A good start with oatmeals
A hearty meal is often the right ingredient for a healthy body, and when it comes to the first meal of the day, there is nothing better than to start your day with a healthy breakfast. The search of the right breakfast has led to many a variety, oatmeals is one such. A bowl of fresh warm oats spiced up with a dash of your favorite nuts could just be the right way to start a day.
What is oatmeal?
Often known as white oats, an oat meal is essentially a porridge made of oats. This is usually cooked in water or milk. The grain of oat or Avena sativa are dehusked and then goes through a process of heating and cooling to give its distinctive taste and stabilize the seed. This is then made into a coarse or fine powder to produce the oat meal of choice.
Benefits of oatmeal
Oats are high on water soluble fibres along with anti oxidants. This combines to make oatmeal good for you
Lower cholesterol level: Oatmeal is high on a fiber called beta glucan which is found to lower cholesterol. A cup of oatmeal a day may lower cholesterol by as much as 8-23%
Antioxidant: Avenanthramides are agroup of antioxidant found in oats which prevent the anti oxidation of LDL along with working on other free radicals of the blood stream
Post menopause: post menopausal women having 6 oatmeals a week have shown restricted progression of atherosclerosis and stenosis or restriction of arterial walls
Immune system: the beta glucans of an oatmeal helps convalescing patients, as they help the neutrophils to work quicker and better in case of a bacterial infection.
Blood sugar: magnesium which is a cofactor for enzymes working on insulin secretion and glucose metabolism is high in oatmeals. Consequently an oatmeal is found to have a stabilizing effect in type 2 diabetics.
A yummy breakfast
There are various ways to make oatmeal that not only gives a power punch to your breakfast high on carbs and fiber but also tickles your palate. Blending it with a fruit to make a smoothie is an ideal way to enjoy the oats. Making porridge with nuts and oat is another interesting idea. Spices like cinnamon may also be added to add a taste twist. Blending it with orange juice is a great idea to make it tatstoer and increasing the vitamin c content at the same time.
BY SOUMYASHREE CHATTERJEE
