Today it’s 2024 and I’m going to talk about oats and oatmeal. You’ll discover:
- Some important health benefits
- What’s the best form of oats
- Why you should NOT eat them for breakfast and the best time to eat them
- The surprising negatives
- Health warnings of toxicity
And I bring up this topic because a subscriber asked the following:
“Hello Dr. Sam – I wanted to know if you eat oatmeal. I eat a big bowl every morning and I wanted to know if this is good or bad? I heard it’s full of vitamins, fiber, and good for lowering my cholesterol, blood sugar, and weight loss. It’s also good for energy. Thus, like a perfect food. Do you agree? Thanks boss!”
This is correct, improvements in cholesterol, blood sugar, weight loss, and energy levels are the primary reasons people eat oatmeal – other than the obvious reason that they like how it tastes.
Benefits Of Oats and Oatmeal
To begin with, oats are grains and have lots of vitamins and minerals, so they are very nutritious. Especially when compared to other grains.
They also contain a good amount of soluble fiber and beta-glucan, which helps with cholesterol levels.
Now, it doesn’t lower blood sugar, but it has a decent glycemic load and thus, doesn’t raise blood sugar levels that much. Certainly not like your typical breakfast cereals.
Best Type Of Oats
“Steel cut” oats are the healthiest because they are minimally processed, which means higher fiber and the lowest effects on blood sugar.
Best Time To Eat Oatmeal
Most people eat oats in the morning, but I think this is the worst time.
One main reason is that oatmeal is high in the amino acid tryptophan, which helps produce serotonin… a chemical that can cause a calming and relaxing effect.
In fact, you take tryptophan at night to put you to sleep.
Speaking of sleep, oats also contain melatonin, the sleep hormone.
One cup of oats contains up to 150 mg of Typrophan. That’s higher than most carbohydrates.
While Tryptophan, which is an amino acid, is typically found in higher amounts in proteins. For example
- Turkey: Around 181 mg per 3 oz serving
- Chicken: Around 165 mg per 3 oz serving
Additionally, most people eat oats with other carbohydrates and sugars, which when combined with higher tryptophan levels, can cause you to for sure slowdown, and relax.
That’s NOT what you want in the morning.
Instead, a better time would be later in the evening to help you relax and get better sleep.
However, if you still want to have oats in the morning, make sure to eat them with a good protein source and limit the extra sugars with that meal – such as fruit juice, sugar, and syrups.
And this is also why prepackaged oats aren’t good since they do contain more junk in them.
Negatives Of Oats / Oatmeal
Oats can contain gluten and lectins, which can cause inflammation in some people who are sensitive to these compounds.
Additionally, studies have shown that oats also contain glyphosate, which is a herbicide. They use this to kill plants, such as weeds.
Unfortunately, glyphosate is toxic to humans as well. In fact, it’s a carcinogen, which means it can cause cancer.
The studies showed that oats contained on average, 360 ppb (parts per billion). That’s twice the “allowed” benchmark of health, which is 160 ppb. Sadly, some of the popular samples contained up to 1000 ppb, and some had as high as 2800 ppb.
So for this reason alone, I suggest you limit your intake of oats
And if you do have them, please make sure they are at least organic.
Summary
Oats are healthier than most of the other grains.
The healthiest form or type are organic, steel-cut oats… which are better for blood sugar, and have minimal gluten and toxins.
Because of the higher tryptophan content which can cause some people to get tired, sleepy or lethargic, I suggest you consume them later in the evening for better sleep. Or, make sure you have it with a complete protein, not just by itself.
I also suggest you stay away from prepackaged oats because they will contain all of these negatives… such as gluten, preservatives, sugars, and so forth.