Oatmeal: from antiquity to the present day
In Egyptian tombs that were built about four thousand years ago, archaeologists have found oat seeds. At the same time, oats themselves became the last of the cultivated cereals suitable for food.
From China and Mongolia to Asia and the north...
Scientists believe that the tribes who were engaged in farming in what is now Mongolia and China were the first to grow oats. At first it was mistaken for a weed and mercilessly mowed down to feed horses and cows. And then, quite by accident (as usually happens), they recognized it as a completely edible, and moreover, very tasty and healthy cereal.
It turned out to be easy to grow and required virtually no care, so oats spread throughout Asia and became almost as popular as rice. Then the cereal, in some cunning way, penetrated through Altai and the territories of the ancestors of the Slavs to the Scandinavians and inhabitants of the British Isles. Oats were boiled and ground into flour to make flat cakes. The Scots, for example, still have this as their favorite national dish.
…and then further across Europe
By the 1st century BC. e. the fame of oats also reached the arrogant Latins (by that time they were known as decent gourmets and sybarites). The ancient Romans learned that the fierce Vikings from the northern tribes cooked and ate a truly magical porridge that made them heroes, fearless and strong.
Oats appeared in North America thanks to the Scots
The freedom-loving Irish and Scots, descendants of the ancient Celts, brought with them to North America in the mid-18th century not only turnip lanterns, which were very soon replaced by pumpkins with a carved grin, but also oats. A hundred years later, oatmeal became a traditional breakfast dish in the New World.
Photo taken from Pinterest.
The Quaker Oats company, founded in 1877, was the first in the world to produce oatmeal in two-pound paper packages (that's almost a kilogram, which is convenient and familiar to us too). In the 1880s, American housewives quickly believed in the miraculous properties of oatmeal: any decent magazine featured advertisements with recipes and a detailed listing of the beneficial qualities of porridge with water or milk.
Oatmeal for digestion
Having eaten oatmeal porridge for breakfast, even just 200 grams, you can be full until lunch. Cooked oat flakes form a thick, light liquid, which, when it enters the stomach, envelops its walls, protecting it from aggressive acids and facilitating the absorption of hard-to-digest foods. As part of any healthy diet, porridge is the best source of nutrients.
Useful properties of oatmeal:
- Vitamin B, which is necessary for daily replenishment
- Vitamin E, promoting rejuvenation
- Vitamin H, which releases energy from proteins, fats and carbohydrates
- Vitamin - PP, maintaining normal body weight
- Saturated and unsaturated fatty acids
- Iron, zinc, iodine, fluorine, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, sulfur, cobalt, sodium, magnesium, copper, manganese
- Cellulose
Oats in Russia: pre-Christian times
Historians claim that oats appeared among the Slavic tribes no later than the 7th century. They did without gastronomic delights: they pounded oats, cooked porridge and jelly from oatmeal, and baked flat cakes and pancakes. The cereal was highly valued in the harsh northern lands for its unpretentiousness. “Oats will even grow through bast shoes,” our ancestors said about them optimistically and lovingly.
Monk Nestor, the author of The Tale of Bygone Years, tells a glorious legend about Belgorod jelly (in a historical document it dates back to 997). Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich left the city to repel the warlike Pechenegs near Novgorod, but they insidiously took advantage of the absence of the governor and laid siege to the Belgorod fortress. The townspeople began to fear starvation, but found a clever way to get out of their hopeless situation. The invaders were allowed to taste the contents of two wells: a barrel of honey was buried in one, and a barrel of oatmeal jelly was buried in the other. The Pecheneg ambassadors believed that the Belgorod land was magically feeding the Slavs and went home with their troops.
Useful and harmful products
The usual distribution of the roles of products as harmful and beneficial is not entirely correct.
In fact, the benefits and harms depend on the amount of the ingredient consumed, since in small portions you can eat almost everything without harm to health. Harmful foods that should be excluded from the diet include various flavor enhancers, dyes and other chemical components. This applies to carbonated drinks, alcohol, sweets containing large amounts of sugar, mayonnaise and most factory-made sauces, semi-finished products and canned food.
The valuable qualities of oat flakes and cereals became known several centuries ago. At the beginning of the 20th century, doctors recommended a diet with oatmeal to normalize body weight and improve health to their patients.
Oatmeal in the modern diet is an ideal choice for people who want to lose weight and build additional muscle mass. Observations and scientific research have confirmed the unique properties of this product, which have a positive effect on health.
