Benefits of Oats
Surprising Benefits of Oats:
Everyone knows that oats are good for you, but it turns out that they’re even better than we thought!
Research shows that adding oats to your diet can help improve your cholesterol levels, control blood sugar, and even reduce symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn’s disease.
Read on to learn more about these surprising benefits of oats and how they can improve your health!
1) Anti-inflammatory Properties
In addition to helping ease joint pain, oats have anti-inflammatory properties that make them an ideal food for arthritis sufferers.
Oatmeal has been shown to help lower C-reactive protein levels, which are often elevated in people with inflammatory diseases.
The soluble fiber found in oats—called beta-glucan— is credited with helping relieve pain and reduce swelling. Some research suggests that a diet rich in oatmeal could play a role in preventing arthritis, while others say it may be useful as a treatment once symptoms appear.
Be sure to consult your doctor before adding oatmeal or any other food to your diet if you suffer from rheumatoid arthritis; it’s always best to discuss changes with your physician first.
2) Protects Against Heart Disease
A diet rich in whole grains has been linked to a reduced risk of coronary heart disease and stroke. The same is true for oats, which are high in beta-glucan soluble fiber, meaning that they’re able to lower cholesterol levels and protect against heart disease.
Eating oats or oatmeal every day may help reduce LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) by as much as 6% within 3 weeks. That might not sound like a lot, but reducing your cholesterol level even by 1% can drastically improve your cardiovascular health.
Furthermore, since oats are low in saturated fat, sodium and sugar while being high in protein and vitamins like vitamin E and riboflavin, it doesn’t get much healthier than that!
3) Weight Loss Aid
Oatmeal is a healthy option for breakfast. Not only does it provide fuel for your morning, but research has shown that it may also keep you feeling full longer than other cereals.
In fact, a 2012 study published in Appetite showed that eating a bowl of oatmeal before lunch can reduce calorie intake by about 15% over an hour later.
So if you’re looking to shed some weight and avoid sugar-laden cereals that’ll send your blood sugar on a roller coaster ride, opt for slow-burning whole grains like oats and brown rice instead. They’re sure to fill you up!
In addition, regular consumption of oatmeal can lower cholesterol levels, according to a 2013 report from Penn State University.
The researchers found that participants who ate oatmeal every day had LDL (bad) cholesterol levels 9% lower than those who didn’t eat oats at all. If heart health is important to you, go ahead and enjoy a heaping bowlful!
4) Healthy Skin
Vitamin E helps fight acne, psoriasis and rashes, which makes oats a wonderful remedy for keeping your skin looking fresh. A deficiency in Vitamin E is also known to cause serious damage to your skin, as well as weaken your immune system.
Just one more reason to add some oatmeal into your diet each day! After a month or two of eating oatmeal daily you should notice a difference in both how healthy your skin looks and feels. If you are already consuming enough vitamin E, adding oats to your diet will have no effect on your skin.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Omega-3 fatty acids are incredibly important for our health because they help protect us from cardiovascular disease and stroke. They also help keep our brains sharp by preventing memory loss, depression and Alzheimer’s disease.
The most effective way to get omega-3s is through fish oil supplements—but if you don’t like fish (or can’t eat it due to allergies), adding some oatmeal into your diet every morning can help increase your intake of these vital nutrients without compromising on taste or convenience.
5) Helps in Lowering Blood Sugar
The soluble fiber found in oats is called beta-glucan. This aids your body in maintaining stable blood sugar levels by slowing down digestion, meaning less glucose is released into your bloodstream.
Research has shown that beta-glucan can help lower LDL cholesterol and triglycerides as well as raise HDL (the good kind).
Eat more whole grains like oats to get all these benefits. A study published in Diabetes Care also found that adding oats to a diet may also help with weight loss.
Researchers assigned 150 overweight adults with Type 2 diabetes or prediabetes to either eat a low-calorie diet or a low-calorie diet plus 11/2 cups of oatmeal per day for one year.
The results showed those who ate oatmeal lost significantly more weight than those who did not eat oatmeal during the study period—even though both groups were eating similar amounts of calories each day!
