Why does everyone tell you to have oats for breakfast? Don’t you wish you could have Oats Indian style? Nutritionists call this cereal a superfood. It contains soluble fibre (the highest amount among cereals – 16 g per cup), a powerful class of anti-oxidants and it stabilizes blood sugar. In other words, oats have the power to fight the three big lifestyle health issues affecting Indians. Fiber fights obesity and cholesterol, anti-oxidants mop up free radicals linked to cancers and a stable blood sugar can slash the risk for diabetes. In fact, nutritionists often prescribe 45 grams of oats per day for three months to manage cholesterol levels in heart patients. You can fill your RDA of fibre with just one cup of oats.
Whole oats are processed to make oatmeal, which is sold and consumed as a breakfast staple. Oats are not cultivated in India but imported in packaged boxes, mostly from Australia.
In India, oats are sold as oatmeal, rolled oats and steel cut oats. While oatmeal is coarser, rolled oats are steamed, rolled and toasted. Steel cut oats are obtained by cutting the whole oats into smaller pieces.
Nutritionists say that all three forms have almost the same nutrition profile, so go ahead and make a cup of steamy oats porridge. Or, you could grind oats and mix the flour with rava to make idlis or upma, and with wheat flour to make rotis. The best way to get oats Indian style into your diet.
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