Oatmeal cookies: health properties and contraindications

Oatmeal cookies are a very tasty sweet, but in order to get more benefits from them, you need to know how to choose it competently. To get all the vitamins from the cookies, it is recommended to bake them yourself from the freshest and healthiest products.

Composition and calories

As you know, there are about 470 kcal per 100 grams of store-bought oatmeal cookies because of the large amount of sugar and margarine. If you take the caloric value of one cookie, it is about 80 kcal, and if you buy diet products, you can reduce the number of calories consumed to 300. If the treat is prepared according to a recipe that includes dried fruit, then it will be overcaloric, although quite useful. In 100 g of cookies there are 5 g of proteins, three times more fats, and carbohydrates - almost 80 g.

The caloric value of this product is quite high, but oatmeal cookies are of great benefit to the body. For example, the use of a treat lifts the mood, activates mental activity, and also raises the tone of the muscles. In the sweet there are useful vitamins and minerals, as well as cookies are rich in iron and carotene.

The composition of oatmeal cookies can be anything and adjust to any modern recipe. But, as it was originally formed, for its preparation you will definitely need oat flour - it is the basis. Various additives, such as candied fruits or chocolate, are put into the cookies.

What are the benefits of oatmeal cookies

General health benefits

Oatmeal cookies bring enough benefits to the body:

• normalizes the work of the intestines;
• Increases the tone of the body;
• It activates mental activity;
• improves skin condition;
• helps to cope with stress.

For women

Ladies of age are especially recommended to introduce such a sweet into their diet, because with its help you can remove all the toxins from the body, improve the function of the circulatory system and prevent the appearance of cholesterol plaques. And oatmeal cookies are especially useful for maintaining the immune system and reproductive function.

For men

For men, cookies help improve reproductive function and normalize the nervous system. It is especially useful for the stronger sex to consume oatmeal cookies to improve cognitive function.

When pregnant

The useful properties of the delicacy allow you to consume it for pregnant women. But they need to consume oatmeal cookies with caution and within the established norms, as the presence of oat flour can have a negative impact on health. If we talk about the positive effects, there is no doubt that the manganese in the composition is particularly good for the brain activity of the child, makes his bones strong. As the cookies help to normalize the intestinal function, pregnant women will benefit from it. But eat oatmeal cookies should be careful, because excessive consumption can have a negative impact on the liver and pancreas.

When breastfeeding

At the beginning of breastfeeding a child, pediatricians recommend excluding from your diet the purchased sweets. They argue that it contains undesirable ingredients that can cause allergies in a newborn. The first possible allergen is chicken eggs. After a month, you can try to eat cookies a little at a time, but carefully monitor the child's health.

For kids

According to the experts, you can give oatmeal cookies only from the age of three, but if they are homemade, you should try to give your child such a sweet treat even at one year of age. If the child eats a few pieces for breakfast, he will be charged with energy and vigor for the whole day for sure. If the child is quite mentally and physically demanding, you can give him a snack of this sweet. Many children refuse to eat oatmeal in the morning, so you can safely replace it with this delicious option.

When losing weight

Many thinners are interested in the question - is it possible to eat oatmeal cookies when losing weight? If it will be a cookie made at home, with no various harmful additives, then it is quite possible to use it as a kind of snack and satisfaction of the desire to eat sweets. But if the sweet was bought in the store, then nutritionists are allowed to consume only one piece per week. But even the homemade version should not be too fond of, you can replace breakfast with it once every few days, but no more than that. In order not to harm yourself with a bad product, it is best to cook it at home or carefully study the composition of the store dessert. It should only be the quality counterpart of homemade cookies.

Oatmeal cookies in medicine

For diabetes mellitus.

Many people believe that in diabetes mellitus you can not eat many products, including under the ban and sweets. But if the product has an acceptable glycemic index, then it is quite possible to include it in the diet and a diabetic. Of the usual vegetables or meat should prepare a standard lunch, and for dessert eat some oatmeal cookies. Experts recommend consuming the treat at breakfast, combining it with nonfat kefir. But oatmeal cookies should be special - they should not contain ingredients that have a high glycemic index. As a rule, such cookies can be found in the store, it should be marked that it is intended for diabetics. But the best option would be a self-made sweet.

Important: The glycemic index of oatmeal cookies is 80 units.

With pancreatitis

With such a disease as pancreatitis, products with a large amount of fats and carbohydrates are excluded from the patient's diet. But it's difficult to deny yourself the pleasure of indulging in sweets. And so, if pancreatitis is not in the acute stage, it is allowed to eat a small amount of oatmeal cookies, which do not contain fatty components. But, as in the first case, the best way out of the situation will be homemade cookies, cooked in accordance with all the recommendations and only from fresh and natural products. Exclude sugar and fat from the recipe, and instead of these components add cottage cheese.

