10 Health Benefits of Oats: Everything You Need to Know About this Super Grain
Oats, those little grains that turn into your morning oatmeal, are actually quite amazing. They’re packed with vitamins, minerals, and special plant stuff that’s good for your body. These little powerhouses are known for their ability to help lower cholesterol and make your body more sensitive to insulin.
Oats come from a plant called Avena sativa, and they mostly grow in North America and Europe. They’re incredibly rich in fiber, especially a type called beta glucan. Plus, they’re loaded with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
One unique thing about oats is that they’re the only food that has a special group of antioxidants called avenanthramides. These antioxidants are like bodyguards for your heart, protecting it from diseases.
Because of all these benefits, like helping control blood sugar and cholesterol, oats have become a popular health food. You’ll find them in oatmeal, baked goods, bread, muesli, and granola.
The whole oats are called oat groats, but they’re usually rolled or crushed into flat flakes and lightly toasted to make oatmeal. If you want a quicker option, there’s instant oatmeal, which is made from thinner oats that soak up water fast and cook quickly.
You can also find the outer layer of oats, called bran, which is full of fiber. People eat it as a cereal, mix it with muesli, or use it in bread.
So, there you have it – everything you need to know about the amazing world of oats!
Health Benefits of Oats:
Oats are like a treasure chest of good things for your health. They can help lower your blood pressure and reduce your chances of getting overweight or type 2 diabetes. Let’s take a closer look at why oats are so great for you.
1. Oats are highly nutritious.
They have a mix of good stuff in them. They give you carbs and fiber, which is like a special kind of fiber called beta-glucan that’s really good for you.
Oats also have a good kind of protein with all the important amino acids your body needs.
Besides that, oats are packed with vitamins, minerals, and plant stuff that fights bad things in your body.
Just a little bit of dry oats, like half a cup, gives you a bunch of good stuff:
- Manganese: This is almost 64% of what you need each day.
- Phosphorus: That’s about 13% of what you need.
- Magnesium: Same, around 13%.
- Copper: About 18%.
- Iron: About 9%.
- Zinc: Around 13%.
- Folate:A little over 3%.
- Vitamin B1 (thiamin): About 15.5%.
- Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid): A bit more than 9%.
- There’s also some calcium, potassium, vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), and vitamin B3 (niacin), but not a lot.
When you make oatmeal from half a cup of dry oats with water, it’s still really good for you. It gives you:
- Carbs: 25 to 30 grams.
- Protein: About 6.5 grams.
- Fat: About 2.5 grams.
- Fiber: Around 4 grams.
- Calories: About 151.5.
So, oats are one of the best foods you can eat because they have so many good things in them that help your body stay healthy.
2. Oats and Their Antioxidants:
Oats have special stuff inside them called antioxidants. One of these is called avenanthramides, which is a type of polyphenol. These avenanthramides can help keep your blood pressure from getting too high by making something called nitric oxide. They can also be useful for your skin, making it less irritated and itchy.
3. Keeping Your Digestive System Happy:
Fiber is like the hero for your belly. It helps your bowels work smoothly and prevents constipation. It adds weight and water to your poop, making it easier to go. Oat fiber, especially beta-glucan, can make your gut have a bigger variety of good bacteria. This can be good for dealing with stomach problems like diarrhea, constipation, and irritable bowel syndrome. But, we need more research to fully understand how different gut bacteria help with these issues.
4. Oats might lower the chance of kids getting asthma:
Asthma is a common health issue in kids. It’s a problem with the tubes that help them breathe. Some children with asthma have symptoms like coughing, wheezing, and trouble breathing.
Some studies suggest that giving kids oats early in their diet could protect them from getting asthma. But not all experts agree on this, so more research is needed to be sure.
5. Finely ground oats can be good for your skin:
You might have noticed that many skincare products contain oats, especially finely ground oats called “colloidal oatmeal.” In fact, the FDA (a health agency) approved colloidal oatmeal for protecting the skin back in 2003. Oats have a long history of being used to soothe and relieve itchy or irritated skin.
For instance, products with oats can help with skin problems like eczema, making you feel more comfortable. However, it’s important to know that these benefits apply to oats used on the skin, not the ones you eat.
6. Lowering Cholesterol:
Oats are like a superhero for your heart because they can lower your cholesterol, which is a big deal when it comes to preventing heart disease.
Heart disease is a major cause of death around the world, and high cholesterol, especially a type called oxidized LDL (bad) cholesterol, can make it more likely to happen.
The secret behind oats’ power to lower cholesterol is something called beta glucan. This is a type of fiber in oats that does a special job.
When you eat oats, the beta glucan makes it harder for your body to absorb fats and cholesterol from your food. It’s like it thickens up the stuff in your stomach.
Then, in your gut, beta glucan grabs onto the cholesterol-rich bile acids that your liver makes to help you digest your food. Instead of letting your body reabsorb these acids, beta glucan takes them on a journey out of your body.
Experts say that if you eat foods with at least 3 grams of beta glucan each day, it can help lower your risk of heart disease. So, why not add some oats to your diet to keep your heart healthy?
7. Oats are rich in a potent soluble fiber:
Oats also have a special kind of fiber called beta-glucan. This fiber is good for your health in a few ways:
- It can help keep your blood sugar from going too high.
- It helps good bacteria in your stomach grow, which is good for your digestion.
- It can help with type 2 diabetes.
8. Managing Your Weight:
Beta-glucan fiber in oats does a cool thing – it soaks up water and makes your food thicker in your tummy. This slows down how fast your body digests food and absorbs nutrients. When things move slowly in your tummy, you feel full for longer, which can help with controlling your weight. Also, some tiny fatty substances created when good bacteria in your belly break down beta-glucan fiber can also make you feel full. It’s like a domino effect that helps control your appetite. But, not all studies agree on whether eating oats alone will make you lose a lot of weight.
