When one thinks of whole grain, one tends to automatically think of whole wheat. This is not so surprising though, considering that Americans consume so much of it in products such as bread, bagels and almost all products made with the infamous “all-purpose” flour (cakes, muffins, pastries).

But there is more to whole grain than wheat alone. Popcorn is, unbelievably, an excellent source of whole grain (now if only people would stop drowning it in movie-theatre butter!) and so is brown rice. And then there is oatmeal: the venerable king of whole grains because of its almost perfect balance of the macro-nutrients carbs, proteins and fats.

Nutrition:

The following is the nutritional data for 1 serving (1/2 cup) of Quaker’s Quick Oats:

Right there is a potent combination of good fats, fiber and protein!

Benefits of eating oatmeal:

1. Oatmeal is a whole grain food that comes with all the goodness of 100% natural ingredients (rolled or steel-cut oats). It’s very important to choose natural oatmeal and not any of the sweetened or flavored oatmeals that often come with added sugars and other ingredients). Later I will give you quick tips to really spice up your breakfast!
2. 4g of fiber of which 2g are soluble and 2g are insoluble. So what is the difference? While both forms are not digested or absorbed as energy, they are useful to the digestive system. Soluble fibers combine with fatty acids to form a kind of gel in your intestine releasing energy slowly from food making you feel full longer and also helps in lowering total and bad cholesterol. Insoluble fiber, on the other hand helps in moving food through the intestine and promotes regularity, while also maintaining a steady pH (acidity) in the intestines.
3. 5g of protein further adding to the nutritional density.
4. Just 1g of natural sugar making oatmeal an extremely low glycemic food (one that is absorbed more slowly by the body giving you a uniform supply of energy)
5. Easy to make - after all you don’t want to hear about the world’s best food only to find out it takes an hour of careful preparation to enjoy! Quick Oatmeal takes a minute to prepare and less than 10 seconds to garnish!

How I eat my oatmeal:

Mix 1/2 cup of quick, natural instant oatmeal with 1/2 cup skim milk and about 10 almonds. Microwave on high for about a minute. Stir and microwave again for about 1/2 minute or as required. Toss a few strawberries or blueberries on top for a healthful, easy to prepare breakfast/snack!

Oatmeal is probably the best breakfast you can have since it replenishes so many of the nutrients your body has used up during the night while keeping you satiated for a longer period time (until your mid-morning snack, anyway!).

Add a bag to your pantry today.

Technorati Tags: health, fitness, nutrition, oatmeal, instant oatmeal

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A new study (read the abstract) published in the July issue of the American Heart Asoociation’s Hypertension magazine shows that eating low-fat dairy products including milk, yogurt and cheese can lower blood pressure (especially the systolic or “top” number).

Systolic blood pressure is the top number of a blood pressure reading; it measures blood pressure in the arteries as the heart beats and is considered a good predictor of heart disease risk, says researcher Luc Djosse,MD, of Harvard Medical School in Boston in a new release. The higher the number, the higher the risk.

And when the researchers took into account other high blood pressure factors including age, body mass index, diabetes, and heart disease, they found a 36% lower chance of high blood pressure in people who ate the most dairy.

-Via WebMD

The study is based on food questionaires and regular testing of 4,797 participants in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Family Heart Study. While it wasn’t proved that it was the calcium that did the trick, researchers say it could have been the potassium and magnesium or simply because those who ate more dairy did not the space in their stomachs for the more fattening hamburgers and kentucky fried chicken buckets!

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