Oats May Not Be Good For Your Health - Here's Why

Trying to eat healthily in this day and age can be confusing. Almost every week we read about a new “superfood” or hear that the previous one isn’t so great. I’m a big believer in listening to our traditional foods and local produce, trying it out on your body and then figuring out what’s right for you from millets to native veggies.

Since I had posted about the “anti-nutrients” present in Oats doesn’t make it fit for our consumption in my Instagram stories. I received a lot of messages to brief on it.  So starting it from the basics here.

The oat plant is a species of cereal grain, grown for its seeds or ‘groats’. Once the husk (that contains most of the bran) is removed from the groat, it should be left whole but due to shelf-life constraints it’s processed into rolled oats (steamed and rolled flat), oatmeal (chopped into small pieces), steel-cut oats (dehulled and the whole grain are cut into smaller pieces) or ground into oat flour.

Believed to have originally occurred as a weed in the primary crops barley and emmer wheat, oats, because of their adaptability to harsher climatic conditions, eventually came to be cultivated as a separate crop.

Oats are a common livestock feed, we are just sharing their food because of its disengaging cooking option, high fibre and low carbs.

Add nuts or chocolate chips and you'll have oats in a form so good that even furtively one wouldn't feed them to their livestock.

Sorry for making it so appalling!

Let's break the myth chain.

Oats are marketed as a health food as they are high in soluble fibre and complex carbohydrates. For cereal, oats also have a reasonably high amount of protein. 

But but they contain equal portions of antinutrients which contribute to leaky gut, cause inflammation, weaken the immune system, and trigger autoimmune disease. Oats are also often contaminated with gluten from contact with other crops.

The reason why it’s recommended for weight watchers, diabetics, cardiac sensitive people, as a galactagogue (lactation boosting foods) and others because of the high fibre that provides volume but also takes longer to digest thereby keeping the blood sugar/ insulin level sustained. 

To keep it true, how many of us have felt that fullness after eating Oats. Not me!

Or tell me one diabetic person you know who has sustained their blood glucose levels eating Oats. 

Let’s see what Research has to say on this:

Antinutrients in Oats:

The term “anti-nutrients” suggests what they are. Whereas nutrients are substances that nourish plants and animals to grow and live, anti-nutrients earn their title because they can block the absorption of nutrients. Anti-nutrients are naturally found in animals and many plant-based foods. There are 5+ kinds of Antinutrients present in Oats viz.

AVENIN

Avenin is a protein found in oats. For some celiacs and gluten-sensitive people, avenin can trigger a reaction similar to gluten by irritating the intestinal lining.

PHYTIC ACID (PHYTATE)

Phytic acid is found in grains, nuts, seeds and beans. In oats, most of the phytic acid is found in the outer husk or bran. Phytic acid binds minerals (like calcium, zinc, iron, and magnesium) and prevents us from absorbing them. A high phytate diet can result in mineral deficiencies, which cause diseases such as osteoporosis and rickets.

LECTINS

Lectins are proteins that are produced by plants as a defence mechanism – basically to stop their seeds being eaten by pests and insects, and to protect against microorganisms like mould and fungus. When ingested, lectins irritate the digestive tract causing discomfort (the idea being that the predator learns not to eat the seed again). However, those found in grains, legumes and pseudo-grains can cause digestive upset, damage to the intestinal wall, and immune response.  

GLUTEN

While oats are “technically gluten-free”, they can be cross-contaminated by other gluten-containing grains during processing. They can also be contaminated in the field, for instance, if they are grown next to a field of wheat.

CARBOHYDRATES AND INSULIN

Aside from the antinutrients, oats are quite low in carbohydrates, and although the high fibre content lowers the glycemic index of oats, they still cause a high insulin spike in our blood and then keeps it sustained for longer hours. Regular consumption of insulin spiking foods can cause insulin resistance and diabetes. 

(I've attached the supporting research articles at the end for your reference)

Why I’m against Oats:

                                                         General Manufacturing process of Oats                                                                     

The flowchart says it better.

