Are Oatmeal Cookies Healthy For Breakfast?

Oatmeal has an abundance of nutrients that can provide energy and help you get your day off to a healthy start. When you tack on the word "cookie" at the end, however, you may begin to run into some nutritional setbacks. Cookies tend to be high in sugar and fat -- two substances that may leave you feeling sluggish by mid-morning. Oatmeal cookies can be part of a nutritious breakfast -- it just depends on what's in them.

Energy Value

One of the first things you want to look for in a breakfast food is something that gives you plenty of energy. Anything with caloric value will contribute energy, and a leading brand of oatmeal-based cookie contains about 150 calories. If you consume a typical 2,000-calorie diet, one oatmeal cookie will contribute about 8 percent of your daily energy needs, so an oatmeal cookie will probably not be sufficient to get you through the morning without becoming lethargic. Your breakfast should generally contain about 500 to 700 calories to support your morning energy needs if you consume a 2,000-calorie diet. Of course, you could eat multiple oatmeal cookies to meet your caloric needs, but their lack of certain vitamins and minerals would not constitute an adequate breakfast and would necessitate consuming additional calories from other sources.

Nutrient Balance

You should then consider the source of the calories in your breakfast. A leading brand of oatmeal-based cookie gets about 78 percent of its calories from carbs, 16 percent from fat and 6 percent from protein. The ideal macronutrient ratio to support the energy needs of elite athletes, according to British track and field coach Brian Mackenzie, is 57 percent carbs, 30 percent fat and 13 percent protein. An oatmeal cookie isn't too far off this ratio. You generally want to avoid foods that contain a great deal of fat -- especially saturated fat -- in the morning, as this nutrient can leave you feeling heavy and slow (see references 1 and 3).

Simple Vs. Complex Carbs

Simple carbohydrates, or sugars, enter your bloodstream quickly and give you a quick burst of energy, followed by a crash. Complex carbohydrates, or starches, do not provide the quick energy that sugars do, but promote a more gradual, lasting energy. A breakfast full of complex carbohydrates can help you feel full and energized for a much longer period of time. A typical oatmeal-based cookie contains just 7 of its 25 g of carbs from simple carbohydrates -- a very manageable amount for a dessert product. The American Heart Association recommends men and women consume less than 37.5 and 25 g of sugar each day, respectively, to avoid problems such as weight-gain and cardiovascular disease.

Type of Flour

Oatmeal cookies are generally made from either whole grain flour or enriched white flour. Plant seeds contain a bran, sperm and endosperm -- all of which contain high nutritional value. Enriched white flour uses grains that have been stripped of its bran and germ, while whole grain flour uses fully intact grains. While enriched white flour is fortified with vitamins and minerals later in the manufacturing process, they still lack the nutritional value of whole grains. Oatmeal cookies that use whole grain flour naturally contain more fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals. For a healthy breakfast, whole grain oats are by far the wiser choice. When viewing nutrition facts labels, make sure to look for cookies that use whole grain oats and whole grain flour and avoid labels such as enriched flour, white flour or refined flour.

Sodium and Cholesterol

Some dessert products can be high in other potentially harmful ingredients. A typical oatmeal-based cookie contains about 10 mg of cholesterol and 200 mg of sodium. Excess dietary cholesterol can lead to arterial blockages, while sodium can contribute to high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. The USDA recommends consuming less than 300 mg and 2,300 mg of cholesterol and sodium each day, respectively. While just one oatmeal cookie doesn't place you in danger of reaching your daily limit for these substances, you can limit your cholesterol intake by eating oatmeal cookies that are baked with margarine instead of butter and reduce your sodium intake by avoiding packaged oatmeal cookies that contain sodium-based preservatives. Look for nutrition labels that say low sodium, no sodium, reduced sodium, all natural, no preservatives reduced fat, low cholesterol, and cholesterol free to limit your sodium and cholesterol intake.