Is there a difference? Do you give anything up with the instant?
Thanks.
The instant has less fiber, for one thing.
Thanks. Does anyone else know of any other downside. Does the process of manufacturing the instant variety do anything negative or unhealthy to it?
I’m not sure if instant oats have less fiber for any other reason than that they usually have sugars added (reducing the oats ratio of the package, thus affecting the fiber ratio).
I always use regular oats in the same way I would use instant oats (add hot water, stir, let it sit and soak a minute, eat) I suppose with instant oats, that sit and soak step is less useful. But when I say a minute, I mean about 60 seconds, not a moment or a while.
For one thing, according to Wikipedia, steel-cut oats have a lower glycemic index than instant oatmeal.
Ingredients of Quaker Instant Oatmeal:
WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED OATS (WITH OAT BRAN), OAT FLOUR, CALCIUM CARBONATE, SALT, GUAR GUM, CARAMEL COLOR, REDUCED IRON, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, NIACINAMIDE*, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE*, RIBOFLAVIN*, THIAMIN MONONITRATE*, FOLIC ACID
Ingredients of Quaker Oats:
100% NATURAL WHOLE GRAIN QUAKER QUALITY ROLLED OATS.
I believe the last seven ingredients listed for Quaker Instant Oatmeal are nutritional supplements, suggesting that in some respects, instant oatmeal has more nutritional value than old-fashioned oatmeal. (I still prefer the old-fashioned kind though.)
Unless the processing to make it instant removed parts of the oat that contained nutrients, that is, and thus they felt like they had to add it back in. I tried navigating the Quaker Oats site, but even their product comparison feature was kind of screwy - it ended up comparing 40 g of their plain oats to 28 g of the instant stuff, and I gave up on it.
Old fashioned kind taste better and have a better texture, IMHO. I add 2 tb of raisins and 1 tb chopped almonds and a shake of cinnamon to mine
You give up a bit more money to buy the instant.
Incomprehensible to me, when you can cook the regular oatmeal in about 60 seconds in a microwave.
Thanks, all. What I was really trying to find out was if the process of making something “instant” had any potential side effects. About twelve years ago I was eating everything “no fat”, “reduced fat”, “low fat”. I wound up, possibly coincidentally, with some very serious stomach and digestive problems. They never could figure out what it was, but I no longer eat anything like that and I’ve had no problems. Someone gave me a few boxes of instant oatmeal and I thought I’d see if anyone had any insights.
Thanks.
Some more rapid cooking forms of oatmeal are just cut into smaller pieces. That is unlikely to have any dramatic effects on their nutritional properties. Comparing ingredients and nutritional values should tell you if that’s what you’re dealing with.
Yeah, the ingredients list on some of those “Lo-Fat!!!” items is a little scary. At that point, it’s not real food.
What’s on the ingredients list on the boxes of instant oatmeal you were given?
Not for most Instant Oatmeal, afaik. I used to eat a lot of either, and looked into it. Both are pretty damn good for you.
It’s Nature’s Path Organic Oatmeal. Ingredients: Organic rolled oats, sea salt. And there’s another one that has flax.
I never really understood the the concept of Instant oatmeal. I mean, I eat a bowl of oatmeal almost every morning. I use the old fashioned 100% rolled Quaker Oats. It’s 2 minutes in a microwave to cook them. What could be more instant than that?
YMMV, but I don’t like the way they get after only 2 minutes in the microwave. My husband the extremely patient engineer worked me out a regimen that gets them just right in the microwave with 2 min. on high and 8 min. on lower settings. I like mine really, really done. But I could see not wanting to tie up a work microwave for that long.
That said, I rarely use instant. The one thing I do use them for is breakfast when I’m traveling. Cooking tip for the frugal traveler: You can make instant oatmeal with water run through a hotel coffeemaker. I’m pretty sure that rolled oats would just be floating in that water.
Or, they package up the small pieces (IOW, factory seconds) and charge a premium price for them.
They are great. The trick to a very short cooking time is to put them in a covered pan (the one in which they’ll eventually cook) to soak overnight.
Some fairly good studies have shown that one does not get the cholesterol-lowering effect from consuming the instant version. That combined with the lower glycemic index for the steel-cut or whole oat groat version makes me prefer the steel cut or groat version.
Who likes oat groats?