Oats have by far been familiar to us as a tasty and quick-prepared morning meal.
I bet that might some people also know a little bit about its great benefits to human’s healthy, especially if you have already read my article about Top Healthiest Foods on the Planet.
In fact, oats not only help brain development, immune system improvement and prevent cancer, they also play an important role in supporting your skin, laxative, diabetic, etc. as well.
Besides, there are countless ways to eat oats (not just oatmeal) to avoid getting bored and also make them tastier, which is particularly important for mothers in equipping themselves with various recipes to help their kids love eating this healthy food more.
What make oats become so good to our health?
Oats are, in fact, a nutritious nut that contains many minerals such as sodium, calcium, potassium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, chromium, manganese, selenium (an antioxidant) and vitamins, like Vita B (Thiamin, Niacin, Riboflavin), Vita B6, Vita E …, accounting for 4.5%.
Along with that, they also provide vitamins, proteins and healthy fats for the human body.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, 1 cup of cooked oats provides 166 calories, 6 grams of protein, 4 grams of fat and 4 grams of fiber.
With such nutritious ingredients of oats, more or less might you recognize how beneficial it is, right?
In fact, oats help reduce cholesterol
In all grains, oats have the highest percentage of soluble fiber that help digestion, exfoliate the intestines and prevent constipation.
Studies show that people with high levels of cholesterol in their blood, eating just 3 grams of soluble fiber a day can reduce cholesterol by between 8% and 23%.
A cup of oatmeal containing 4g fiber is enough for you.
This is very important because 1% reduction in serum cholesterol is possible to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by 2%.
High cholesterol levels are associated with the development of plaque in the arteries.
If the plaque is damaged or grows too large, it can break, block blood vessels and cause a heart attack, stroke or blood clot in other parts of the body.
Therefore, lowering high cholesterol levels can significantly reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.
A statement on the Archives of Internal Medicine confirms that eating high fiber foods such as oats helps prevent heart disease.
Support the diabetic
Oat fiber helps to calm the hunger and stabilize blood sugar levels. Glycorrhea patients who use oats can enjoy such two special benefits.
In fact, each of us needs about 26g to 35g of fiber per day while the Glycorrhea patients need up to 50g. A cup of oats can provide enough some of the nutrients needed to the body.
Support immune system
Italian researchers found that apart from lowering cholesterol, blood glucose and insulin reaction, oats have the potential to increase antibacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic infections as well. (Minerva Medica, June 2009).
Improve your laxative
Taking laxatives in the elderly can lead to malnutrition and unwanted weight loss.
A study of 30 old and blind Vientiane who stopped using laxatives. Instead of that, they used 7 to 8 grams of oats a day. Results after 6 weeks of body weight shown that their body weight was still maintained steadily and digested as good as usual.
So, instead of using drugs which might lead to long-term consequences, giving oats to the elderly is a priceless present – a reasonable choice in today’s era.
Good for blood pressure
Oats help a lot in lowering SBP and diastolic blood pressure.
This has been proven by Family Practice Journal in their press released in April 2002. It actually was a study in both men and women who were suffering hypertension within 6 weeks. In such period of time, they were asked to eat 5-6 grams of oats each day.
And the result was totally amazing!
These people decreased by 7.5 mm Hg SBP as well as 5.5 mm Hg reduction in diastolic blood pressure while the group who did not eat unchanged.
Help those who want to lose weight
Besides, if you are looking for a good, tasty and healthy diet to lose weight, apart from adding avocado, I highly advise you to try oats.
Starting a new day with a nutritious diet rich in fiber like oats can help maintain a healthy weight. In fact, compared to avocados, oats can keep you feel full longer.
Importantly, it limits hunger, which is convenient for weight loss as desired.
Good for skin
Might you know it or not, many mothers stir raw oats in warm water and bathe their children to relieve symptoms of chickenpox. (They do work! Amazing!)
Besides, a lot of women have improved their skin to be more beautiful, whiter and smoother thanks to the mixture of oats, yogurt and honey that helps a lot in exfoliating and moisturizing the skin.
Interesting ways to eat oats
Now, I’m sure that your interest to this food has been leveled up so, without further ado, I’ll share you some of my top recipes to eat them deliciously and healthily.
Breakfast
I bet at least once in your life has heard from doctors or nutritionists about having oatmeal as your morning meal. However, just eating that dish day by day is quite boring, huh?
So, here are some other ways to eat them!
Yummy porridge
Preparation
- Banana
- Oats
- Chia seeds
- Almond milk
- Cinnamon
How-to
Pour ½ cup of oats, 1 cup of almond milk, 1 teaspoon of chia seeds into a small mixing bowl. Stir them up. Then, cook this mixture in a microwave in 2 minutes and 20 seconds. (If you don’t have a microwave, you can make this on a stove or you can be cool like me – just pour hot water in there)
Meanwhile, mash ¾ banana. (You can use a fork to finish this task to save more time than put it in a food processor) With the 1/3 rest of the banana, slice it into rounded pieces.
Now, take out the bowl of oat. Mix it with mashed banana, some cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of maca powder.
Then, top with sliced banana that you have prepared before. Sometimes, adding some berries isn’t a bad idea. Or, if you are a die-hard fan of black chocolate, don’t bother to add some.
And yeah, get ready to serve!
Oat pancakes
Preparation
- Oats
- Almond milk
- Banana and berries
- Cinnamon
- Cardamom
- Chia seeds
- Coconut oil
- Almond butter
How-to
Add ¾ cup of oats to a mixing bowl, blend it up (optional). Then, add ½ cup almond milk and mix them together until you get a homogeneous mixture.
