OAT

OAT IS HEALTHY FOOD

Oat can keep us on diet meal. It can lose cholesterol. It make your body lose weight. If you every day eat oat....., always..eat it...!! Your body look slim. It is help your to burn fat... in your body.


The common oat (Avena sativa) is special of creal grown for it seed. The same as the grain. It is very suitable for to eat for oatmeal and rolled oats.


A friend of mine recently had a blood test for mineral deficiency, and it turns out that she’s deficient in vitamin b12. This surprised me because she has an incredibly healthy diet. But what the naturopath told her completely took me by surprise. She was told that the oatmeal she was eating each morning was possibly blocking the production of Vitamin b12 in her body!

You must soak oats for several hours before you eat them

It’s really, really important to soak your oats for several hours before you eat them, whether or not you end up cooking them. Somehow this knowledge of having to soak oats got lost about the same time fast food came in. I guess we all just got a bit lazy and we didn’t understand why we were soaking them in the first place.

Ever since people first started eating oats, they either soaked or fermented them first. And when oats were first packaged and sold in grocery stores, there were even soaking instructions on the box. You never see that anymore.

Why oats need to be soaked

Here’s an extract from Nourishing Traditions which explains the reason why oats need to be soaked better than I could -

All grains contain phytic acid (an organic acid in which phosphorous is bound) in the outer layer or bran. Untreated phytic acid can combine with calcium, magnesium, copper, iron especially zinc in the intestinal track and block their absorption. This is why a diet high in unfermented whole grains may led to serious mineral deficiencies and bone loss. The modern misguided practice of consuming large amounts of unprocessed bran often improves colon transit time at first but may lead to irritable bowel syndrome and, in the long term, many other adverse effects. Soaking allows enzyme, lactobacilli and other helpful organisms to break down and neutralize phytic acid. As little as seven hours of soaking in warm acidulated water will neutralize a large portion of phytic acid in grains. The simple practice of soaking cracked or rolled cereal grains overnight will vastly improve their nutritional benefits.

I see a lot of conversation in acne forums about grains and how grains can make the skin a lot worse. It kind of makes a lot of sense to me now. A diet high in unsoaked or unfermentated grains can in fact lead to mineral deficiency and irritable bowel syndrome so it’s no wonder that our skin is better once we stop eating them. And lets be realistic - who here soaks and ferments all their grains? Not me.

Interestingly, the Body Ecology Diet only allows for a small number of grains, and recommends soaking the grains before eating or cooking them. And since that book is all about cleaning out the colon and improving the digestive system, it just proves again how important it is to soak grains, or at least your oats before you eat them.

So from now on, I’m going to soak my oats in water each night before I go to bed!

Fran Kerr is the founding editor of High on Health. To cure your acne, sign up to Fran's FREE acne cure mini-course or download her latest how to guide, Eat Away Your Acne.

Nutrient Values and Virtues of Oats

Oat kernels look very much like wheat in structure. They have an outer covering of bran which protects the starchy endosperm and the germ that sits at the bottom of the grain. Because the oat kernel is soft, the nutritious bran is not removed. Whole grain oats contain seven B vitamins, vitamin E, and nine minerals, including iron and calcium. The quality and quantity of the protein in oats is far superior to that of wheat and most other grains. One ounce of oats has TWICE the protein of wheat or corn flakes. But the most important nutritional advantages are the soluable fiber and the GLA (gamma linoleic acid).

The soluable fiber is what gives it the gummy texture, and it helps lower cholesterol levels in the blood. GLA is considered an "activated" essential fatty acid. Very small amounts of it fill the metabolic pipelines and allow the body to make other essential fatty acids, and all this is part of the hormonal control aspects of the Zone Diet as described by Dr. Barry Sears in his first book, "Enter the Zone" (pp. 119-134, Reagan Books, Harper Collins, 1995).

