Thursday, March 12, 2009

Grain, as in Oatmeal-so, eat up Owen!!


According to the text, 'The answer to Cancer', grains are technically vegetables. Because they aren't green, people tend to forget about them. Grains do have fiber. Oat, wheat, flax, rice, millet, quinoa, couscous and barley have a lot of dietary fiber. Grains contain lignans, a weak form off estrogen that takes up estrogen sites in the body (preventing stronger estrogen from being there and possibly causing cancer). Also, they contain phenolic acid, believed to help in resisting breast and colon cancer.

Whole grains are healthy. Whole grains keep their fiber, their vitamins, and their minerals like zinc and potassium, whereas processed grains lose some. The complete grains have antioxidants, lignans, phenolic acids and other phytochemicals.

Oat is a minimally processed grain that is worth eating. Oats are a great source of fiber and contain a mix of both essential types (55 percent soluble and 45 percent insoluble). The soluble fiber in oats, beta-glucan, is responsible for giving oatmeal its high nutritional praise.

Oatmeal is also very low on the glycemic scale. This means it has a very modest effect on blood sugar. In addition to its 5 g of fiber content, oatmeal has the highest protein content of popular cereal. Oats contain 81/2 g of protein in 2/3 cup. It also contains phosphorous, potassium, selenium, manganese, and a couple of milligrams of iron.

According to Jonny Bowden, there are several great ways to purchase oatmeal. Groats are dehulled oats, and probably the least processed. (I purchase groats at Whole Foods and they are delicious.) Steel-cut oats, also known as Irish or Scottish oats, require less cooking time than the whole oats, and have all the great oatmeal health benefits.

Another helpful hint: oats do not need to be cooked. An example of this is the Swedish cereal museli. It contains raw oats. Simply add soy, almond, rice milk or juice, or hot water. Allow to sit a bit and then enjoy.

For more information on oats, check out "The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth" by Jonny Bowden.

No comments:

Post a Comment