Now, mash ½ banana and slice the other half into rounded pieces.
Insert the mashed banana into the bowl in addition to a big dash of cinnamon, small dash of cardamom and 1 tsp chia seeds. Then, mix them up and divide the mixture into two patties.
Preheat a nonstick stainless-steel pan with coconut oil. Put these patties gently into the pan, fry it evenly both sides until they turn into a beautiful brown color.
Take them out and dry on a paper towel–lined plate. Now, drizzle almond butter on their surface and don’t forget to top with sliced banana and berries.
Done!
Overnight oat
This term is actually about soaked oats overnight to let it absorb to the liquid you put them in.
The most common formula is milk + raw rolled oats + yogurt.
But my overnight oats are a little different. So, do you want to try it?
Preparation
- Oats
- Almond milk
- Blueberries, goji berries and blackberries
- Banana
- Maca
- Chia seeds
- Cinnamon
How-to
Mix ½ cup of oats and 1 cup of almond milk together. (Put the mixture in a jar.)
Grab a handful of blueberries, put them in a plate and smash them out. Next, add ½ mashed banana to the plate, mix together.
Then, pour that mixture to the jar. Add 1 tsp of maca and 1 tsp of chia seeds, mix them up.
Now, cap it and let it sit in your refrigerator in one hour to overnight. In the next morning, take it out, mix one more time and add a dash of cinnamon, blackberries, goji berries and ready to enjoy the meal.
Some other recipes
Fat burning
If you want overnight oats to burn fat, this is the best formula for you:
1/3 cup of chopped strawberries + half of kiwi + 1 tsp of vanilla extract + 1 tsp of chia seeds + 1 tbsp of maple syrup + ½ cup of rolled oats + ½ cup of plain Greek yogurt + a big squeeze of lime + ½ cup of milk
Don’t forget to mush down the strawberries and kiwi before adding to the mixture. And for the container, a 10-ounce jar ¾ of the way up leaving room for expansion and toppings is perfect.
Let it in your fridge from an hour to overnight to get the best taste.
Carrot cake
If you want to sneak your veggies in without even realizing it, try this formula:
½ cup of oats + ½ tsp of ground cinnamon + ¼ tsp of nutmeg + 1 tsp of maple syrup + ½ tsp of vanilla extract + 1 whole shredded carrot + ½ cup of Greek yogurt.
After mix them together until it’s a nice and creamy mixture, add ½ cup of milk into the bowl, keep stirring and pour it into a jar. Let it sit from one hour to overnight. And on the next morning, top it with banana and pecans.
Mango twist
Formula:
¼ cup of chopped mango + ½ banana + 1 tsp of shredded coconut + ½ cup of rolled oats + ½ tsp of vanilla extract + 1 tbsp maple syrup + ½ cup of Greek yogurt + ½ cup of milk.
Overnight these oats. Once they are ready, top it with more mango and coconut flakes.
Perfect matcha
Formula:
½ banana + 2 tsp of matcha powder + ½ tsp of vanilla extract + 1 tsp of maple syrup + ½ cup of rolled oats + ½ cup of Greek yogurt + ½ cup of milk
These overnight oats are perfect to top with shredded coconut flakes and green kiwi.
Blackberry bear
Formula:
½ cup of blackberry + ½ orange + ½ tsp of vanilla extract + 1 tbsp of maple syrup + ½ cup of oat + 2 tbsp of crystallized ginger + ½ cup of Greek yogurt + ½ cup of milk
Don’t mistaken it, ginger will add some nice texture and a hint of spiciness, which brings a unique yet delicious taste.
This formula can be topped with some more blackberries.
Peanut butter cup
Formula:
½ cup of oats + 1 tbsp of cocoa powder + 1/4 tsp of ground cinnamon + 1 tbsp of maple syrup + ½ tsp of vanilla extract + ½ cup of Greek yogurt + 1 ½ tbsp of peanut butter (depending on what you like) + ½ cup of milk
On the next day, adding some more peanut butter on top. Hey, it’s healthy fat to keep you full. Besides, adding some raspberries and dark chocolate chunks. It’s like dessert for breakfast!
Savory oatmeal
Now, for my next tasty twist on classic oatmeal, I’m going to share something a little bit different that might feel unfamiliar to you.
We will make a savory oatmeal.
Now, I’m quite sure that you already know that oats are not inherently sweet on their own. They only get sweet because of what we add to them.
So, this case, I’m going to add some savory flavors and create a mushroom and goat cheese oatmeal that is “oh, so good” and you “oh, why not knock it”. Trust me!
Preparation
- Mushrooms
- Minced garlic
- Fresh thyme leaves
- Salt and pepper
- Oats
- Spinach
- Goat cheese
How-to
Started with a saucepan on the stove. Add some butter, preheat the pan until all butter is nice, frothy and melted. Now, add some chopped mushrooms, let them cook down for 4-5 minutes until they become nice, soft and a little bit golden.
Then, add some minced garlic, fresh thyme leaves, salt and pepper. Give that a toss and let it cook for other 30 seconds till they look nice and have fragrance.
Next, add some handfuls of spinach. Once they start to wilt down, add oats to the saucepan and some vegetable broth which has a nice savory taste.
If you are a spicy gal, don’t miss out to add some red chili flakes.
Now, after cooking, bring them to a simmer and let it cook away until oats have absorbed all the liquid in 5-6 minutes.
Then, just get ready to serve with some goat cheese on the top.
What is not to enjoy about that?
Guys, I really hope that you will try out these recipes at least once in life, especially the savory ones because I actually want to hear what you think. Wish you have a great, great meal with this healthy tasty and amazing food.