Sears reccomends eating 3-5 bowls of oatmeal a week. This reccomendation has been the driving force in all the discussion questions, like "Is INSTANT oatmeal okay?" and "Do I have to eat it every day?" and comments like "I HATE oatmeal!" I think that the limitations on our imagination for the use of OATS has been part of the problem, and I hope that this will be a continually growing page to fill your mind and imagination with more ways to get your GLA than in a bowl with brown sugar and milk!

Forms of Oats

Oat grains are enclosed in two tough husks that must be removed. The grains are cleaned and toasted, husked and scoured, resulting in whole oat kernels called GROATS. These contain nearly all the original nutritional value of the grain. Oat groats are much softer and quicker cooking than wheat berries, and can be used in many other meals that breakfast, which I hope to demonstrate through the recipes found here. They are not refined before or after processing, so they retain most of their nutrients regardless of the form in which they are eaten (according to Jane Brody in her book "Good Food Book." Sears says this is not so. It is up to you to decide from the information that follows.

Here is where everyone goes nuts. What is a groat, steel cut, Scotch, Irish or instant oat? Or a GROAT, for that matter??? Whenever anyone asks the question from now on, send them here for the answer! Remember, 3 Tbs. uncooked ROLLED OATS equals one carbohydrate block,but because STEEL CUT OATS are more dense, they only require 2 Tbs.--but check your package just in case, remembering that you have 9 grams of carbohydrates to one carb block AFTER you subtract the dietary fiber ! 1/3 cup cooked also equals one carbohydrate block.

Oat Groats - Whole grain of the oat, with only the outer hard husks removed, then toasted.

Oat Flour - You can make it yourself by grinding rolled oats in a food processor or blender. Oat flour adds lovely flavor to breads and because of certain natural preservative in the oats themselves, it improves their shelf life. Oats contain no gluten, which is needed for bread to rise, so it must be mixed with a gluten-containing flour such as wheat. Substitute 1 of every 5 parts of wheat flour with oat flour. If your recipe is for a quick bread, no addition of other flours is necessary.

Oat sprouts - oat groats are very easy to sprout! Sprouting increases their nutritive values. Add them to sandwiches, salads, stir-fry and soups. Chop them and add them to your bread dough.

Steel Cut Oats or Scottish Oats or Irish Oats- These are groats which have been cut into two or three pieces. Cooking time is considerably longer than for rolled oats. I am still a bit puzzled by this. When I bought Scottish Oats from one company, they were rolled, but much thicker than the Quaker style rolled oats. Next time I found them from another company, I came home, opened the can and was surprised to find that they were the chopped Irish Oats. I have called and called and researched this, and it seems that no one knows for sure!

Old Fashioned Rolled Oats - These are made by steaming the groats and flattening them with a roller. The Quaker Old Fashioned Rolled Oats are very thinly rolled, as are the store varieties by the same title. If you look hard, however, you can often find rolled oats that are twice as thick as the Quaker variety, and these make a lovely, less creamy version of oatmeal than the Quaker ones do. Quaker sets the industry standard, so theirs is considered REGULAR Old Fashioned Rolled Oats. If they are thicker, they are called THICK Old Fashioned Rolled Oats.

Quick-cooking rolled oats -- These are made by flattening pre-cut groats. They cook in about 5 minutes.

Instant Oats - are usually packaged with salt and sugar. Don't indulge in the empty calories!

Commercial Cereals - Amazingly, Cheerios are made from oat flour and wheat starch, and Brody contends that they too are a nourishing cold cereal. A bit high in sodium (330 mg in 1-1/4 cup (1 ounce) compared to 1/4 cup cottage cheese which has about 440 mg sodium), there is only 19.6 grams of carbohydrates in one ounce serving with 2 grams of dietary fiber. The only cereal that leaves me hungrier faster is Grape Nuts by Post, so there is a lesson in there somewhere.

Granolas are simply overrated if you buy the commercially produced one. They just have way too much sugar and way too much trans fatty acids. Try one of the recipes below and make your own!

