Oats are an excellent choice for breakfast:
– they are whole grain, which means that including it as part of your regular diet can help lower risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer and digestive problems)
– they have lots of “soluble” fibre, which helps lower blood cholesterol and sugar, helps with weight management, and keeps your bowels regular
– they are loaded with nutrients including lots of iron and magnesium!
Different types of oats include:
- Steel-cut: These look very similar to the original grain form and include the entire oat kernel which has only been cut into smaller pieces to make it easier to cook (cook time: ~15-60 minutes)
- Rolled oats: As the name suggests, this is the oat kernel that has been steamed and “rolled” over to be flattened (cook time: ~15-20 minutes)
- Quick oats: More like a combination of rolled oats and steel-cut oats (they have been cut before being steamed and flattened), so they cook very quickly (cook time: few minutes)
- Instant Oats: These are oats that are cut, pre-cooked, dried, steamed and then flattened. All of this allows for instant oats to cook very quickly. The downside is that all the processing causes some of the nutrients to be lost. This is the type commonly found in pre-packaged/flavoured oatmeal. (cook time: ~1 minute)
How to include oats in your diet:
- Eat oatmeal for breakfast (if you don’t have time, try “overnight oats“)
- Add oats to soup
- Bake with oats
- Try oats in different breakfast recipes (e.g. oats in pancakes)
