Deep Dive Into Oatmeal

Plus Some Recipes

Recently there has been much controversy surrounding oatmeal. Is it heart healthy or does it elevate the blood sugar? Is it the best thing to eat for an easy breakfast or should it be avoided altogether?

Growing up, I remember eating oatmeal for breakfast, not all the time, but maybe once or twice a week. We could either have quick oats with some apples and raisins or the Quaker instant oat packets where you just add hot water. My mom would sometimes overcook the oats so that they were kind of mushy, which I did not like. As soon as I reached adulthood and was in charge of my own breakfasts, I distanced myself from oatmeal because of those soggy memories.

(illustration by ChatGPT).

However, now that I am on a health journey, I want to get to the bottom of the oatmeal debacle. Some research is necessary to reveal the truth. Here are some things that I have learned about oatmeal in the past few years: (click on each underlined sentence for the links to resources).

1. Oatmeal has glyphosate.

2. Oatmeal by itself does elevate blood sugar.

3. Oatmeal does not have enough protein for a heart-healthy breakfast.

So, what to do then? You could be like me and never eat oatmeal for years because of those reasons listed above. Or you could be curious and creative and try some alternatives and additives. Here is what I have been doing:

1. Eat sprouted oats instead of rolled or quick oats. Better yet, get organic sprouted oats.

2. Add seeds, nuts, fruit, yogurt, protein powder, etc. to your oatmeal so that you can have added protein and fiber and healthy fats. This increases the protein from around 5g per 1 serving of ½ cup of oats to anywhere from 20-30g per serving.

3. Don’t eat oats every day. Alternate it with other healthy breakfasts of eggs, sausage, yogurt, etc. (If you want a post dedicated to breakfasts, I can do that, too).

Ok, so, now that you know the reasoning behind my heart for this subject, here are some recipes that I have been experimenting with. I focused mainly on oatmeal 3 ways:

—> apple cinnamon oatmeal

—>strawberries and cream oatmeal

—> raisin payasam oatmeal (payasum is an Indian dessert that brings me back to my childhood)

(illustration by ChatGPT)

Ultimately, you can mix and match whatever you like with the oatmeal as long as the base remains the same. Here are the ingredients to make one serving of the base: (If you are serving more people, double or triple the recipes as necessary).

1 cup milk (whole milk or plant milk if you need to)

½ cup sprouted oats

1 Tbsp. hemp hearts

1 tsp. chia seeds

1 Tbsp. honey

To that base, add whatever fruit, nuts, seeds, and/or spices you want, or you can even just eat it plain. If you are doing the apple cinnamon, just dice 1 small apple and add a sprinkle of cinnamon. If you are making the strawberries and cream or even peaches and cream, add ½ of your desired fruit, either fresh or frozen, and ½ tsp of vanilla to get the creamy flavor. If you are making the raisin payasam, add ¼ cup of raisins and a sprinkle of cardamom.

If one serving does not fill you up for breakfast (if you are a big man like my husband, lol) feel free to add a side of eggs or sausage or bacon to get added protein. I would not recommend a side of carbs since the oatmeal itself already has enough carbs for one serving.

Of course there are many other ways to use oatmeal like baked oatmeal or oatmeal cookies and breads, but this post is just focused on oatmeal porridge for breakfast (I apologize if you were hoping for something more).

So, anyways, let me know if you try some of these recipes or if you make your oatmeal a different way that you think I would like. And if you want to see this kind of post more often, I can make others with deep dives into whatever else would be interesting! Let me know, and enjoy!

(Illustration by ChatGPT)