Which form of oats should I buy?

Anytime you do ANYTHING to a food besides "pick it off the stalk," you have processed it. Sears uses the term and says some of the oats are too processed, while Brody contends that oats are NOT processed, Brody meaning that the nutrients are not removed like they are in other grains. Our concern should be how much is done to the food item to break down the cell structure of the carbohydrate food. One way this can be done by cooking the food item. Cooking means that you have subjected it to heat, water or chemicals to break down the cell structure or inactivate certain enzymes. You can "cook" a food by chemically altering it (like fresh seafood being "cooked" by adding lime juice to it). The longer the cooking time, the greater the breakdown of the cell walls, and the faster that food can enter your blood stream and the faster your body will react to it by producing insulin to break down the carbohydrates (sugars) into simple, readily useable forms.Some grains you can begin the "cooking" process by soaking them, but even with the increase in size because of rehydration, the starch in the carbohydrate has not broken down and the food item will still taste...green. Raw.

What you are looking for is breaking down the starches just enough to make them tasty and easy to digest, but not so long that they become unfavorable, i.e. high on the glycemic index. So in Zoning terms, this means that the same food, cooked for longer periods of time, will have a higher glycemic reaction (insulin producing) than that same food cooked for a short time or not at all. The higher the glycemic response, the higher the insulin level and blood sugar level will rise, and since what goes up must come down, your blood sugar level will fall equally as low. The idea of Zoning is to keep your blood sugar level fairly stable: not too high, not too low. The low blood sugar is what will start up your cravings. The over production of insulin is what is going to slap that fat onto your thighs (and belly and fanny...). Therefore the less you break down your foods, the less the glycemic reaction will be, the more stable your blood sugar will remain.

So what form of oats should you buy? Sears says that it should be the kind that cooks in nothing less than 30 minutes. That would be groats, steel cut (and the various names) and Thick Old Fashioned Rolled Oats.

Simple Cooking Instructions for Oats

Oat Groats - Use two cups liquid -- water, milk, broth, stock -- and bring to a boil. Add one cup of oat groats (the whole kernel) and lower heat, simmer for about 45 minutes. This may also be done quite successfully using a rice cooker. 3 Tbs. raw equals one carbohydrate block. These cook well in a crockpot on low overnight, but you may want to increase the liquid 3 to 1, liquid to oats.

Old Fashioned Rolled Oats - Following package directions, you can cook them 2 parts liquid to one part oats, and simmer for about 5 minutes. If you are in a hurry in the morning, try mixing them up with liquid the night before with Vanilla and Cinnamon. Then it takes less than a minute to heat them in the microwave.

Steel Cut Oats - Package directions will tell you to cook them for 15 minutes, but you may want to try bringing them to a boil for 5 minutes, then turning off the heat and covering them for an additional 10 minutes. These also do well in the crockpot on low, overnight. Add liquid 3 to 1.

Oat FAQ's

1. Can I eat oats RAW? Yes, with an explantion. Most of the oats that you see out there are not really raw. Oats are a very soft, moist grain, and they go rancid quickly, so manufacturers steam them at about 212 degrees to set the flavors so they won't go bad. So even a whole kernal oat grain will not sprout because it has been killed by this steaming process unless you were lucky enough to find a real live raw oat grain. See more on RAW ZONING.

2. What's the difference between instant, rolled, Old Fashioned, and thick rolled oats? How far apart the rollers are set. No other prep work is done to the oat (other than the steaming mentioned above). The thinner the rolling, the quicker the oats cook because of the greater surface area of the grain. That's why my favorite way to cook oats is not to boil the grain itself, but to boil the water, add it to the oats and cover them, letting them set for 3-5 minutes. 1 part boiling water to 1 part rolled oats is a good ratio to start with. Add more or less water to suit your tastes.

First you pout with hot... and mix.....it. Then you can eat it.