Oats are a healthy food to add to a healthy diet for a number of reasons. These are a few:
- Oats contain fiber. That means it helps you remain fuller for longer so you don’t crave all those not-so-good-for-you foods.
- Oats contain a specific kind of fiber (called beta-glucan), that is linked to lowering cholesterol levels and overall heart-health.
- It contains protein, which makes it great for bodybuilding.
- Complex carbohydrates found in oats convert to sugar at a slower rate and provides energy to the body.
- It helps to combat diabetes, cancer and other diseases.
There are various types of oats available out there but the question is: Which type is best for you?
All types of oats start off as oat groats. Before being processed, groats are usually roasted at a very low temperature. This is to eliminate those enzymes that can make them go stale, and thus, makes it more shelf stable.
After that, the oats are processed to give us what we have today. The difference between all the types of oats we have really come down to two factors:
- How Much They Have Been Processed
- How Much Times It Takes To Cook Them
Let’s take a look first at the most popular options we have:
Steel Cut Oats
This is the least processed type of oats.
It is made by chopping the oat groats into smaller pieces.
Steel cut oats take the most time to cook with cook time being as much as 30 minutes.
It is very chewy in texture and can even be used as an alternative to rice.
This type of oats is more processed than steel oats.
It’s much faster to cook than Steel cut oats and retains much of its shape after cooking.
It can also be used for a breakfast cereal, granola bars, oatmeal cookies and other baked goods.
It’s also known as Quick Oats. This is the most processed type of oats. They are pre-cooked, dried, and then rolled and pressed slightly thinner than rolled oats.
It’s the quickest to cook and the texture often comes out mushy. It’s best used as a breakfast cereal.
The great thing about all types of oats is that they all have the same nutritional value because they all come from the same source: whole oat groats.
The type of oats that is best for you simply depends on what you want to use it for.
If you want a very crunchy cereal and have some time on your hands or you’re looking for an alternative to rice, steel-cut oats are the way to go.
If you want a cereal that still has some texture – not too crunchy but not too soft either – and you’ll like to make other things like muffins, granola bars, cookies and other baked goodies, Rolled Oats are your best option.
If all you want is a quick (and instant) breakfast and you don’t mind a mushy cereal, then instant oats are for you.
The choice is yours.
At TNWC, our personal preference is Rolled Oats simply because we can do so much more: Cereal, Muffins, Oatmeal Pancakes, Granola Bars.
Check out our 7 Favourite Oatmeal Recipes.
Get your own jar of TNWC Rolled Oats for just N1,500/jar.
Want to order or have some questions? Send us a message on Facebook here.