12 Of The Unhealthiest Instant Oatmeals You'll Find At The Grocery Store

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Instant oatmeal products have never been more popular, with countless companies getting in on the market. Oatmeal itself is quite healthy for you, packing whole grains, fiber, calcium, and iron. But there's a difference between raw oats and the plethora of colorful options in the supermarket aisles. Many of these brands advertise that their containers or packets are packed with fiber and protein, but the amount of these healthy nutrients can often be lacking. And one thing they do not advertise is how much added sugar many of these products contain. 

While many of these products have some good things about them, overall, we'd give them a pass for being more unhealthy than a healthy start to the day. Added sugar, for instance, is one of the greatest contributors to obesity. Instant oatmeal can be wholesome, and many such products deserve that label, but there are plenty of instant oatmeals to avoid as well, both for excessive added sugar and a lack of other essential nutrients.

McCann's Irish Oatmeal has a wholesome backstory about its founder, John McCann, grinding raw oats cultivated on the Irish eastern coast in the 19th century. Unfortunately, some of the content here is less than wholesome. 

McCann's Vanilla Honey Microwaveable Cups have 17 grams of added sugar, which is a red flag for a food product that's ostensibly healthy. The sugar far outweighs the low 4 grams of protein. Ideally, there should be more protein than sugar. A single container serving (1 cup, 54 grams) has 200 calories. 

The 3 grams of dietary fiber out of 44 grams of total carbs isn't a lot of fiber considering the carb amount. Finally, 250 milligrams of sodium — or 11% of your daily recommended intake — makes it also worth leaving this container on the shelf. A couple of good things: Fat content is low at 1.5 grams, and there is no saturated fat. And there's a high amount of iron at 30% of the daily recommended dose. 

Protein optimization is more popular than ever before, with countless supermarket products from cottage cheese to cereal boasting about how much of the nutrient they pack. But one criticism of the current protein craze is that many customers assume a lot of protein in a product means it is healthy, when in fact, it can mask less than good-for-you ingredients.

One packet (or 50 grams) of Kodiak Chocolate Chip Oatmeal packs a good amount of protein with 12 grams, but also includes nearly as much added sugar with 10 grams. Dietary fiber at 3 grams against 30 grams of carbs is less than ideal. To calculate the net carb amount, you subtract dietary fiber from the total carbohydrates, giving this 27 grams of net carbs. There are also 4 grams of fat and 1.5 grams of saturated fat. There's even cholesterol, albeit a minor 5 grams or 2% of the recommended daily amount.

There's a good amount of iron in one cup at 2.9 milligrams or 15% of recommended consumption, but fresh eggs also have iron with protein, very little carbs, and no added sugar. And you could always crack an egg into sugar-free, stove-cooked oatmeal for extra protein. 

Speaking of protein optimization, Seven Sundays Apple Cinnamon Protein Oats is also jumping on the protein obsession. At 230 calories for ½ cup (60 grams) and with 10 grams of protein, it sounds appealing, but then there are the 7 grams of added sugar or 14% of the recommended daily amount. Dietary fiber here is higher than many competitors at 7 grams, but so are carbs at 38 grams. Total fat comes in at 4.5 grams with .5 grams of saturated fat.

The ingredients list here does read like natural food, so that's one bonus point. And so is the use of upcycled oat protein, an emerging sustainable food trend where products that would otherwise be thrown out are turned into new food products. All in all, we have to say that Seven Sundays Apple Cinnamon Protein Oats aren't that bad, but we'd prefer something with less sugar so early in the morning.

Nature's Path Organic sounds wholesome — the brand image even calls to mind the yellow brick road in "The Wizard of Oz." It markets its oatmeal as non-GMO and, of course, organic, and many of its products are fancy enough to be sold by the upscale Southern California supermarket chain Erewhon, popular with celebrities and social media influencers.

But we'd stay away from Nature's Path Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal, which has also received a pass from Erewhon. With 13 grams of added sugar, it is one of the most sugary instant oatmeals on the market. Dietary fiber is only 10% of the 40 grams of total carbohydrates. A single packet holds 50 grams of oatmeal with 210 calories.

Protein content, which is plant-based, is low at just 5 grams, so this isn't likely to give you a lot of energy to start your day. One plus is the ingredients list, where everything is recognizable, and even the apple flavor — alongside actual dried apple pieces — is reported to be natural.

It will probably come as no surprise that an instant oatmeal based on sugary cereal isn't the healthiest option. With 11 grams of added sugar per 38-gram serving, or nearly a quarter of the daily recommended amount, Cinnamon Toast Crunch Instant Oatmeal is the sugariest oatmeal on our list — although we're not sure how that breaks down between the pouch of oatmeal and the pouch of so-called cinnadust topping.

Carbs are lower than many other brands (at 29 grams), and Cinnamon Toast Crunch Instant Oatmeal does include a good amount of iron at 20% of the daily recommended amount and even 130 milligrams of calcium, whereas many instant oatmeals have very little calcium. Fat content is also low at 2 grams, and each 38-gram pouch sits at 140 calories. Nevertheless, so much sugar first thing in the morning is not doctor (or mom) recommended. We conclude that the bad here cancels out the good.

MUSH overnight oats is the instant oatmeal that does not need any home preparation. That's made it an increasingly popular item for oatmeal fans. Most of its products feature zero added sugar, but the Maple Cinnamon comes with 6 grams of added sugar. That's as much sugar as protein in the cup. One caveat: The sugar comes from maple sugar, which is more environmentally sustainable and has greater nutritional value than cane sugar. Some of the sugar also comes from dates. Nevertheless, sugar is sugar.