With gastritis

People who are familiar with such a disease as gastritis know firsthand how difficult it is to control oneself and stick to a diet. Especially frustrated because of the strict regimen are lovers of sweets. After all, when treating such a disease, the patient should eat only those products that will not irritate the mucous membrane of the stomach. The composition of oatmeal cookies contains flour, and sometimes even two kinds of flour. It is this ingredient that causes heaviness in the stomach and can easily provoke an inflammatory process. To digest the cookies will be a sufficient amount of time, and if it has any additives, then the output will be a product that is contraindicated to a person suffering from gastritis. Therefore, with such a disease, the doctor introduces a strict diet for the patient. It can not be violated, and, unfortunately, the use of oatmeal cookies is strictly prohibited.

For the intestines

The most positive effect of oatmeal cookies has on the intestines. With regular consumption of the sweet you can notice that the stomach began to work like clockwork, and constipation disappeared. Also such cookies remove from the body all harmful slags and toxins, gets rid of cholesterol plaques. Accordingly, the work of the blood vessels is normalized. After the work of the intestines comes back to normal, the condition of the skin automatically improves as well.

For constipation

With such a problem as constipation, almost everyone is faced with. Improve your health and bowel function can be helped by using special medications, but not the least important role is the diet. You can eat oatmeal cookies, but you should not get carried away with them. It is better that the sweetness was homemade.

With gout

Gout is not a simple disease that concerns the metabolism. The essence of the problem is that the products of uric acid metabolism are not eliminated, but on the contrary - accumulate. In order to alleviate the condition, you can use medications, but the most obvious effect will be a strict diet. But, according to experts, it is possible to afford to eat something sweet. This also applies to oatmeal cookies. It is best to buy a special kind of dainty for diabetics, and if time permits and there is a possibility, it is better to bake cookies yourself. So from it will be more useful.

In colitis

Because colitis has several forms of its exacerbation - acute and chronic, and the diet will be different at different stages. With such a disease, doctors recommend several days not to take any food at all, and after fasting, they prescribe the patient a strict diet, in which you can forget about store sweets. Therefore, purchase oatmeal cookies should be excluded from your usual diet, but the homemade version of the sweet can sometimes indulge yourself.

For the liver

Due to the fact that oatmeal cookies contain a huge amount of fiber, various vitamins and proteins, its regular use in reasonable quantities has a beneficial effect on the liver. But choose such a product in the store should be chosen with caution, giving preference to the version that has the most natural composition.

When hemorrhoids

With hemorrhoids, which have been caused by constipation, a person must follow a strict diet prescribed by the doctor. A well-chosen treatment regimen is designed to normalize the bowel through its cleansing. Medicines often do not help in the fight against such an ailment, and the patient is forced to eat according to a rigid schedule. To foods that are hard to digest, cause fermentation in the intestines, flatulence, and can even provoke constipation, doctors safely include baked goods and any kind of pastries, including oatmeal cookies. Therefore, when treating hemorrhoids, you should forget about sweets or replace them with fruit or berries.

In cholecystitis

Cholecystitis is an inflammation of the gallbladder, in which digestion is disturbed. With this disease, doctors recommend giving up oatmeal cookies for a number of reasons:

1. Cookies have a high level of calories, and this has an extremely negative effect on the work of the stomach.
2. The addition of various food additives, flavor enhancers, leavening agents can cause heaviness in the stomach and discomfort.
3. Because of the fats present in the sweet, the dessert can cause processes such as flatulence or fermentation.

The damage and contraindications

In addition to the health benefits, oatmeal cookies have a number of contraindications:

1. Due to the high caloric content, oatmeal cookies should be avoided by people who are prone to obesity.
2. When making cookies, manufacturers add various flavor enhancers, leavening agents and other ingredients that can cause an allergic reaction.
3. If you consume the dessert in large quantities, you can get stomach problems (most often an upset).

Diabetic patients need to use this product with particular caution, since it contains a lot of sugar, and choose in the store only special for diabetics, which is made on the basis of fructose.

For some diseases, such as gastritis, it is allowed to introduce only natural oatmeal cookies in their diet. There must be no food additives or fillers, such as jam or chocolate, in the sweet.

Oatmeal cookies are a standalone product, and as a rule, they are supplemented with tea, milk, kefir or yogurt when consuming them. In the process of losing weight or for various diseases you should not abuse them, and the best time to eat oatmeal cookies is in the morning. In order not to harm your health, it is best to bake the sweet at home. At the same time, you can control the set of products from which the bake will be made.

