Knowing Your Oats
Oats are inexpensive and very nutritious. Half a cup of porridge (cooked oats) has only 62 calories and only 1 gram of fat. Oat bran offers even more nutrition because for only 40 calories you also get a high fibre cereal. Watch what you add on top, though. If you load on cream and sugar you’re loading on the fat and calories. Try a little maple syrup, or brown sugar and skim milk. Or cook the oats with a mix of half water and half apple juice.
Types of oats
- The whole oat kernel (groats) takes about as long to cook as rice and can be used as a side dish for dinner.
- Rolled oats are groats that have been heated and flattened so they cook more quickly.
- “Old-fashioned” oats cook in about 20 minutes. If the groats are sliced before being flattened they become “quick-cooking.”
- Oat bran is the outside layer of the groat and can be cooked as porridge in about 6 minutes.
- Oat bran also makes a great addition to baked good, giving them more texture and boosting their fibre content.
- Beware of packaged food (cookies, crackers, bread) that claim they ‘contain’ oat bran. Unless oat bran is listed near the top of the ingredients, there probably isn’t much.
Oat cooking tips
Instant oatmeal is pre-cooked and only needs boiling water to prepare. However, instant oatmeal often contains large amounts of salt and sugar. Granola usually has so much fat that a 1/3 cup serving can be higher in saturated fat than a hamburger! Muesli (granola-like cereal made with untoasted oats) can also be high in fat.
© Wellness Matters, 1998, used with permission.