9. Good Stuff in Oats: Vitamins and Minerals:
Oats are packed with vitamins and minerals that are good for your body, such as:
- Manganese: This is a tiny but important mineral that helps with growing, developing, and keeping your metabolism on track.
- Phosphorus: It’s good for your bones and helps your body maintain its tissues.
- Copper: This mineral acts like a shield against harmful things in your body and is good for your heart.
- Vitamin B1 (Thiamine): You can find this vitamin in lots of foods like grains, nuts, and meat.
- Iron: It’s a big deal because it helps carry oxygen in your blood, and you definitely need it.
- Selenium: This antioxidant is like a superhero for your body. It helps with many important processes and keeps your immune system and brain working well.
- Magnesium: Many people don’t get enough of this mineral, but it’s crucial for lots of things happening inside you. Related…..Health Benefits of Magnesium
- Zinc: It’s like a helper in your body that makes sure everything is running smoothly and keeps you healthy.
10. Keeping Type 2 Diabetes Away:
In recent years, a lot more people have been getting type 2 diabetes, a health condition where your body can’t control blood sugar properly, usually because it doesn’t respond well to a hormone called insulin.
Oats come to the rescue with something called beta glucans, which are types of fibers that dissolve in water. They’re like superheroes for your blood sugar!
When you eat oats, especially a bit of beta glucans from them, they help your body manage the sugar and insulin in your blood after you’ve had a meal with lots of carbs (like bread or pasta).
For folks who already have type 2 diabetes and need insulin to manage their blood sugar, eating oatmeal for just four weeks made a big difference. They needed 40% less insulin to keep their blood sugar stable.
Studies show that beta glucans from oats can make your body better at using insulin, which might stop type 2 diabetes from happening. But some studies aren’t completely sure about this yet.
Also, if you cook oats as whole grains, they don’t cause your blood sugar to rise much, but if you turn them into flour before cooking, they can make it go up a lot. So, whole oats are better for your blood sugar!
Different Types of Oats:
Oats come in various forms, depending on how they are processed. Here’s a list of these types, from the least processed to the most processed. Although steel-cut and instant oats have similar nutrients, they affect your blood sugar differently. The less processed oats, like groats or steel-cut, take longer to break down in your body, so they don’t make your blood sugar spike like rolled or instant oats.
1. Oat Groats: These are whole oat kernels that have been cleaned up, removing only the tough, uneatable outer parts. Groats have everything, including the germ, endosperm, and bran. Sometimes, oat bran, which is packed with fiber, is taken from groats and eaten as cereal or added to recipes for more fiber.
2. Steel-Cut or Irish Oats: These are oat groats that have been chopped into smaller pieces, usually two or three pieces, with a sharp blade. The bigger the pieces, the longer they take to cook.
3. Scottish Oats: These are oat groats that have been ground into a powdery meal using stones. When you cook them, they become like porridge.
4. Rolled or Old-Fashioned Oats: These are oat groats that have been steamed, flattened into flat flakes, and then dried so they can be stored on shelves.
5. Quick or Instant Oats: These are oat groats that have been steamed for a longer time and flattened into thinner pieces, so they can quickly soak up water and cook fast. Be careful, though, because some instant oats have added sugar or flavors, so check the ingredients if you want them plain.
Here are some tasty ways to use oats:
Oatmeal: You can make oatmeal, which is a yummy breakfast. Just follow the instructions on the package to cook it. The less processed oats, like steel-cut, take about 25-30 minutes to cook, but instant oats are ready in just 1-2 minutes.
Overnight Oats: If you want a super quick and easy breakfast or snack, try overnight oats. Take a medium-sized glass jar and add ½ cup of old-fashioned or rolled oats (not the instant kind), ½-1 cup of liquid like dairy milk, soy milk, or nut milk, and ½ cup of chopped fruit (like banana, melon, apple, or grapes). You can also add a few spoonfuls of Greek yogurt, 1-2 tablespoons of chia or flaxseeds, some nuts, or spices if you like. Make sure you seal the lid firmly and give the jar a good shake. Put it in the fridge overnight or for at least four hours. The oats will soak up the liquid, and it’ll become a bit like pudding.
Oat Flour: Oat flour is made by grinding oats into a powdery form. You can use it in recipes, but remember that oat flour doesn’t have gluten, which helps things stick together when you bake them. So, while you can’t replace all your regular flour with oat flour, you can swap about 25-30% of it to add a chewy texture to cookies and make breads more nutritious.
Oat Risotto: Oats aren’t just for sweet stuff; they can be tasty in savory dishes too! You can replace rice in a risotto with whole oat groats or steel-cut oats. First, you toast the oats in hot oil with things like shallots or diced onions for a few minutes. Then, you add stock and/or water, a cup at a time, and stir well after each addition. Keep doing this until the oats are cooked, which takes about 25 minutes. This is a yummy and exciting version of a traditional meal!
Possible Drawbacks of Oats:
For most people, eating oats is totally fine and won’t cause any problems.
But, for some folks who are sensitive to a substance called avenin found in oats, they might feel sick, kind of like how people with gluten intolerance feel. So, if you’re one of them, it’s best to skip oats in your diet.
Sometimes, oats can get mixed up with other grains, like wheat, and that’s not good news for people with celiac disease or a wheat allergy. It’s important for these folks to only buy oats that are certified as pure, meaning they’re not mixed with anything else.
