Why You Should Eat More Oats

The answer is very simple: oats offer incredible benefits to your body and mind! They are a very nutritious food packed with healthy fibre, minerals and vitamins. It's a perfect product to have for breakfast, and with so many vegan recipes available online these days, you can make sure you have a different dish every day! Whether you pick jumbo oats with plant-based yoghurt or classic porridge, it's always good for you. Why? Eating oats will help your body get enough fibre and energy for the whole day. What else do oats offer? Let's check out! 

Oats help you control weight. 

Oats are beneficial when you are trying to lose weight. According to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, oats make you feel less hungry during the day as they simply make you feel fuller for longer. Additionally, fibre helps to improve metabolism. 

Oats are great for your gut and immunity.

Oats have a probiotic effect - they help feed the growth of good bacteria in your gut. And this is essential for your immune system health as the immunity starts in your gut. Oats contain a fibre called beta-glucan which helps neutrophils reach any infection in your body faster and increases their ability to eliminate the bacteria. 

Oats help control blood sugar.

If you eat oats in the morning, you won't experience sugar crashes and won't feel hungry by lunchtime. That's because it takes longer to digest oats, and you will feel full for longer. The soluble fibre that oats contain slows down the sugar release into the bloodstream. The less processed oats, the better, the more fibre they have. Oats can decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease. 

Oats slow down ageing.

Oats contain polyphenols which are great antioxidants. Antioxidants protect your body cells from free radicals and damage from toxins and help the skin look younger. Oats are great for itchy and dry skin. The starch content in oats makes a shield on your skin to keep moisture, and the husk has a very gentle exfoliating effect. No surprise, oats are also the ingredient of many anti-ageing creams and lotions. This means if you eat more oats, you will look young inside out for longer! 

Oats lower blood pressure. 

Oats are whole grains, and these are very beneficial foods which help you reduce your blood pressure. This means adding them to your diet may help you reduce the risk of stroke and heart disease. 

Oats reduce cholesterol

Oats can help you lower the bad cholesterol (LDL) and boost the levels of good cholesterol (HDL). According to many studies, people with high blood cholesterol who consume 3g of soluble fibre (1 cup of oats contains 4 g!)a day can reduce their total cholesterol by 8% to 23%. Wow! It's all thanks to the high level of healthy soluble fibre we mentioned before. It makes our humble oats a real superfood. 

Oats help you feel better and sleep better.

Oats will keep you moving! They are a great source of carbohydrates and protein, which provide you with healthy energy (good calories). We often think that oatmeal is a breakfast dish and we shouldn't eat it before going to bed. However, dieticians recommend having some oats for an evening meal as they contain melatonin and complex carbohydrates that can help more tryptophan get into the brain and help you sleep. Oats also contain many vitamins, for example, B6, which help your brain produce more serotonin. Serotonin is a chemical that connects your brain and nervous system with the rest of the body. It is responsible for the functioning of your mood, sleep, healing, and overall health. 

Why don't you just start eating more oats then?