14 Feb 2012

Facts about Oats - Kamala's kitchen

Oats is part and parcel of many of our kitchen storage. It is very easy to cook, above all complaints and can be swallowed fast. It is really a gift to a housewife; less work.

Oats are generally considered healthful. The discovery of the healthy cholesterol lowering properties has led to wider appreciation of oats as human food.

What is oats? It is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed. While oats are suitable for human consumption as oatmeal and rolled oats, one of the common uses of it is as a livestock feed. Oats make up a part of the daily diet of horses, and are regularly fed to cattle as well. Oats are also used in some brands of Dog food and chicken feed.  Oat seeds are commonly marketed as cat grass to cat enthusiasts.

Who should eat oats? How much do you have to eat?
Only those having cholesterol should eat oats. Oat bran, lowers L D L cholesterol. The highest doses needed to treat cholesterol is only 60 grams. If you have high levels of cholesterol, above 230, a bowl of oat bran can help you. If your level is low, you will not see any beneficial results.

Oats lack many of the prolamines found in wheat. But it contains avenin. Avenin is a prolamine that is toxic to the intestinal mucosa. It can trigger a reaction in coeliacs.

There are 80 calories in 1 cup of cooked oat bran cereal without fat being added.

I am not against oats and oat preparations. Since I found out healthy people suffering from stomach problems all on a sudden after taking oats,  I found out these facts from the websites and wanted to share with you.
I see almost all the magazines competing with each other with oats preparations like oats uppuma, pongal, vadai, adai, dosa etc.

Kindly take oats only after consulting a dietician.




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