Guide to Oats

[twocol_one] ALL OATS ARE GLUTEN FREE!
Sort of. What I mean is that ‘non contaminated’ oats are 100 gluten-free. The reason you get gluten-free and non-gluten free oats is because the majority of commercial oats are made in a vicinity that also handle other grains such as wheat, rye and barley.

Oat Nutrition?
Just 1 cup of oats can give you 25g of protein, over half of your daily recommended amount of fibre, around 40% of your iron and nearly 70% of your daily magnesium.

Trick your body into eating Oats!
Here at The Hungry Herbivores, we understand that oats can be really boring, dry and dull to look at… on their own.So we’ve come up with a few suggestions [/twocol_one] [twocol_one_last] about how to disguise these flat grains to get you welcoming them into your diet with open arms:

• Raw Fig Flapjacks
• Chai Spiced Overnight Oats
• Caramel Apple Crumble

You can blend them into any smoothie to give it more consistency and add a boost of nutrition to your drink. My personal favourite way to have oats is within a protein packed milkshake. I throw Oats, Peanut Butter, Cinnamon, and whatever plant-based milk I have in the fridge. And if I’ve been working out and want to make ‘all kinds of gains’, i throw in some vegan protein powder. I’m currently using Pulsin’s Soya Protein. It’s unflavoured and blends well, making it perfect for all types of shakes. Plus it was on offer. [/twocol_one_last]

Where to find it?
Oats are hard to avoid, let alone find. But there are a few variants that you might have a little more trouble locating. Nothing the local health foods shop can’t help you with though.These variants are:

1. Raw Oat Groats are the natural untouched form of oats. If you were to walking into a field of grown oats and pull some off, you’d end up with these between your fingers.
2. Rolled Oats are made by steaming the oat groat and rolling it flat. Perfect for cooking with as they tend to keep their shape for much longer and don’t become mush as easily. Great for porridge.
3. Oatmeal is made by grinding oats into a coarse flour like consistency. Think of Ready Brek. The husk is usually kept on and ground up alongside the inner oat, keeping it highly fibrous whilst easily digestible.
4. Oat Flour is exactly what you think it is. Common flour is made by finely grinding wheat, whereas Oat Flour is made by finely grinding… oats. I don’t know why I chose to explain that.
5. Steel Cut Oats are made by steaming oat groats and when cutting them into even smaller pieces. These keep the majority of their nutritional integrity, but take longer to cook.

So in summary, oats are an incredibly easy way to get a slow burning complex carbohydrate into your body. Being easily accessible and cheap, they should be a staple in everybody’s diet. Even gluten-free oats are easy to find. Being packed with protein and extremely fibrous and versatile , oats have earned their spot on The Hungry Herbivores super food list.