Oats are a true superfood, with a low GI rating and a long list of health benefits, writes Hugo Arnold
MY WIFE likes hers with salt and pepper, I favour seeds and brown sugar. Our breakfast has changed from a wheat-based one to oats. Yes, porridge. Gone is the slice of toast with lashings of butter and marmalade. I feel like I am swapping tradition for some hip take on health. Only the key ingredient makes me feel I am stepping back in time. This is not a food I would have jumped for joy over, even a few years ago, but now I am hooked. And why? Because it works. Gone are the mid-morning pangs of hunger, and by lunchtime I am beginning to once again feel gloriously peckish.
I tend not to be overly scientific about foods, concentrating on seasonal, local and fresh as my watchwords. But oats are pretty fascinating. Their low GI rating and slow release carbohydrates are the reasons for extended feelings of satisfaction.
But the good news doesn't stop there. They contain soluble fibre that dramatically lowers cholesterol levels, which have been shown to contribute to reduced levels of heart disease.
After reading the research on oats, you'd be forgiven for thinking you had found the perfect friend. They aid your concentration (those slow-release carbohydrates help to stabilise blood-sugar levels) and if you are over 50, this is supposed to reduce the risk of damaging collagen, which can cause your skin to droop.
This is a crop that has traditionally been grown in Ireland for years, our damp climate being more oat- than wheat-friendly. Flahavans and Odlums own the bulk of the market, with niche operator Donal Creedon coming in third with Macroom oatmeal. But now the big boys are muscling in on the act. Check out Oats and More, or Oatibix, for example.
Can things really be this good? It gets better. US researchers have found that a daily serving of oats can help improve blood pressure, prevent depression (they boost serotonin levels), reduce the risk of diabetes (they absorb sugar, cutting out the need for large quantities of insulin) and are said to help prevent breast, colon and prostate cancer.
The trouble, you will find if you are faced with a bowl of porridge oats every morning, is that they are not very exciting. In summer things such as freshly cut fruit and berries add flavour, colour and texture. But not at this time of year when we are relying on dried fruit and seeds. Maple syrup cheers things up no end, and as worthy as prune juice sounds, its restrained sweetness is a welcome alternative.
USE OATS to make your own cereal bars, muesli, or granola, a cooked version of muesli which brings a toasty richness to any breakfast table, along with the health-giving properties of oats. My cold summer version of porridge comes from Maximillian Bircher-Benner, a Swiss doctor who around the turn of the last century came up with the idea of soaking porridge oats and dried fruit in apple juice overnight in the fridge. Don't skimp on the apple juice, and then add fresh fruit and yoghurt in the morning.
Should you be tempted at other times of the day by this wonderfood, think no further than oatcakes, which when made with pinhead oatmeal, have flavour and texture, and complement cheese no end. If you have done your worthy best at the start of the day, consider Atholl Brose, the Scottish take on pudding that blends oats with cream and honey for a sweet end.