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so i’ve developed a crush on yet another carby breakfast food. oat bran is now officially one of my great oat loves. i read about it on heab‘s blog, and happened to run into some at the amish market saturday morning (before getting overwhelmed by the crowd, disappointed that i couldn’t find what i wanted, and leaving after about 5 minutes).
it’s sort of like cream of oat… when it’s cooked, it’s plain and very thick. perfect. for some reason, i thought it would be less healthy than oats… less fiber or something. but it’s actually got something like 6 grams per serving to oatmeal’s 4. more soluble fiber, protein, iron, thiamin, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc. i don’t know why. but please, twist my arm.
tuesday morning was the trial run, and it was a success. i mixed 1/2 cup oat bran with 1 cup water and 1 banana (half-way mashed). microwaved for a couple of minutes, and topped it with a tablespoon of crofter’s north america. delightful. it was so thick and gooey (definitely my favorite way to have oats… so excited it can just mean scooping some oat bran, instead of cooking regular oatmeal for one thousand hours).
(while the rest of the week has not gone quite like this… may i remind you of my relay for life baking?…) i decided to try out a mashed banana and no sugar in the oat bran. it made the whole thing taste sweet and breakfasty. i have been having some issues with sugar recently. recently as in maybe the past year. or 20. but it’s gotten sort of bad. i haven’t found a good solution for myself yet. my sweet tooth is sometimes insatiable. but i’m at least now very aware of it.
my grandmother was diabetic, and turns out, the insulin she got was a ridiculous amount. my mom is already borderline- or pre-diabetic. and while it could be genetic, i think we might be bringing it on ourselves in this family. my plan for the future will be some mix of splenda, stevia, and agave nectar. these’ll be my go-tos. but if i can just take some small steps to reduce my sugar, they’ll be good ones. i’m not thrilled about fake sweeteners, just like i’m not about sugar. but for what i’m working on, i think this will work for me.
agave nectar has a low glycemic index as far as sweeteners are concerned. i am not an expert. in fact, i barely understood what that meant. but (from my obviously incredibly reliable source, allaboutagave.com), agave nectar has a glycemic index around 30. other sugars, like white sugar, are usually in the high 60s. foods with glycemic indexes lower than 55 are basically considered “low glycemic foods,” are less like to trigger the body into fat storage, and are less likely to raise blood sugar or result in a spike after a meal.
it turns out these spikes in blood sugar, and their resulting release of insulin, create all sorts of problems…
- metabolic syndrome (also called syndrome x), a complex of health disorders
- insulin resistance and type II diabetes
- abdominal weight gain and obesity
- problems with blood lipids (raised triglycerides and cholesterol)
- high blood pressure
so, baby steps are what i’ll be working on. bowls of oat bran (which world’s healthiest foods just taught me is a good thing to eat for prevent heart disease and diabetes!!) and agave nectar sound just fine by me!
Thanks, Kristen! I wasn’t sure you could microwave oat bran. I just got it on Saturday also, but at Shoprite. I didn’t see it at Amish Market. I love that place! But depending on when you go, you’re right…too many people!
Thanks for your info!! oat bran can help for constipation also. But you will gain weight easily by eating banana!!
Hey you found oat bran at the Amish market – I consider it a successful trip. Definitely not a disappointment as far as I am concerned.
So glad you liked it, and I promise that once you stop sweetening your hot cereal, you’ll prefer it less sweet.
I’m not a fan of agave as it’s mostly fructose, which in reality is not diabetic friendly. I’d stick with stevia as the agave is still going to raise your blood sugar levels. My favorite way to sweeten my oats is with a little dark chocolate or coconut butter. Mmm, so good!