Mmm, Oatmeal :: Food and Nutrition :: Whole Foods

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Mmm, Oatmeal
by author Sandra Tonn

The humble oat is greatly under appreciated and often overlooked as an excellent option in a whole food diet. Highly nutritious and always delicious, the only reason to avoid this viable whole grain is because of the dizzying array of oats offered today. Adding the benefits of oats to your diet can be simple, healthful, and tasty.

Oats are Milled in Many Forms

Whole oats and oat groats are extremely nutritious because they are minimally processed, with only the outer hull removed. People not used to these delicious and highly nutritious oats will find them chewy.

Steel-cut oats, Irish oats, Scotch oats, pinhead oats, and cracked oats include groats chopped into small pieces. Grain aficionados prefer them for hot oatmeal and muesli. Nutrition is retained, as no heat processing is involved.

Rolled oats, old-fashioned oats, flaked oats, and oatmeal are steamed, rolled, and flaked for quicker cooking. While less nutritious than the whole oats, they are still a healthful choice and good for cereal. Continued in page 126

Quick oats, easy oats, and quick-cooking oats are precooked, so cook up in about three minutes. Nutrients are lost in the manufacturing process.

Instant oats are cooked and dehydrated oats that are reconstituted in hot water. No cooking is needed; however, they are the least nutritious oat option.

Know Your Oats

Compared with other whole grains on a per gram basis, oats have one of the highest concentrations of protein, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, copper, manganese, thiamin, folacin, and vitamin E. Oats also contain more healthy oils than most grains. Their dietary fibre is 55 per cent soluble.

Health experts advise against buying rolled or steel-cut oats from bulk bins as they may not be fresh. Knowing and trusting the owner of the health store where you shop is a help. Buying packages of organic oats is a good choice as is investing in a grain grinder to roll your own.

Soak Your Oats

Oats are low in gluten, which make them easier to digest than some whole grains; however, they are high in phytic acid. This organic acid is found in the outer layer, or bran. In days gone by, and today in traditional cultures, grains were treated before cooking and eating. If untreated, as most are today, phytic acid can block the body’s absorption of important minerals such as calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, and especially zinc. A long-term diet of untreated (soaked or fermented) grains will lead to mineral deficiencies and disease.

Soaking oats allows enzymes and helpful organisms such as lactobacilli to break down the acid. Soak in warm water overnight so they’re ready to cook in the morning and require much less cooking time. This is a healthy way to have "quick" oats without the nutrient loss of manufacturing. All it takes is a little planning ahead for a significant increase in nutrition.

Other Ways to Eat Oats

Bake with oat flour for exceptional flavour and extra nutrition.
Use oats as a thickener in stews, soups, stuffings, and pancakes.
Offer healthful oatmeal cookies as a real treat.

Oatmeal: The Perfect Breakfast

Source: alive #256, February 2004

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