Oats and the Glycemic Index - Time to Get Healthy!
The Glycemic Index is a scale applied to foods based on how quickly the glucose in foods is absorbed into the blood stream, relative to pure glucose. Some nutrition professionals use the glycemic index as a tool for people trying to control blood sugar, such as those with diabetes.[ref. Science Daily 2007] All foods that contain carbohydrates, such as starchy vegetables (potatoes, corn), desserts, fruits, bread, pasta and rice, can be tested for how they affect blood sugar levels after being eaten.
Oats and the Glycemic Index - Time to Get Healthy!
Glycemic index variations occur in the average person, the diabetic and the non-diabetic. These variables can change the glycemic response to a food or meal by as much as 100 percent. The Glycemic Index uses a scale of 0 to 100, with higher values given to foods that cause the most rapid rise in blood sugar. Pure glucose serves as a reference point and is given a Glycemic Index (GI) of 100. Steel cut oats rate 42 on the glycemic index, old fashioned rolled oats ranking in at 50. In addition to steel cut oats, whole grain breads, veggies and most fruits are relatively low on the Glycemic Index. Oats are most often used as oatmeal, flakes or rolled oats. They are rich in starch and protein and are used in oatmeal, cake, cookies and breakfast cereal. Oats are cold tolerant and will be unaffected by late frosts or snow.
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Oats and the Glycemic Index - Time to Get Healthy!
Typically 2 bushels are sown per acre either broadcast or drilled in 6-inch rows. Oats are the third leading cereal crop produced in the United States (after wheat and corn) and the fourth most important crop worldwide. They were once considered a weed that grew right with the barley and wheat. Oats are the seeds of a cereal grain, which has been cultivated for food for thousands of years. Early humans just ate the whole seeds after the inedible hull had been removed, typically stewing them for extended periods of time to make gruel. Oats are high in vitamin B-1 and contain a good amount of vitamins B-2 and E. Oats are sometimes mixed with other forages, but mixtures seem to be rarer than pure-stand oats, probably because oat-legume mixtures are often more difficult to manage. The aim of the mixture may be to improve the overall quality of the forage or to prolong the production season.
Oats and the Glycemic Index - Time to Get Healthy!
Oats and the Glycemic Index - Time to Get Healthy!
Oats are typically grown in cool environments. The highest yields are had in the United Kingdom, where cool moist summers (combined with good farming) make the ideal climate for oats. Oats are often grown on the same fields or milled in mills that grow or mill other grains. Oats are often processed in the same mills as wheat and other gluten containing grains and may get contaminated, making the product unsafe for consumption by a celiac requiring a gluten-free diet for life. Oats are high in fiber (10 to 15%) and are too bulky to constitute a major portion of the diet for most classes of swine, especially for young, growing pigs. The average energy value of oats is given as 80% of the energy value of corn. Oats are consumed mainly as a breakfast food, snack product, or bran form in this country. Before oats are milled, the hulls are removed leaving the oat groat. Oats have been in cultivation for over 4,000 years beginning to carve a niche for themselves in Europe approximately 3,000 years ago. Oats are high in mineral content and also in several vitamins. Formerly fed mostly to horses, oats are now used as feed for dairy cattle and poultry as well. Oats are a good source of essential vitamins such as thiamin, folic acid, biotin, pantothenic acid and vitamin E. They also contain zinc, selenium, copper, iron, manganese and magnesium.
Oats are a good source of B Vitamins, which are critical for your body to utilize energy, and are important for the production of red blood cells, which deliver oxygen to your body. Vitamin E is also used in the formation of red blood cells as well as the maintenance of bodily tissues. Oats are easy to grow with equipment and techniques used for wheat. Introduction of multicut varieties has reinforced the popularity of oats as fodder, but continuous breeding efforts are necessary to maintain disease resistance. Oats are also used for acute or chronic anxiety, excitation and stress, weak bladder, connective tissue disorders, gout, kidney ailments, skin diseases and as a tonic. Oat straw is used for the flu, swine flu, coughs, abdominal fatigue, bladder and rheumatic disorders, eye ailments, frostbite, gout, impetigo, and metabolic diseases. Oats are also used in some brands of dog and chicken feed. Steel-Cut oats are inherently full of nutritional value and are high in B-Vitamins, calcium, protein and fiber while low in salt and unsaturated fat.
One cup of Steel-Cut oatmeal contains more fiber than a bran muffin and twice as much fiber as Cream of Wheat. Steel cut oats take longer to cook than traditional oats - sometimes as long as 30 minutes. However, the time can be greatly cut down if the oats are soaked overnight in half or all the cooking liquid. Steel-cut oats are raw, but they are not alive and fresh. Steel-cut oats are oat groats that have been chopped into smaller pieces and retain bits of the bran layer. Since the bran layer, though nutritious, makes the grains tough to chew and contains an enzyme that can cause the oats to go rancid, raw oat groats are often further steam-treated to soften them for a quicker cooking time (modern "quick oats") and to denature the enzymes for a longer shelf life. Steel cut oats are whole, crushed grains of oat which has been cut into smaller pieces. Steel cut oats are less processed and have a nuttier flavor. Steel-cut oats may be substituted in recipes where rolled oats would ordinarily be used-from oatmeal to breads, cookies or bars. Steel-cut oats offer a chewier and a firmer final product. For diabetics in particular, oatmeal should be a staple but we all should be having oats on a regular basis.
Oats and the Glycemic Index - Time to Get Healthy!
