Instant porridge: good or bad?

MaryKirwan

I used to eat a lot of cereal like Crunchy Nut and Special K, or have cereal with honey poured on top. I switched to porridge in the little sachets because they're lower in calories in themselves, plus I don't need to add calories with milk, and oatmeal is generally a lot healthier.

HOWEVER! I've become slightly addicted, and now looking at the packets, all the ones I get (apple and cinnamon, raisins, raspberry and little nuts...) all have 9 or 10 grams of sugar in them :O I know steel cut oats are much healthier but I wouldn't want plain porridge I could add in a chopped up banana but bananas can have as many as 14 or 15 grams of sugar each if they're big enough. Raisins are high in sugar too. And I have orange juice with breakfast.

What would anybody recommend here? I'm terrified of getting diabetes. I'm far from overweight but I eat way too much sugar. I go through about 3 bowls of the stuff a day, chocolate and fruit and fruit juice aside. I always thought I didn't need to worry about diabetes because I'm not overweight and the only obvious junk food I eat is dark chocolate (although a small amount is beneficial), but I think I may be getting around 100g of sugar every day.

Stench Blossoms

The plain ones are fine. The ones with added stuff ain't so good.

How are you eating 100g of sugar a day?

MaryKirwan

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

The plain ones are fine. The ones with added stuff ain't so good.

How are you eating 100g of sugar a day?

Well, I usually have 3 bowls of the instant stuff (=30g), the soup I had yesterday had 7g (37g), ovaltine has 10g per cup (47), bananas apparently have 14g in a large one and I had two large ones (75g)... Plus a few squares of chocolate and an apple and whatever else I had.

How can I make the porridge taste sweet without having lots of sugar? Raisins or cinnamon or adding in honey myself would mean it wouldn't have as many weird chemicals in it, but there would still be a lot of sugar. Are you not supposed to count healthy sources like fruit? Surely you couldn't get diabetes from eating pineapples or apples or figs ?

Stench Blossoms

Why do you have 3 bowls of it?

What is the rest of your diet like?

dahat

Ditch sugar and try sweetener for a start on your porridge,just a trickle

MaryKirwan

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

Why do you have 3 bowls of it?

What is the rest of your diet like?

I just really really like it. It's sweet, filling and low in calories.

I mostly eat fruit and vegetables for lunch. Like a bowl of broccoli with a vegetarian meat substitute, and an apple or pineapple for afterwards.

Dinner is usually mostly salad or more vegetables with some vegetarian chicken/lasagne/sausages and maybe a potato or sweet potato.

I don't drink fizzy drinks, alcohol, eat meat or junk dairy, but I do still get a lot of sugar from oatmeal, juice and dark chocolate and fruit and yoghurt.


Icakes. etc). But I

MaryKirwan

dahat wrote: »

Ditch sugar and try sweetener for a start on your porridge,just a trickle

I keep hearing that sweeteners are bad though. What kind would you recommend? Aspartame and splenda are dangerous according to some. And despite having no sugar, diet soft drinks can contribute to diabetes, which I Don't really understand.

Astala

MaryKirwan wrote: »

I keep hearing that sweeteners are bad though. What kind would you recommend? Aspartame and splenda are dangerous according to some. And despite having no sugar, diet soft drinks can contribute to diabetes, which I Don't really understand.

The next time 'some' tells you that sweeteners are bad, ask them for scientific proof, research papers, confirmation from the hundreds of studies that have been performed regarding the safety of sweeteners.

I cannot stand this 'sweeteners are bad' for you campaign. Not a shred of proof has been provided in that regard.

MaryKirwan

Astala wrote: »

The next time 'some' tells you that sweeteners are bad, ask them for scientific proof, research papers, confirmation from the hundreds of studies that have been performed regarding the safety of sweeteners.

I cannot stand this 'sweeteners are bad' for you campaign. Not a shred of proof has been provided in that regard.

There's arsenic in splenda.

How do you know for sure they're safe?

Astala

MaryKirwan wrote: »

There's arsenic in splenda.

How do you know for sure they're safe?

There is also arsenic in rice, most breakfast cereals, a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables etc.

In response to your last question: How do you know for sure they're not safe?

MaryKirwan

Astala wrote: »

There is also arsenic in rice, most breakfast cereals, a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables etc.

In response to your last question: How do you know for sure they're not safe?

I don't, but I wouldn't take my chances given the amount of sources claim they're unhealthy. I'd just prefer to get my sugar from fruits. Less processed things are usually safer and healthier, and fresh and dried fruit would have other vitamins that sweeteners don't have. I haven't heard anything bad about stevia so far though. Mostly splenda, and aspartame.