How to choose and store oatmeal cookies

Oatmeal cookies - a sweet that is loved by both adults and children. Usually the treat is eaten for breakfast together with tea. In modern production, various food additives began to be used, which are not too useful. These additives can be neutral or can have a negative impact on the human body. They are used by dishonest manufacturers in order to give the desired color, volume, and odor to sweetness. For a successful tea party, it is necessary to choose a more natural and high-quality cookie in the store. To choose the right treats, you need to follow a few simple rules.

1. To choose a good cookie by weight, it is recommended to taste it. Usually at the market seller allows a small tasting. You shouldn't be shy, and at every opportunity, you should definitely try the treat. Cookies made according to a classic recipe, should not have a flavor of additives in the form of fruit or chocolate. If such a taste is clearly felt, then you can conclude that the composition of the cookie is far from natural. When you eat them in the mouth should not be too sweet taste. It is best to opt for a regular classic cookie, without sugar. Even if they are sprinkled with sugar on top, you should not buy this version: sugar harms your teeth and also interferes with the taste.
2. The second way to evaluate an oatmeal cookie is its appearance. The first sign of quality is an even and whole structure of sweetness, that is, it should not crumble in the box. If we are talking about a packaged product, then in such a package, too, there should not be pieces and crumbs, and their presence indicates that it is too dry. Such cookies are difficult to eat without tea or milk. According to production standards, there should not be more than 4 broken pieces per 1 kilogram of cookies. If there are more of them, then it is safe to say that the quality leaves much to be desired. It happens that the delicacy fell apart due to expiration of the shelf life or violation of storage conditions. Such cookies are also not beneficial, and it is better to choose another one.
3. Real quality oatmeal cookies should be round, have a dark color and a soft texture. In addition, a properly made dessert can even have particles of oat groats.
4. If the cookies are too smooth, you should avoid buying such a product. As a rule, too many additional ingredients are added to such confectionery products.
5. When choosing, it is worth paying attention not only to the products, but also to the box itself in which it is located. If it has suspicious spots or holes, then it is not good. This may indicate that in the place where the cookies are stored there are rodents, which are carriers of dangerous diseases.
6. When it comes to pre-packaged store cookies, you need to study the composition of the product before choosing it. It should not contain any synthetic additives. Cookies should be made only from known and natural products. That is why, if the treat contains flavorings, dyes, leavening agents, it is better to refuse such a purchase.

If we talk about the choice of oatmeal cookies, it is difficult to say which is better - by weight or already in a package. For example, cookies on weight can be touched and tasted, and packaged cookies are guaranteed not to reach the store in their original condition.

When choosing, the main point will be the shelf life of oatmeal cookies. If it is long and exceeds two months, it indicates the presence of chemical additives, which are not very useful for humans. According to experts, the best shelf life of such a confectionery product is 30 days. In the store, be sure to look to ensure that the product is not overdue.

If the oatmeal cookies could not be eaten immediately, it is recommended to store them in an airtight container, putting a piece of bread there. The bread will be great at absorbing moisture, which will help the cookies not get damp. This method will keep the cookies soft for a long time. But if you need to keep the delicacy fresh for a long time, you need to put it in a bag with a clasp and put it in the freezer. So it will stay fresh and delicious for a long time. If cookies are made at home, you should let them cool down before putting them in the freezer. Putting a hot product in a container, you can spoil it, the cookies can get damp. Therefore, it is recommended to leave them on a plate until completely cooled and only then send them into the cold.

Putting oatmeal cookies in an airtight bag with a clasp, you can be sure that it will not fall apart during storage. It is desirable that the products lie flat against each other, this will ensure complete isolation from the air, respectively, they will retain their freshness much longer.

Another important rule when storing cookies is not to put different types of treats in the same container. At the same time, the storage container should be made of food-grade plastic. For better preservation of the cookies, you can put sheets of parchment between each layer.

How to make oatmeal cookies: recipes

The best oatmeal cookies are considered to be cooked at home with their own hands.

Recipe 1

To prepare the product according to the first recipe you will need the following ingredients:

• 100 ml of milk.
• 2 tablespoons sugar.
• A little salt.
• A little butter.
• Oat flakes - 3 cups.
• 50 grams of flour.
• A little baking powder - no more than 2 spoons.

First you need to mix water with sugar until it completely dissolves. To the resulting liquid, add oatmeal, oil, flour, baking powder. After that, all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed, bring to a homogeneous state. Then cover the dish and leave the resulting mixture for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. After converting the dough, form cookies. To do this, first roll a ball, and then make a cake out of it, put it on a baking tray. At the same time on the baking tray should already lie baking paper greased with butter. The last step is baking in the oven for 30 minutes at a standard temperature of 180-200 degrees.

