So for a little afternoon snack one thing that I like to have is some old-fashioned oats (the “cooks in 5 minutes” variety, not instant or flavored or anything) with some unsweetened applesauce.
For some time now I’ve just been stirring it together without cooking the oats first. I happen to like the taste, it’s relatively healthy stuff compared to the other snacks around here, yum yum.
Is there any particular benefit to cooked vs uncooked oats? Am I missing (or gaining) something by eating them raw? I’ve eaten raw oats for a long time, no problems that I can think of (no horrible GI impact, no urge to strap on a feedbag, etc).
They aren’t really “cooked” though are they? You can take oatmeal and mix warmish water with it and get basically the same thing as really hot water after a time. I think the main difference would be the rehydration. I used to eat packaged oatmeal plain. It is dry of course but it gets moisture as you chew it. I can’t see any problem.
Rolled oats aren’t really raw. They’re steamed or baked as part of processing. This includes all 5 minute oats, 2 minute oats, instant oatmeal, and museli, but not the always the REALLY old-fashioned, non-Quaker-brand, specialty kind you can find in health stores and bigger groceries (like **Qadgop **asked about).
You are perfectly safe! Well, except for the Birks.
If you want the cholesterol-lowering effect of oatmeal, you won’t get it eating those instant oats, and those 5 minute rolled oats don’t help that much either. You need the real deal.
Sorry to hijack, but please help me with this one.
Last week I got a sheet from the doctor with a list of foods suggested for reducing cholesterol and instant oatmeal was right there with the other styles.
What is it about instant that makes it not good and why is my doctor trying to pass it off as a good thing?
I’ll have to ask for a cite, or at least an explanation. AFAIK, the cholesterol-lowering effects of oatmeal are attributed to soluble fiber, and maybe beta glucan, both of which are fully present in instant oatmeal. It’s true that instant oatmeal pouches usually contain less fiber than a “serving” from a box of Quaker oats, but that’s just a difference in serving size.
I tell you, once you go to steel cut oats (never tried the actual oat groats myself) you’ll never go back. They aren’t hard to cook at all and they don’t even really take that long. Here’s how I do them (this is my “real treat” recipe - of course you could make them lower fat or lower sugar if you did it more often):
1 tbsp butter
1 c steel cut oats
3 c boiling water
1/2 c whole milk
1/2 c buttermilk (or more whole milk, but the buttermilk is good)
1 metric crapload brown sugar
Dried fruit - I like cranberries and raisins
Melt the butter in a decent sized pot (nonstick is not a bad idea). Toast the oats for about two minutes, stirring constantly. This is going to smell amazing. Add the water and reduce to simmer, simmer 25 minutes without stirring. Stir in the milk and half the buttermilk (and I like to dump in the dried fruit now, but sometimes I wait until the end) and cook for another 10 minutes or until it’s the consistency you want it. (Too chewy, keep cooking.) Dump the rest of the buttermilk and the brown sugar into it (and dried fruit if you like and maybe some cinnamon on top) and serve.
It will reheat for a couple days, too. Seriously awesome - really, you don’t even need the fruit and brown sugar, especially if you like oatmeal. (I don’t. Can’t stand it.)
I’ll say up front that I am much too lazy to go find a cite for what I’m about to say. But I got very interested in Glycemic Index ratings of food for a while, and learned that old-fashioned oats have a lower GI than quick-cooking oats. (Low is good – it means you don’t get an insulin spike, your food is absorbed slowly and evenly, apparently with assorted health benefits I won’t go into here.)
This makes sense, I think: old-fashioned oats are less processed and so they take longer to digest.
My comments were based on the fact that the instant oats, and to a lesser extent the pre-cooked oats, had both less fiber per serving size and a higher glycemic index. Therefore I avoid recommending these products to folks trying to eat more healthily, and emphasize that the more traditional oatmeal is superior. Especially in view of the epidemic of both obesity and diabetes.
That said, frankly the effect of any oatmeal on lipids is pretty small anyway (and waaaaay overhyped by the food industry). So if one is going to go that route, they really need to get maximum benefit from the product to try and make a difference.
Oh, and they need to substitute the oatmeal for the Frosted Flakes and the Hash Browns with Cheese, etc. Not add them to the breakfast menu to “make up” for eating the rest of the breakfast.
I eat raw rolled oats for breakfast every day. Mixed with psyllium husk, ground flax seed, cinnamon, & blueberries. My total cholesterol dropped 25 point after 6 months of doing this.
Honestly I was just wondering if I was missing anything by not cooking my oats and that has been nicely answered.
On the related topic of cholesterol, high levels run in my Dad’s side of the family. I’ve had high numbers for 20+ years, slowly creeping up so I’ve always tried to eat healthy and get plenty of exercise.
About a year ago I started changing things - attending one of the major name-brand weight loss programs. I have modified what I eat a bit (mostly increasing the fruit & veggie intake and swapping high-fiber foods for lower-fiber ones, that is brown rice for white rice, pretty much eliminating plain pasta and bread, etc) and boosting my activity level. I’ve lost 30+ pounds and when I had my cholesterol levels rechecked they were all back down into normal range. I have to credit this to a combination of things - less fat in my diet, more fiber, overall healthier eating and plenty of exercise. Whole-grain cereals are certainly a big part of my breakfasts (I keep plain old oatmeal and shredded wheat in my office, luckily I find them both yummy) but like QtM said, having a bowl of oatmeal each day doesn’t seem like it’ll magically undo years of bacon & egg abuse.
Not everyone would agree, but that sounds delicious to me. The funny thing was, while reading your post, I was eating mac and cheese into which I had slipped a lot of ground flax seed. Not only is it a bit healthier that way, it really tastes good.
I’ve mentioned this before in threads but if you like real steel cut oatmeal, get a good rice cooker with a porridge setting. I pop mine in the cooker every evening, set the timer, and have fresh every single morning. And I find steel cut oats cooked with water so tasty, I usually only add a little salt instead of sugar. (can’t tell you about the effects on my cholesterol tho’, as a healthy veg, I’ve always had very low cholesterol numbers)
