Is oatmeal 'harmful wheat' or 'healthy wheat'? Eating too much will raise blood sugar? Maybe I ate it wrong
Ding dong! Mom sent 2 messages.
Xiaoan clicked on WeChat and found that her mother forwarded an article to her. The title of the article was "2021 "junk food" will be released, and oatmeal and yogurt will be on the list!" See if there's anything you're eating."
Below the article is a voice message from my mother, " Look at the oatmeal you eat every day. Experts say it's junk food! There's also that yogurt. I think you should throw it away."
"Mine is fruit oatmeal, which is nutritious. There are fruits and oatmeal. I eat it for breakfast every day, and it can lose weight."
After that, my mother sent Xiaoan an ellipsis, but never replied.
When you mention oats, you generally think of it as a grain with high nutritional value. But in recent years, there have been many claims about oats being "harmful wheat", and oats have even become "junk food" . What is the truth?
1. Is eating oatmeal often "healthy" or "harmful"?
Is oatmeal really "harmful wheat"?
Oatmeal ranks fifth among the "Top Ten Healthy Foods in the World" selected by Time magazine in the United States. The US FDA also believes that oatmeal has the effect of lowering cholesterol and stabilizing blood sugar, and it is a functional food.
In fact, from the nutritional value of oatmeal, oatmeal can be said to be one of the best grains .
The protein and calcium contained in oatmeal are the highest among all grains. It contains vitamin B group and minerals, which can also make up for the deficiencies caused by other staple foods. Compared with polished rice and white flour, it is more conducive to controlling postprandial blood sugar and increasing insulin. sensitivity.
In addition, oatmeal is also rich in insoluble dietary fiber, which has a good effect on promoting bowel movements.
Then why is it said that oatmeal is "harmful wheat"? It's actually referring to those fake oats--
One is oatmeal granules . If you check the ingredients carefully, you can find that it contains a lot of white sugar and non-dairy creamer . Oats are also replaced by wheat or barley. Although the taste is richer and delicious, compared with pure oats, the nutrition is still greatly reduced;
The second is fruit cereal , which looks like a very healthy snack. It uses "non-fried" technology and seems to be low-fat and healthy. But this kind of fruit oatmeal has dozens of times the fat content of pure oatmeal , and the calories have also increased;
The third is cereal crisps . Many people like to use them to soak milk, thinking they are healthy and nutritious, but this kind of crispy cereals contain a lot of sugar. Only three spoons are needed, which is equivalent to eating a spoonful of pure sugar .
This is why some people's blood sugar rises rapidly after eating oatmeal, probably because of eating the above-mentioned so-called "oatmeal".
2. What benefits can the body reap from a handful of oats a day?
Oatmeal snacks are not good for the body, so if you insist on eating a handful of pure natural oatmeal every day, what will happen to your body in the end?
1. Lower cholesterol
Published in Frontiers in Immunology, a joint study from China found a beneficial effect on lowering total and "bad" cholesterol levels.
2. Lower blood fat
A study published in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" showed that β-glucan contained in oatmeal can lower blood cholesterol levels, and regular consumption of oatmeal can promote blood lipid lowering.
3. Control blood sugar
β-glucan can also form a gel-like substance in the digestive system, which can slow down the actual emptying of the stomach, affect the digestion rate of carbohydrates, and facilitate the slow release of blood sugar after meals.
4. Help lose weight
Using oatmeal instead of rice, white flour, etc. can help relieve gastrointestinal emptying time, give you a stronger feeling of fullness, and have relatively low calories, which is more helpful in controlling your appetite and helping you lose weight.
5. Improve constipation
Dietary fiber in oatmeal can increase the weight of feces, prevent and improve constipation, and its cellulose can also promote intestinal peristalsis, keep muscles healthy and tense, and facilitate the excretion of feces.
3. Which oatmeal is the healthiest? Teach you how to choose
There are many types of oatmeal sold in the market, including whole oatmeal, oatmeal, peeled oatmeal, raw oatmeal, etc. Since oatmeal snacks are not healthy, which one is better to eat?
1. Whole oatmeal
This is the most natural state of oats, just shelled, without excessive processing, this kind of oats completely retains the grain nutrition, and it also has the highest control of blood sugar and blood lipids.
However, due to the tight texture, it is not easy to cook, so before eating, it is best to soak it in water overnight, wait for the water to absorb enough , and then cook it with rice; or use a soybean milk machine to grind it into oatmeal drink for drinking.
2. Peeled oats, oatmeal
This kind of oatmeal has a layer of seed coat removed on the basis of the former, basically retaining 90% of the nutritional content of oatmeal, and it is also more convenient to cook, and can be eaten without soaking overnight.
3. Raw oatmeal, boiled pure oatmeal
This is to directly press oatmeal into flakes without heat treatment, so it cannot be brewed directly, and needs to be boiled in hot water. However, oatmeal is relatively easy to cook and can be cooked directly with rice or rice porridge.
There are many kinds of oatmeal on the market, how to choose a good oatmeal? Just look at three points -
One is the ingredient list, check whether there is only oatmeal, or add white sugar, non-dairy creamer and other ingredients;
The second is to cook it. Good oatmeal will generally become more viscous as it is cooked. This is due to the high content of β-glucan and better health effects;
The third is not to be superstitious. Many people think that imported oats are better than domestic ones. In fact, different varieties and different origins have different nutrient contents of oats. You don’t have to be superstitious about imported oats.
Oatmeal is suitable for all kinds of people. For the elderly, children, and those with weak gastrointestinal function, it is only necessary to cook the oatmeal for a longer time and cook it better, so that it is more conducive to the body's absorption.
But if you use fruit oatmeal or crispy cereal instead of oatmeal, it is absolutely impossible. What you eat in this way is not nutrition, but excess "fat" and "sugar".
References:
[1] "A handful of oatmeal every day lowers cholesterol, these 3 types of people should insist on eating". Life Times. 2022-01-11
[2] "The most cost-effective star food, oatmeal really does everything to lose weight, lower blood sugar, and lower fat." Nutritionist Gu Zhongyi. 2020-10-09
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