Oatmeal: benefits and advantages
Why is oatmeal considered beneficial for everyone, including those who are forced to sit on a therapeutic or any restrictive diet?
Beta glucans
Oatmeal contains a lot of soluble dietary fiber - beta-glucans. The body needs them for this:
- allow you to feel full faster and feel full longer, as they are digested slowly;
- reduce the level of “bad” cholesterol in the blood;
- envelop the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tract, soothing them.
Cellulose
The most fiber is found in the shell of the grains: it helps normalize and reduce blood sugar levels, which makes oatmeal indispensable for people with sugar addiction, patients with both types of diabetes and those who suffer from vascular or heart diseases.
Insoluble fiber
It improves intestinal function, stimulating peristalsis, cleanses it, removing toxins.
Vitamins and microelements
Oatmeal is good for those who need a vitamin boost. It contains:
- tocopherol (vitamin E),
- niacin (vitamin B3),
- pyridoxine (vitamin B6),
- choline (vitamin B4: it is needed to protect the liver and remove harmful fats from it),
- silicon,
- iodine,
- potassium,
- cobalt,
- phosphorus and many other valuable microelements.
Proteins
They are needed at any age for muscle growth. In terms of protein content, only buckwheat is ahead of oatmeal. It is important that oatmeal is quite easily digested, so there is no feeling of overeating, a person can calmly play sports or actively move a short time after eating.
How to choose porridge for breakfast
And yet, what kind of porridge to choose for breakfast, so that it is tasty, healthy, and the family likes it.
For a variety of recipes
The more variations you can prepare from one grain, the higher the likelihood that the taste of the porridge will be appreciated.
- Oatmeal. The permanent leader of the menu. Raisins and dried apricots, nuts and honey, cottage cheese and fruits. Many people like it just with butter.
- Rice porrige. There may also be options for sweet or not. With dried fruits, vegetables, seafood.
- Buckwheat porridge. The choice is not that wide. But it can be prepared viscous or crumbly, with or without milk. In addition, it is perfect as a side dish for meat dishes. For those who like a heartier breakfast.
By speed of preparation
An important factor in the morning, when everyone is rushing to work and school.
- Oatmeal. Cooked from flakes will be ready in 10-15 minutes.
- Buckwheat porridge. If you fill it with water overnight, breakfast can be served in 15 minutes.
- Rice porrige. You will have to wait about 20 minutes.
By feeling of satiety
To avoid reaching for a snack before lunch, it is better to prepare porridge rich in slow carbohydrates.
- Corn porridge contains 71 grams of carbohydrates per hundred grams of the finished dish;
- Wheat - 70 grams of carbohydrates per hundred grams of finished dish;
- Millet - 26 grams of carbohydrates per hundred grams of finished dish;
- Oatmeal - 15 grams of carbohydrates per hundred grams of finished dish. But, their quantity can be easily increased by adding foods rich in fiber.
For ladies who want to have a slim figure
In terms of calorie content from lowest to highest, the situation will look like this.
- Corn porridge has an energy value of 70 kcal per hundred grams of product.
- Rice porrige. One hundred grams of porridge cooked in water contains about 80 kcal, and in milk – 100 kcal.
- Oatmeal. Contains from 84 to 102 kcal, respectively.
Five little-known interesting facts about oatmeal
- Oatmeal is an excellent natural antidepressant. It's all about a decent content of B vitamins. Those who eat oatmeal regularly notice that stress levels decrease, insomnia goes away, and sleep itself becomes deep and restorative (vitamin B6 helps increase the synthesis of melatonin, the sleep hormone). By the way, isn’t the secret of the legendary British equanimity and stiffness hidden in the oatmeal?
- For the same reasons (a large amount of vitamins and proteins), oatmeal lovers can boast of smooth, healthy skin, beautiful shiny hair and good nails. Were you also told as a child that horses have such luxurious manes precisely because they eat oats?
- Oatmeal is good for removing heavy metal salts, toxins and waste from the body. As a result, digestion and blood circulation improve, internal organs and the brain begin to work more energetically.
- Oatmeal is an excellent cosmetic product. The flakes make effective natural masks for hair and skin. This mask is very good in spring: the skin quickly becomes clean, soft and soft, inflammation calms down, peeling goes away, and fine wrinkles are smoothed out.