Recipe 2

Another option for making oatmeal cookies is suitable for those who do not like milk and butter. The components of the mixture are about the same as in the first case, only the butter should be replaced by vegetable oil, and milk - by water. When baking, choose a temperature slightly higher than in the first case - 240 degrees. Cooking time - only 10 minutes.

Recipe 3

To prepare a more delicious and calorie-dense cookie, you will need a slightly different list of ingredients:

• Butter - 100 g.
• One cup sugar.
• One chicken egg.
• Mandatory ingredient - oat flakes in the amount of 100 g.
• A small amount of prunes.
• One tablespoon of sour cream.
• Two kinds of flour - both add 100 g.
• Baking powder and vanilla sugar in equal proportions - half a teaspoon each.

Initially it is necessary to heat the oven well at 200 degrees and crush the prunes. Mix the butter, egg and two kinds of sugar and bring to homogeneity. To the resulting mixture add sour cream and prunes, flour and baking powder. Then send the resulting dough to the oven for 30 minutes, and you can cover the entire baking tray with it and, when ready, cut the cookies into squares. Here is such an unusual recipe.

Recipe 4

In addition to the usual recipes, you can put in your piggy bank the following version, which replicates the cookies sold in the famous Starbucks cafe. It will require the following ingredients:

• Butter - 150 g.
• One cup of sugar.
• One chicken egg.
• A little salt.
• Half a teaspoon of cinnamon.
• One cup of oatmeal.
• Chocolate.
• Any dried fruit.
• Two kinds of flour - 100 grams each.

To bake original and delicious cookies, before cooking, you must be sure to soften the butter. Then preheat the oven at 180 degrees, mix the sugar, butter, and egg. Mix thoroughly. Then send to the mixture cinnamon and baking powder, oat flakes. After all the manipulations, mix the chocolate, dried fruit and flour and add to the existing dough. Then send the formed balls to bake on a baking tray with paper. By the way, it is not necessary to turn them into a flatbread, they themselves will get the desired shape. The cooking time is no more than 15 minutes.

How much oatmeal cookies are allowed per day

The recommended portion of oatmeal cookies per day depends on the caloric content of the product. According to experts, even if a person eats three pieces, it will not do any harm. The main thing is that he does not have any diseases, in which you need to limit yourself in a sweet. The best time to eat such sweetness is in the morning. To have a balanced breakfast, it is recommended to eat cookies with kefir.

Is it possible to eat at night

If a person is used to eating cookies, including oatmeal, at about the same time at night, then it is completely safe to say that this will not do any harm, including the figure. Therefore, it is worth to consume such sweets according to the planned schedule, then the metabolism process will remain the same, and the figure will not suffer changes. But if you eat sweets chaotically, then the weight gain will not be noticed immediately, the pounds will be visible only after a couple of months.

May I eat during Lent?

Oatmeal cookies, like any other, are a form of dough existence. As you know, the composition of the dough depends directly on who prepared it. It may contain products of animal origin, which are forbidden in Lent. But if the sweet is prepared without the ingredients forbidden in Lent, then it is quite possible to eat it. But we can look at it from another perspective. Even if the product is entirely vegetable, it is still a sweet. And during Lent it is better to refuse such temptation, because the food should only sustain strength and satisfy hunger, but not pamper a person. If a person has a sweet tooth, then the total rejection of sweets can make him feel sad or depressed. To prevent this, you can eat sweets in moderation.

Interesting facts about oatmeal cookies

1. The first interesting fact tells us that such cookies came to us from Scotland, as oats were the most popular grain crop in the times of the 17th century.
2. The first recipe for this treat was quite simple: oats were mixed with water and baked over an open fire.
3. The modern version of the cookie contains quite a lot of sugar, and in the past this pastry was even used instead of bread.
4. Few people know, but oatmeal cookies are eaten not only at tea time, they can be consumed in the most unusual combinations. For example, this sweet combines perfectly with salmon, cheese and cream soups.

So, to summarize, we can say that oatmeal cookies, which are made from natural products and according to a classic recipe, in which there are no various additives, are a very useful product. The best option would be homemade cookies, created by your own hands. But if there is no possibility to bake a dainty by yourself, then when choosing in the store, you should definitely study the composition, it should be as close to natural as possible. The expiration date should not be too long. When buying, you should pay attention to the packaging, which should not have broken off pieces and crumbs, the cookies should be even, beautiful, have a brown color. And most importantly, the product should be soft enough.

Photo of oatmeal cookies