Astala

MaryKirwan wrote: »

I don't, but I wouldn't take my chances given the amount of sources claim they're unhealthy. I'd just prefer to get my sugar from fruits. Less processed things are usually safer and healthier, and fresh and dried fruit would have other vitamins that sweeteners don't have. I haven't heard anything bad about stevia so far though. Mostly splenda, and aspartame.

Fair enough. I agree with you regarding the consumption of fruit and other unprocessed foods. While they're most likely better for us, it doesn't mean that some artificially-sweetened goods are not good. However, like you, I always prefer to be careful when it does come to sweeteners, despite there being no proof of their potentially negative effects.

However, the diet fizzy drinks are my downfall!

MaryKirwan

Astala wrote: »

Fair enough. I agree with you regarding the consumption of fruit and other unprocessed foods. While they're most likely better for us, it doesn't mean that some artificially-sweetened goods are not good. However, like you, I always prefer to be careful when it does come to sweeteners, despite there being no proof of their potentially negative effects.

However, the diet fizzy drinks are my downfall!

Is it cause you can drink infinitely and stay svelte ? Because they were my downfall for a while for that reason.

Astala

MaryKirwan wrote: »

Is it cause you can drink infinitely and stay svelte ? Because they were my downfall for a while for that reason.

Yes! By the time I have my porridge in the morning, dinner, snack, and a bit of tea, my calorie intake has either been accomplished or exceeded! Diet drinks are like a snack to me because they deal with the cravings I would otherwise have for sweet things.

I am trying to limit it to 3 fizzy drinks per week (unsuccessfully!).

RobAMerc

I am a big fan of the flavourings from myProtein as they make lots of boring stuff much more interesting.

If you like your porridge sweet try this maybe....

Fat free plain yoghurt. Same oats as you would use in porridge. straw/blueberrys. Scoop whey and a few drops of your favorite flavouring.

All the goodness of porridge and way way tastier.

mossym

try a spoon of honey in your porridge, works for me

seosamh1980

You say you have 3 bowls a day because you really really like it. I really really like a lot of things, I adore Crunchy Nut Cornflakes...but I haven't had them in about 10 years because if I buy them I'll eat a huge bowl for breakfast, a huge bowl of sugary crap. Because you like something isn't really a good reason to eat 3 times the recommended amount - every day.

I hated, HATED, porridge, because my mum only ever makes it for herself with water (she likes it, the freak) and never had a topping I liked for it. I started making it with half water and half milk, and I discovered the joy of prunes in it. They go soft, sweet, almost like a dessert with them in it, it's a treat for me to have it for breakfast. You don't need very many prunes because you can chop them up and they spread and soften, so you're not getting too much fruit sugar. I ate an instant porridge with raisins and cinnamon once because a friend had it in their house, I couldn't believe it when I looked up how much sugar was in it. Use normal porridge, with something like the prunes, or chopped up apple with some cinnamon, and you'll reduce the sugar intake dramatically.

Edit: I would never eat a prune out of porridge, ugh the thoughts of it, but just try them in it, trust me!

mockingjay

What about Alpen porridge, is it high in calories? Is is nutritious?

Tipsy McSwagger

I have a bowl of Aldi's Kavanaghs porridge most mornings made with milk and honey.

looperman1000

diet drinks not good dude. i used to be addicted to diet coke. 2 litre bottle every single night. trick i used was to swap the d coke for ballygowan sparkling. i found i craved the bubbles. you could have a try at something like that. i think sugar is a food that makes for a vicious circle speaking from experience. when consuming sugar, i find you crave more sugar and can keep on going consuming and keep on consuming without feeling full.
if you are looking for sweet on porridge, i would go for stevia, its a sweetener that comes from plant extract so its natural.
you could also look at gluten free oats as this would help with sugar spikes later. if you have a handful of nuts with the gluten free oats, or a dollop of full fat greek yoghurt, this could help with keeping your blood sugar levels in check, thus helping you not craving a sugar hit an hour after having your morning meal.
oh and full fat milk with your porridge of course, defo not low fat or semi or skimmed milk

this is my tuppence worth and this is stuff i have done, and works for me, would be no harm to try OP?
feel free to shoot me down anyone, just my opinions :-)

Sam Kade

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

I have a bowl of Aldi's Kavanaghs porridge most mornings made with milk and honey.

I also use that the 1 kg bag. I don't get these packets for a bowl of porridge and paying 5 times the price for a bowl of porridge because you might have trouble measuring out half cup of porridge to 1 cup of water. My wife buys the sachets she believes it tastes better than the loose porridge even though they could both be flahavans :rolleyes: Waste of time trying to explain it to her.