Beyond Oatmeal: Oat Recipes and Tips

Ask almost anyone to name one of the healthiest breakfasts you can have, and many will say, "oatmeal." Ask why it's so healthy, and they would probably answer, "fiber." While getting more fiberis a good reason to reach for that packet of oats in the morning, there's a lot more to oats, nutritionally speaking.

Half a cup of oats will give your body a nutritional boost beyond the 4.1 grams (g) of fiber. You get some plant protein along with some smart fats (from monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat), vitamins and minerals, and countless phytochemicals, too!

Let's do the numbers:

Rolled Oats, 1/2 cup serving (approximate values)

Calories: 156

Protein: 6.5 g

Carbohydrate: 27 g

Fat: 2.6 g

Saturated fat: 0.4 g

Monounsaturated fat: 0.8 g

Polyunsaturated fat: 1 g

Fiber: 4.1 g

Sodium: 2 mg

Thiamin: 26% Daily Value

Folacin (folic acid): 7% Daily Value

Vitamin E: 6% Daily Value

Iron: 11% Daily Value

Magnesium: 21% Daily Value

Selenium: 25% Daily Value

Zinc: 10% Daily Value

The health benefits of oats are thought to include limiting oxidation of LDL ("bad") cholesterol, decreasing total and LDL cholesterol, and reducing blood pressure -- all of which help lower your risk of heart disease. The fiber in oats is also thought to help you feel full longer, and reduce the amount of insulin released after meals.

10 Ways to Harness the Power of Oats

There are all sorts of way to eat oats. There's the predictable hot oatmeal breakfast (which can also be a quick snack at work if the lunchroom has a microwave). Then there are oat recipes for baked goods, like muffins, breads, and certain desserts. Crisps, for example, traditionally call for oats. Granola is a type of cold breakfast cereal that usually includes plenty of oats, too.

One of the easiest ways to enjoy oats is as instant oatmeal. Usually, instant oatmeal is quite high in sugar. But there are now some choices in the supermarket that keep the convenience but lose some of the sugar.

Here are 10 ways to eat more oats:

1. Opt for Healthier Instant Oatmeal

Most people prefer some sweetness in their oatmeal. But there's more sugar than we need in all those fun, flavored oatmeal packets, that's for sure. How do I know? I've tasted the new less-sugar types, and they taste great!

There are Apples & Cinnamon and Maple & Brown Sugar varieties, and my personal favorite, Take Heart Blueberry. A packet (34 grams) of Quaker's 50% Less Sugar Maple & Brown Sugar flavor has 4 grams of sugar (13% calories from sugar), along with 3 grams of fiber (1 gram of which is superhealthy soluble fiber). The Take Heart Blueberry variety (a larger, 45-gram packet), with added oat bran and flaxseed, has 6 grams of fiber (4 grams of which is soluble), and 9 grams of sugar (22.5% calories from sugar), plus 130 milligrams of plant omega-3 fatty acids.