There are several types of oat in the market.
1. Oat groats
- Only the inedible hulls are removed and it takes the longest time to cook.
2. Steel-cut (Irish) oats
- The oat groats are cut into chunks.
3. Stone-ground (Scottish) oats
- The oat groats are ground into smaller pieces than Irish oats.
4. Rolled oats
- Also called as "traditional oat", the oats are steamed and run on the roller to create flakes.
5. Quick oats
- They are rolled into thinner flakes.
6. Instant oats
- This is the most heavily processed. The groats are chopped fine, rolled into flat, steamed and dehydrated. They are usually have added sugar or salt.
So, which type of oat is the healthiest?
In fact, the steel cut, stone-ground, rolled and quick oats are nutritionally similar to each other in term of the amount of fiber, protein, calories and other nutrients. The only difference between them are the texture and the cooking time. So it is up to you to decide which is preferred, either more chewy but cook longer steel cut oats or quick but less creamy oat in quick oats.
However, beware of the instant oats as they have a lot of additives. For example, Quacker Instant Oats have added salt, caramel as coloring, and guar gum as thickener (it is high in soluble fiber and is counted into the total amount of the fiber too). Thought the intention of the added ingredients is to make instant oats more delicious, but why not choose the one that contains just oats and without any additives if you are already spending money for a healthy food like oats?
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| (from http://www.theyummylife.com/Oats) |
1. Oat groats
- Only the inedible hulls are removed and it takes the longest time to cook.
2. Steel-cut (Irish) oats
- The oat groats are cut into chunks.
3. Stone-ground (Scottish) oats
- The oat groats are ground into smaller pieces than Irish oats.
4. Rolled oats
- Also called as "traditional oat", the oats are steamed and run on the roller to create flakes.
5. Quick oats
- They are rolled into thinner flakes.
6. Instant oats
- This is the most heavily processed. The groats are chopped fine, rolled into flat, steamed and dehydrated. They are usually have added sugar or salt.
So, which type of oat is the healthiest?
In fact, the steel cut, stone-ground, rolled and quick oats are nutritionally similar to each other in term of the amount of fiber, protein, calories and other nutrients. The only difference between them are the texture and the cooking time. So it is up to you to decide which is preferred, either more chewy but cook longer steel cut oats or quick but less creamy oat in quick oats.
However, beware of the instant oats as they have a lot of additives. For example, Quacker Instant Oats have added salt, caramel as coloring, and guar gum as thickener (it is high in soluble fiber and is counted into the total amount of the fiber too). Thought the intention of the added ingredients is to make instant oats more delicious, but why not choose the one that contains just oats and without any additives if you are already spending money for a healthy food like oats?
 |
| In conclusion, instant oatmeal is not really a wise choice, but other types of oats are equally good in nutritional value despite not having same texture and cooking time. |
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