Is eating oatmeal good for you?

The one word answer: Yes!!!!!  Eating oats, especially eating oatmeal, can benefit your body and your health in many ways.

That’s the simple answer.  But it is worth exploring exactly why this whole grain is so good for our bodies.

Benefit #1: What makes oats and oatmeal healthy?

There are many things about oatmeal that make it healthy, but let’s take the simple one first:

All types of oatmeal are whole grains.  (Yes, even instant oatmeal!)  The fiber, vitamins, and minerals haven’t been stripped away by transforming the oats into different types of oatmeal. This is the benefit of eating a whole grain. Nothing has to be added in back in or “enriched” for you to get all the goodness that nature intended you to get.

Benefit #2: How can eating oatmeal can lower inflammation and benefit your immune system?

Oats contain several antioxidant compounds called phenols.  Antioxidants are compounds that reduce oxidative stress that can contribute to premature aging, cancer, heart disease, strokes, and chronic diseases.  There are quite a few types of antioxidants and one of them is a group called phenols.

Phenols help your body stay healthy in several ways. For instance, they can help your immune system fight off microorganisms that can make you sick such as bacteria and viruses.  They can also help protect you against cancer, heart disease, and strokes.

Oats, and therefore oatmeal, contain a type of phenol called avenanthramides. (That’s a great word to use for your next Scrabble game!)  There’s been lots of research done on anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant roles of avenanthramides.  But here’s the really important point: Oats are basically the only grain to have avenanthramides.

Benefit #3: Why eating oats can improve your gut health (or keep your gut healthy!)

Oats and oatmeal contain soluble fiber.  In fact, they contain a special type of fiber called beta-glucan that you don’t get from most other whole grains.  There are two important things beta-glucan does for your body: It feeds your gut microbiome and it helps lower your cholesterol

How does eating oatmeal benefit your gut microbiome and body?  The organisms in your gut microbiome “eat” the beta-glucan in your intestines and produce short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), including propionate and butyrate.  A small amount of the SCFAs feed other microorganisms in your gut microbiome, but the majority of SCFAs are used by your body in a number of ways, including healing and protecting your gut barrier and fighting inflammation.

For a quick and easy to understand summary about why your gut microbiome is important, read “Gut health: 9 Ways your gut microbiome affects your overall health.”

Benefit #4: How eating oatmeal helps your intestines lower your cholesterol

In addition to helping your gut microbiome produce SCFAs, the beta-glucan in oats and oatmeal can help keep your LDL cholesterol (aka the “bad” cholesterol) from rising and even lower your existing levels.

There are two ways this happens.  The first is by forming a viscous layer in your small intestine that blocks how much saturated fat and cholesterol move from your intestines to your blood, where it can raise your LDL.  Instead, it gets trapped in your poop and you flush it away.

That intestinal barrier from the beta-glucan in oatmeal also results in more of something called bile acids being flushed away in your poop.  Since your body needs these bile acids to help you digest fat, it makes more of them by taking cholesterol that’s already stored in your body.  The result is your LDL cholesterol level drops.

Benefit #5: Why eating oatmeal can help you lose weight

Although oatmeal has carbohydrates, if you eat a moderate sized portion for breakfast and don’t load it up with refined sugars, it can help you lose weight. Why?

Due to the fiber, especially the beta-glucan, eating oatmeal slows how quickly your stomach empties.  It also affects your gut-brain axis and increases your satiety level so you feel satisfied after your meal for longer.

The other effect is that the beta-glucan slows down how quickly your body digests the carbohydrates in the oatmeal.  This means your blood glucose (aka your blood sugars) doesn’t rise as high or as quickly as it would if you ate the same amount of carbohydrates from a piece of toast.  This is why, depending on what you have with your oatmeal, you’re less likely to feel the need for a morning snack or be ravenously hungry at lunch.

Does it matter what type of oatmeal you eat?  The answer might surprise you.  You can read this article, “What type of oatmeal is best for you?” by clicking here.

All of those benefits in a simple bowl of oatmeal!

So, the simple act of regularly eating oatmeal can help keep you healthy and could even improve your health.   It’s an easy and inexpensive thing you can do to benefit your body and your health.

Looking for other ways to “eat healthier”, lose weight or have a healthier gut?

Get your free copy of “5 Secrets to Successfully Changing How You Eat” by clicking here.

Then get more personalized help related to your eating habits or health by booking your free discovery call. We can talk about what you want to accomplish and see if working with me would be helpful to you.