1. The basic nutrients are ripped off during the dehulling and killing (passing dry steam/ heat) process.

2. No steps are involved to remove the antinutrients.

3. It’s not what my grandparents ate.

The antinutrients can be decreased only by soaking, washing, rinsing, sprouting, fermenting, boiling and roasting.

Clearly, Oats doesn’t undergo any of these during processing.

Overnight oats may taste good but one cannot get the nutrients from it except fibre. So having fruits and nuts along with it only hinders with the absorption of its nutrients because of the antinutrients present in oats.

Why whole grains (unpolished):

Paddy (husked grains), millets undergo a soaking and rinsing during the processing itself and before cooking we wash, sprout and/ or ferment them anyways. 

Thus reducing the effect of anti-nutrients drastically (based on the proximate analysis study of cooked and uncooked- oats and whole millets). 

So we couldn't notice 'Oats' as a healthy grain or a superfood. Though it's rich in fibre and low in carbs, but also high in antinutrients. 

Anuradha Sridharan has written an excellent article on "No Oats for breakfast, please". Do check it. 

She has mentioned a lot on the substitutes for Oats. 

ARE THERE ANY ‘MAYBE’ CAVEATS?

If you really can’t foresee a life without oats, there are a few things you can do when preparing your oats to reduce the impact.

1. Buy whole oats with the hull and husk (with minimal processing) if one exists.

2. Buy gluten-free oats.

2. Reduce the phytic acid content. Soaking oats is not enough to reduce the phytic acid content significantly. However, there are a couple of techniques you can try (tried and tested in lab).

Choose oat groats still in the hull for best results. Sprout and soak with a complimentary grain like wheat, barley: wash- rinse- soak it well for at least 8 hours, then allow it to sprout. After it sprouts soak it in an acidic medium like curd at 49ºC for few hours. This removes 90 per cent of phytates.

 But always prefer and be dependent on Indigenous grains and local produce. 

 

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References

1.     Mozaffarian RS, Lee RM, Kennedy MA, Ludwig DS, Mozaffarian D, Gortmaker SL. Identifying whole grain foods: a comparison of different approaches for selecting more healthful whole-grain products. Public Health Nutr. 2013;16:2255-64.

2.     Wu H, Flint AJ, Qi Q, et al. Association between dietary whole-grain intake and risk of mortality: two large prospective studies in US men and women. JAMA Intern Med. 2015;175:373-84.

3.     Jacobs DR, Jr., Andersen LF, Blomhoff R. Whole-grain consumption is associated with a reduced risk of non-cardiovascular, non-cancer death attributed to inflammatory diseases in the Iowa Women’s Health Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007;85:1606-14.

3.     Aune D, Norat T, Romundstad P, Vatten LJ. Whole grain and refined grain consumption and the risk of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of cohort studies. Eur J Epidemiol. 2013;28:845-58.

4.     De Munter JS, Hu FB, Spiegelman D, Franz M, van Dam RM. Whole grain, bran, and germ intake and risk of type 2 diabetes: a prospective cohort study and systematic review. PLoS Med. 2007;4:e261.

5.  Strayer L, Jacobs DR, Jr., Schairer C, Schatzkin A, Flood A. Dietary carbohydrate, glycemic index, and glycemic load and the risk of colorectal cancer in the BCDDP cohort. Cancer Causes Control. 2007;18:853-63.

6.   Strate LL, Keeley BR, Cao Y, Wu K, Giovannucci EL, Chan AT. Western Dietary Pattern Increases, and Prudent Dietary Pattern Decreases, Risk of Incident Diverticulitis in a Prospective Cohort Study. Gastroenterology. 2017;152:1023-30 e2.

7.  Ananthakrishnan AN, Khalili H, Konijeti GG, et al. A prospective study of long-term intake of dietary fiber and risk of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Gastroenterology. 2013;145:970-7.

8.   World production and use of Oats, Linwood Hoffman. 

9.   Components of Yield in Oats: A Geometrical Interpretation- J. E. Grafius

10. Lipase activity in Oats- B Ekstrand. 

11. Fodder Oats: An Overview- Dr E J Stevens, K W Armstrong, H J Bezar, Dr W B Griffin, Prof. J G Hampton.

12. Effect of germination on oats and oat protein- Wu Y V.