379 cal/100g raw (80 cal/half cup cooked)
13.2g protein
67.7g carbs (mostly slow-release)
Resistant starch ♡
Fats, vitamins, iron and other minerals
Oats are understated as a love interest. They're not very sexy, let's admit. Cheap and pretty ordinary, they're what your mom told you to love, so it wouldn't be surprising if you steered clear. I did.
Oats re-entered my life in an equally mundane way. I needed something to add to my banana smoothies. But once they found a home in my kitchen, they made their easy-going and adaptable presence felt as I started trying to use ingredients I already had more efficiently instead of buying more.
It was only after Oatly Barista strided into my life in the shape of a takeaway coffee from FCB Coffee at Woking train station that oats really swam into focus for me. Those coffees changed the texture of my day, and opened my mind. Add to that my bestie falling in love with FCB's egg mayo and cheese croissants (both, bestie has a history of love triangles) and insisting we share one of them at least weekly, and for a time my life felt complete. But, I digress...
Back in the kitchen, I experimented with making my own oat milk. And eventually concluded that it's not always necessary to try and reinvent a wheel someone else has mastered. But continuing on my DIY/efficient use of ingredients path, I started trying oat recipes, looking up interesting ways to use them and figuring out what they could be swapped for. I mean, if oat milk gave me back my coffee joy (stolen by lactose intolerance), what further joy might be in store for me?
And now also, for you...
Oats come in different forms. Oat groats are the whole-grain form and take a long time to cook. They need to be well-cooked though because a substance called phytic acid in the bran (or covering) impairs absorption of many of the minerals in oats, such as iron, zinc and copper.
Carbs (my friend in need and my foe indeed) as a food group makes up 66% of the nutrient content in oats. Most of it is not the "bad" kind that is easily absorbed for energy, quickly raising your blood sugar and causing problems when consumed in excess (weight gain, diabetes, heart disease).
Everyone knows fiber is the sh!t (sorry). It keeps you regular and comfortable. But not all fiber is created equal and for a sensitive foodie, fiber is a real facepalm. We react differently to different types, to too much and to too little.
We know that oats love us. Its calorie, nutrient and fiber profile tells us so. I believe that the best of loves are mutual and oats reinforces this notion for me because of how easy it is to love this very ordinary, very everyday kitchen staple. Oats aren't just healthy for us, they are healthy for the environment too!
Easy to grow almost anywhere, land use and carbon emissions are low. And a health food that is cheap! They do take a moderate amount of water, but this is offset by their positive impact on the environment.
While it's best for animals to be fed as naturally as possible, which means being primarily grass-fed, they do need some healthy grains like oats in their diets. It brings relief from digestion problems caused by naturally occurring toxins, in poisonous weeds for example. And just like for us, oats are heart-healthy for animals too.
