Benefits of Oatmeal?

K

KimDW

Cathlete
I have tried so many times to eat oatmeal and I can't get the consistency or the right taste so it always ends up making me gag and I can't eat it. But, I've been eating those Quaker Oatmeal Breakfast Bars (Banana Nut Bread) and a piece of fruit or the Quaker Oatmeal Express bowls with brown sugar or cinnamon (you add water and microwave) and a piece of fruit. I really like these things. So am I still getting the benefits of the oatmeal even though I'm not fixing it myself and adding stuff? It does seem to help fill me up. Just wondered what you guys thought.

Thanks,
Kimbra
 
With pure Oatmeal (which I have been trying to eat but have not been able to get it to taste good without sugar), you get the benefits of protein (5 g.), good Carbs (27 g.), low fat and its good fat (3 g.) and calories at 150 for a 1/2 cup plain oatmeal.

With the bars, you are eating a processed food with sugar added to it and who knows what else. Check the contents and compare to what I just wrote about the nutrition of Oatmeal. If you see corn syrup, sugar or any other kinds of sweetener in the bars, they aren't good for you, unless you don't mind getting that extra sugar in your diet.

Hope this helps!
Debbie in OH
 
I eat lots of oatmeal and credit it for knocking 100 points off my cholesteral count in about 6 monthes time - I'm trying hard to NOT have to take meds for high cholesteral. I buy the Old Fashioned Quaker Oats in the round container, make it in the microwave (1 minute, stir, 1 more minute and let it set to thicken, add lots of fresh fruit or dried cherries when fresh fruit is not plentiful). I can't eat it plain - too tasteless. The fruit adds lots of taste.
 
My best friend is a nutritionist. She was at my apartment and saw a box of instand oatmeal (I think it was the brown sugar flavor) and told me I might as well eat a candy bar for breakfast.

Now I eat either the slow-cooked steel-cut oats or the quick-cooking type. But I like oatmeal. If you just don't like the texture, maybe you could switch to a good cereal like Kashi Go Lean Crunch. It's much better than eating the processed oatmeal...
 
I add hydrogenated oil/transfatty free butter and berries to my oatmeal, usually blue, rsp, black or strawberries. Yummy! I know what you mean about the gagging. When I started to eat healthier, it was very difficult to go from Macdonald's to turkey and veggies on Ezekial's bread. But you know what, now that I have gotten used to it, when I eat fries I want to puke because of all the grease and the coating it leaves in my mouth. Yuck! Anyways, stick with it and try different things and you will eventually like it. It is like beer or coffee. Noone ever tries them the first time and says, "That was wonderfully delicious! Give me more!" But you have to acquire a taste for it.
 
When fresh fruit is not in season, I use frozen. I put the fozen fruit in the bowl and pour the hot oatmeal in it and stir. Or make it in the microwave and then add the berries. The fruit thaws from the heat of the oatmeal. It works best with small fruit (blueberries, raspberries, etc.) I add some Stevia sometimes to sweeten it. Yummmmmmmmmm!!!!!!:9

Jo
 
See, there's the thing! I can understand the motivation with oatmeal, because it's so good for you. But part of the reason I don't drink alcohol or coffee is because I just can't see the point in gagging it down for weeks before I "acquire" a taste for it.

Just ranting. Ignore me.:p
 
Shelley,
You don't drink coffee or wine???? Amazing, but good for you! You must have zero stomach acid.

Lord knows, I never needed to acquire a taste for those things!!! :-( I probably drank my first cup of coffee smoked my first cigarette right in the delivery room, moments after being born. I probably waited until I was home in my basinette before I ordered my first glass of wine.
 
No coffee and no alcohol of any kind.

Oh believe me, my stomach and digestive system are sometimes unbearably hard to deal with. It's probably a good thing I don't drink those things. Or maybe if I did it would all clear up!
 
I happen to like oatmeal. I make it with milk, I don't know if that makes a difference, but I don't think I could eat it with just water. I usually add either SF maple syrup or SF vanilla syrup to it.
 
I don't drink coffee or alcohol either (though I used to drink alcohol: I slugged down enough alcohol during my last year in High School and a year in Vo-Tech to last me a lifetime!). I've never liked the taste of coffee or much alcohol (except for those tahitian bridal veils and tom collinses and all those sweet things).
 
If it's the texture of cooked oatmeal that gets you can you eat it raw in yogurt? In the warmer months that is my favorite way to eat oatmeal.
 
I thought hydrogenated oil is no good to your health. Is it true?

Do you add milk to your oatmeal? I thought adding milk would add some protein. But I just can't take the taste of it.

WantFit
 
I only buy Quaker Old fashion Oats (not the 5 minute one). To get the creamiest texture add 1/2 oats and 1 to 1 1/4 cup liquid to a small saucepan/pot. Either use all water, or 1/2 water, 1/2 milk (FF or any kind you normally use) or for the creamiest use all milk.
Slow cook just below medium heat stirring occasionally so it doesn't stick to the bottom. Wait until it comes to a slow simmer and starts to bubble. The slow cooking makes the oats really melt so there isn't that chewy feeling of the oats. It will take up to 5 minutes. Also the slower you cook it the fluffier the oats become and thus you have more volume. Mmmmm...more is better. Add whatever you like. I always add 1 pack slenda to sweeten and cinnamon and sometimes a tiny pack of raisins. Sugar-free preserves are great too! :9
 
How about making your own oatmeal muffins instead of buying the oatmeal squares? At least you know everything that goes into them, and you can add nuts, raisins, wheat germ, etc. to boost the nutritional content. And they freeze well, so you can bake a couple dozen at a time.

I have a couple of good muffin recipes if you're interested...

Allison
 
>Hi WantFit, I think the poster is saying she chooses
>transfatty acid and hydrogenated oil free butter.
>
>Lori


That's where punctuation comes in handy: transfatty acid- ad hydrogented oil-free butter.
 
I can't ignore you when I feel the same way! I wish hot chocolate was the national drink and everywhere you went everyone had a warm cup waiting for you...ok, maybe not, I'm getting kind of sick thinking about that. But coffee is just so BLEECH...and I'm embarrassed to say I feel the same about alcohol. I feel quite uncivilized to say wine tastes like wrotten grapes to me.

Anyways, I share your rant.

Trish
 
I love oatmeal, but I went a step further, I went to the food store and got "groats" which is the grain of oats, it looks like barley, so I soak it and cooked it in my rice steamer, I added lots of apples and raisins and a little bit of stevia, a sweetner, it got very thick after a while and put it in a container and then the fridge, when I feel like it I have a cup for breakfast or just a spoon when I have the craves for carbs, once I cooked it with pumpkin and added some vainilla and cinamon, tasted like Thanksgiving to me, yum yum, I recommended to try it.
The joy of moving, N;-)
 
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