Health Benefits of Oats & How to Include More in Your Diet

by Teresa Grasso, RDN, CDCES

Oats have been making headlines lately with tons of healthy oat-based recipes flooding social media apps such as Tik Tok and Instagram reels. No more thinking of oats as the plain, boring hot cereal you ate as a child. You can now find hundreds of healthy ways to prepare oats and creative ways to use them. Take a minute and search oats on the internet and you will find recipes for overnight oats, baked oats, smooth oats, protein oats, no cook oats, cookie oats, brownie oats and more.

Let’s take a look at oats; what are they, what health benefits do they have for diabetes, how can they help control my blood glucose, are they good for me & how can I add them to my diet?

Getting to know oats

What are they?

Oats are grains from the cereal plant, Avena Sativa, and once harvested are processed for use in food. They are milled, steamed, heated and cooled in a kiln, which brings out the flavor. The oats are then rolled, cut or ground to produce flakes, oatmeal or flour. Oats are a whole grain as they are harvested and dried with little processing. They provide fiber as well as beta glucan, and are high in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. The American Heart Association recommends choosing whole grains and products that contain at least 51% whole versus refined grains and oats fit this bill perfectly! Oats come in several varieties such as rolled oats, quick oats, instant oats and steel cut oats.

What health benefits do they provide for diabetes?

People with diabetes and those at risk for diabetes are encouraged to eat at least the same amount of dietary fiber recommended for all Americans. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend a minimum of 14 grams of fiber per 1,000 calories or about 25g/day for adult women and 38g/day for adult men. Oats are a good source of soluble dietary fiber rich in beta glucan. Beta glucans are unique in that they form a gel-like substance that lowers cholesterol and reduce blood glucose.

Oats are made up of roughly 66% carbohydrate, 17% protein, 11% fiber, and 7% fat. In terms of raw oats, 3.5 oz boasts about 10.6 grams of fiber and 16.9 grams of protein. Steel cuts oats are slightly higher in fiber than rolled and quick oats. They also have the lowest glycemic index of the three types of oats, potentially making them the best choice for blood glucose control.

Why choose oats/oatmeal for blood glucose control?

As mentioned above, oats area great source of fiber which helps aid in digestion. Foods rich in fiber are digested much slower so when they are consumed in place of refined grains (which are digested more rapidly)this helps to decrease spikes in blood glucoses. The fiber in oatmeal also has heart protective benefits, which is important for people with diabetes since they are at a greater risk of heart disease or they may have heart disease already. Soluble fiber, which is found in oatmeal, has been shown to aid in cholesterol lowering. Basically, when eaten, soluble fiber attaches to cholesterol in the body and helps our bodies remove it.

A study posted to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that adding 3 grams of beta glucan from oats to your daily diet can help lower bad cholesterol. Eating oatmeal can also help you feel full longer and more satisfied which can prevent you from overeating, to prevent elevated blood glucose levels and weight gain.) Oats, particularly steel cut oats are low on the glycemic index.

A food’s glycemic index (GI) value is an indicator of how long it takes the body to absorb it, which has a direct impact on blood glucose levels. A lower GI rating means that the body absorbs the food slowly, resulting in more stable blood glucose levels. Foods with a high GI are absorbed quickly which releases larger amounts of glucose into the blood over a shorter period of time which causes unhealthy blood glucose spikes. The glycemic index for steel cut oats is 42 while rolled oats is 55 and instant is 83. Steel cut oats is the superior oat when it comes to helping to keep blood glucose levels stable.

Since oatmeal is a carbohydrate, can it really be good for my diabetes?

It’s no secret that carbohydrates affect our blood glucoses. Therefore, no matter how healthy a carbohydrate is, you still need to think about portions when consuming them. Since oatmeal contains carbohydrates, even with all its benefits mentioned, it is best to measure and consume appropriate portions. An example portion would be ½ cup dry oatmeal, makes about 1 cup cooked. When meal planning, 1 cup of cooked oatmeal is 2 carbohydrate servings or 30 grams of carbohydrates. When reaching for that bowl of oats try to avoid the instant oat varieties that may be filled with sugar, salt and additional flavors all of which may unfavorably affect your blood glucoses.

With all of this information it seems like oatmeal has received a gold star and is a great food for people with and without diabetes to include in their meal plan.

How can I include them in my diet?

You can certainly cook up oats the old-fashioned way and top them off with some cinnamon and nuts to enjoy as a nice hot breakfast. This is a nice traditional way to eat oatmeal, but why be boring! Let’s look at a couple fun ways to add this nutrient packed grain to your healthy meal plan.

Overnight oats

Many of us have busy schedules and often do not have time to prepare oats, particularly rolled or steel cut oats which take longer to make. Enter overnight oats that can be prepped for days at a time, placed in the fridge in individual containers and are an easy, healthy, grab and go breakfast. Overnight oats are easy to make because they are a no-cook breakfast. So instead of baking, cooking or microwaving the oats, they get soft overnight in the fridge.

Ingredients

A mason jar (this is a great container to house your overnight oats)
¼ cup rolled oats
1/3 c unsweetened almond milk or fat free milk
¼ cup Greek yogurt
2 tsp chia seeds
2 tsp honey (or can use Stevia)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ c fresh blueberries

Directions

Simply place all ingredients in your mason jar and shake or stir to combine and refrigerate overnight. When morning comes around you can grab the jar out of the fridge, give it a stir and enjoy! You can even add a little more protein to this by topping it off with some chopped walnuts or almonds. With this basic recipe you can easily switch up the flavors with adding different fruits and toppings.

Oatmeal “cookies”

This is a fun and easy way to include more oats in your diet. With these 4 ingredients you can make a tasty and healthy treat.