the nuts when it comes to the toppings and save them for a stand-alone snack. The calories for nuts add up fast.

Ingredient Specifics

Starbucks: Uses steel cut and whole grain oats. 

Panera Bread: Organic steel cut oats is used as the base. Panera gets an F for website nutrition ease of use. Too much clicking required and the pdf guide doesn't provide information on "plain oatmeal". 

Jamba Juice: Gets the topping award. There are many "versions" available including high quality fresh fruit. All versions contain Soy Milk which makes for a richer porridge. We vote for a switch to almond milk.

Dunkin Donuts: It's our least favorite. It's Quaker Oats in two flavors: original with dried fruit and brown sugar and the later contains sucralose. You can't control the toppings and both are over 250 calories. We don't mind sucralose, but we'd rather add it ourselves to control the amount.

McDonald's: The ingredients past muster. Our concern is that getting just the toppings you want may be a challenge.

Au Bon Pain & Corner Bakery Both offer a nice oat and choice of toppings. At Au Bon Pain, be careful about sizes. There are 3. Corner Bakery's tasty toppings can quickly add lots of calories.

FINAL OATMEAL SAY

ENJOY! And please comment about our analysis or share your favorite porridge!