Steel-Cut Oats -vs-Old Fashioned oats -vs- Instant Oatmeal (Jan 14, 2014)
Whole grain oats are healthy way to start your day, so which one should you choose? Lets examine the difference between the 3 most popular oats and decide which is the healthiest choice for you.
Steel Cut Oats are the whole oat groat cut in a few pieces but are not rolled out (sort of like tiny pebbles). This Is the least processed of all oat cereal and contains the most fiber and nutrients of the three types of oats discussed today. Steel cut oats take approximately 30-40 minutes to cook. You can also cook a large batch on Sunday and enjoy them throughout the week; they also taste great cold too!!
Old Fashioned Rolled Oats are the groats toasted, steamed, and ran through a roller to make them thinner into a flake like texture. The rolling process makes them faster to cook in about 10-15 minutes.
Instant Oats (packed in small bags) are the most heavily processed oat. The Groat has been chopped fine, steamed, rolled, flattened (more than rolled oats) and pre-cooked. Instant oatmeal usually has added sugars, flavorings and salt. Because of the processing these will cook up in a couple minutes
Steel cut or rolled oats are a healthy choice as long as you buy them with NO additives, NO sugars and NO salt. This leaves the instant Oats with thumbs down.
All varieties are a good source of cholesterol-lowering soluble fiber, Vitamin B1, B2 and E.
Rule of thumb: The least processed, the more time it will take to digest, which will keep your blood sugars steady and help keep you feeling fuller twice as long!
The overall winner is Steel Cut Oats!!
With this said if your just starting on your weight loss or healthier life style journey and your used to eating sugar laden cereals and you feel like you just cant eat steel cut oats, take it slow an start out with a low sugar (4g or less) low sodium instant oatmeal and work your way up to steel cut oats. Sometimes when you dive right into changing a habit it doesn’t last long and bad habits may return, it all depends on the individual. So make small changes gradually and before you know it you’ll be eating healthier and feeling great!!
Sgt. Cyndi
www.sgtcyndi.com