- Oatmeal is also suitable for absorbing unpleasant odors - in the refrigerator, closet or trash can. It is enough to pour a small amount of flakes into a bowl - and after some time all extraneous aromas will be neutralized.
Still from the movie “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” 1981.
Instant oatmeal
Now in stores you can find a great variety of instant cereals (without cooking) and with many different tastes. Very convenient, no doubt. Especially if you’re too lazy to cook something in the morning and you’re running out of time. And then I poured boiling water on it and went to get ready for work, and after 5 minutes breakfast was ready - beauty! Unfortunately, instant porridge does not have the same richness as traditional porridge.
Such porridges have very little benefit. So, I recommend spending 15 minutes in the morning on your health and beauty. It doesn't take much to cook the porridge properly. And it was no coincidence that the large size of the flakes was mentioned. They contain, so to speak, the complete set. Smaller caliber flakes lose their properties. Moreover, the smaller the grind of the flakes, the weaker their effect on the human body.
Remember! Instant oatmeal is not as healthy as porridge made from large flakes boiled in a saucepan!
Harm of oatmeal
The best is the enemy of the good, so too much of even an extremely healthy product can harm the body. What happens if you eat only oatmeal?
For disorders of mineral metabolism, osteoporosis, anemia (and even for small children under 10 years old), an excessive amount of oatmeal will not be beneficial. Phytins, which are found in grains, legumes, nuts and oatmeal, bind cations of iron, magnesium, zinc and calcium - and the body absorbs them worse. In order to reduce the phytic acid content in the finished porridge, you can soak the flakes in plain water in the evening (don’t forget to drain it in the morning). It is also worth adding lemon juice or yogurt to your oatmeal.
Delicious oatmeal is not difficult at all
Even though every packet of oatmeal has instructions on how to cook the oatmeal, I would like to add a couple of tips. Here is my simple oatmeal recipe . Let's start with the basics. Porridge tastes better with milk. You can also use cream, but this will add significantly calories. When cooking it is worth adding sugar, if it is a sweet porridge and a pinch of salt, it will reveal the taste for the better. You can add a piece of butter to the already cooked porridge. This technique will also improve the taste. At the same time, please note that oil will make it more caloric, so do not forget to count the calories.
If every calorie counts, then you can do it without oil. It turns out just as delicious if you add your favorite fruit or berry to a plate of freshly cooked porridge. These can be either fruits or dried fruits. Also, various jams, honey and even condensed milk are good for those with a sweet tooth. Oatmeal with water will be the best solution for those who want to make oatmeal porridge that is not very high in calories. But the calorie content of oatmeal per 100 grams is no more than 68 calories, and cholesterol is zero! So I feel free to add my favorite bananas to it.
The importance of breakfast
Taking it in the morning not only provides the body with energy for the whole day, but will also help you get rid of extra pounds. The theory that skipping breakfast helps speed up your metabolism is taken out of context. In fact, no diet ignores this meal, although some nutritionists say that exercising in the morning before breakfast can burn more calories. In any case, not eating in the morning is a bad idea.
If you skip a meal, you will feel hungry, so you will be more inclined to grab a snack before lunch. The snacks themselves are even healthy if you don’t opt for high-calorie sweets, but one or two fruits for lunch is little consolation for a stomach that didn’t get its portion for breakfast.
It is worth remembering that you should not have breakfast immediately after waking up. First of all, drink a glass of water, this will help remove toxins from the body that were released during the night. After morning exercise, your appetite will be much better, as will the digestibility of foods. The first half of the day is the time for carbohydrates, so give preference to porridge, barley in a slow cooker, etc.
Nutrition for pregnant and nursing mothers
During pregnancy and lactation, a woman’s menu should be slightly different from the diet of an ordinary person. This is due to the fact that the body’s need for food increases, since it is necessary to support the vital functions of not only the mother, but also the fetus. During the feeding period, the baby receives all nutrients from mother's milk, so it is also important to provide enough calcium, zinc, iodine, protein and polyunsaturated acids.
Nutrition is adjusted depending on the duration of pregnancy, starting from the second trimester. The amount of vegetables and fruits increases, preference is given to green products. It is necessary to increase the number of flour products in the menu, for example, shortbread cookies, different types of bread, and so on. The amount of meat in the diet is most often discussed with the doctor monitoring the pregnancy. It is better to give preference to white poultry meat in various variations. And, of course, don't forget about dairy products.
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