The 8 grams of fat and 1 gram of saturated fat aren't ideal either. MUSH oatmeal, however, at 141 grams per container (230 calories), does have a lower sugar and fat amount per serving than other oatmeal brands. Fiber comes in at 4 grams out of 33 grams of total carbs.

For a healthier MUSH oatmeal option, we'd recommend all the options that come with zero added sugar. And if you want to stick with a cinnamon flavor, there's the Apple Cinnamon with no extra sugar, less fat, and fewer calories.

Bakery On Main's Apple Pie Instant Oatmeal is non-GMO, vegan, gluten-free, and kosher — and comes with the advertisement that it is a superfood. There's quinoa, chia seeds, and amaranth, a gluten-free ancient grain high in nutritional value. But there's also 10 grams of added sugar in each 50-gram packet.

Fat content is not too bad at 3.5 grams (0.5 grams of unsaturated fat), and neither are sodium levels, which are low at just 40 milligrams or 2% of the recommended daily levels. But carbs are on the higher end at 36 grams, with only 5 grams of fiber. There's only 6 grams of protein per packet, which is low and below the amount of added sugar.

While we do like the addition of amaranth (which deserves to be used in more products), overall, this combination of added sugar, high carbs, and low protein is not what we think of when we imagine a superfood. Certainly not when there's more added sugar than protein. If we wanted that much sugar, we'd go for an actual apple pie. 

A good rule of thumb to keep in mind when browsing products in the supermarket is that if there's more added sugar than something healthy, such as protein or fiber, it's probably best to pass on it. So that would be a pass on Purely Elizabeth's Dark Chocolate Chunk — even if it has dark chocolate chunks, which have health benefits. 

One container (50 grams) has 7 grams of added sugar, which is one more gram than it has protein and equal to the amount of fiber. The container prominently displays "High Fiber," just as many products today boast about being high protein; whether its 25% recommended daily value of fiber content is worth the added sugar is your call to make. That much fiber sounds good, but there are easy ways to eat fiber without added sugar. Fortunately, Purely Elizabeth does offer instant oatmeal products with just as much fiber and no added sugar.

There's no denying that Quaker Oats is the most recognizable name in oats, with a broad range of products from dry to instant oats. There are plenty of healthy Quaker Oats options out there, but one to think twice about if you wish to stay healthy is the Real Medleys Apple Walnut container.

At 17 grams of added sugar, this is by far the most sugary oatmeal product on the list alongside McCann's Vanilla Honey Microwaveable Cup. Oatmeal with that much sugar might as well be an oatmeal raisin cookie. There's also 7 grams of fat (1 gram of saturated fat) and 290 calories in the 75-gram package. Carbs are high at 54 grams (with 5 grams of fiber), which is 20% of your daily recommended carb amount in one small container. And with just 6 grams of protein, it is not likely to fill you up. Sodium is also high at 250 milligrams or 11% of a healthy daily intake. The diced apples, chopped walnuts, and cranberries are a nice touch, but not worth the calories and sugar.

Another Quaker Oats product that we'd avoid — sorry, Quaker Oats — is the Dinosaur Eggs. With 11 grams of sugar, this is among the most sugary instant oats we've reviewed. There's also 2 grams of saturated fat (11% of the daily limit) and very little fiber at just 3 grams. Sodium levels of 240 milligrams are also less than desirable.

Some good things are the high level of iron (7.4 milligrams, among the highest we've seen for instant oats) and a fair amount of both calcium and vitamin D at 190 milligrams and 3.1 micrograms, respectively. Additionally, some of the fat content comes from polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, which are considered the good kind.

Still, children's themed instant oats — like their cereal counterparts — often come with a bunch of good stuff to appease parents' concerns about healthy eating, while including more sugar than ideal to sweeten the taste for the kids. There are probably better instant oats for children out there.

Wildway's products are branded planet-friendly — and they come with a banner of organic, non-GMO, and gluten-free certification labels. They might be good for the environment in many ways, but the Banana Nut Organic Oats fail our added sugar test with more sugar than protein and fiber. The 7 grams of added sugar are more than double the 3 grams of dietary fiber and a good deal more than the 4 grams of protein.

Points do go, however, to the low 2 grams of fat and a solid calorie count of 150 for 40 grams. Sodium levels are also very low at 115 milligrams. Also, almost all of the ingredients are organic, from the dried banana to the walnuts and coconut sugar. But we do wish it had more protein, more fiber, and a higher amount of iron and calcium. There's no perfect instant oatmeal, but packing more sugar than protein or fiber is a big oversight for us.

The Straw Propeller Maple Oats container says its gluten-free oats are supposed to be moderately sweetened with maple sugar, but with 13 grams of added sugar, we'd have to take issue with the claim. 13 grams — more than a quarter of the daily recommended limit — easily makes this one of the most sugary instant oatmeals on the list.

The calorie count at 240 (in a 63-gram serving) is also on the higher end among instant oatmeal containers. If protein and fiber amounts were high, it might balance things out, but with only 7 grams of protein (nearly half of the sugar amount) and only 5 grams of fiber, we find this container to be even more wanting.

Some good notes: Straw Propeller Maple Oats' ingredients list is clean, the product is certified GMO-free, and sodium is quite low at 115 milligrams. Also, total fat comes in at only 4% of the recommended daily amount. But that 13 grams of added sugar still has us reaching for healthier options.