Eating Better: Starting with Breakfast - specifically oatmeal!

The idea with this entry in my blog is to give me a place to put all the info that is running around in my head in one easy to access location. Hopefully this will work as planned :) I'm going to take each item that I eat regularly and research it out and give its pros and cons and then try to figure out how to make it better for me by adding stuff or subtracting stuff or just cooking it in a different way. I realize, sadly, that one of my options will be just to discard it from what I currently eat. I'm concerned that all my goodies may end up in that category but we will see. My other criteria is to keep my family in budget. Would I like to buy organic and the nicer cuts of meat? Of course. Is it in my budget? Hardly. So the plan is to eat well and eat within budget.  So if you see the 'Eating Better' heading on the blog entry it's addressing my latest eating research.

So what do I eat for Breakfast - let's start with oatmeal. I find from my reading that oatmeal comes in several different forms. Steel Cut like Scottish oatmeal - I love Scottish oatmeal but it takes forever to cook and with not being a morning person I've had to give up Scottish Oatmeal on the week days. Rolled oats - they actually steam the oat grain and then smash it with rollers and then cut it into different sized pieces - Old Fashioned or Regular, Quick and Instant. Old Fashioned is too coarse for me (but great in Cookies) and instant tastes like wall paper paste and too many times comes prepackaged with sugary stuff so I go with Quick. It cooks in a minute with just water and a dash of salt. I found out from my reading that nutritionally they, the different oatmeal's, are really all about the same*. All oatmeal includes both the bran and the germ. So eat what you like.

So what is good about Oatmeal? Well it's high in soluble fiber - this slows digestion so it stays with you longer - this is a huge plus for those trying to lose some weight. It also is low on the Glycemic Index that means it's a good carbohydrate and won't cause sugar spikes (I am a diabetic and have to watch my sugars). I'm still researching Glycemic Load which is different than Glycemic Index but it makes no difference in reference to Oatmeal. There is lots of information that it MAY lower cholesterol but there is nothing definitive although advertising has run with the idea in the media. The speculation is that it is good for your heart and some studies show that what is good for your heart also helps with protection against cancer (my personal buzz word). Nutrients include Calcium, Iron, Manganese, Zinc, Vitamin E and B Vitamins. In one book I read (Food for Thought, Healing Foods to Savor, from UCSD Medical Center, Moores Cancer Center, http://www.healthyeating.ucsd.edu/) it said that oats include antioxidants, phytoestrogens, and folic acid. Since I am still discovering exactly what that means - I'll try translating that into English later in another blog.

Before I start I just wanted to add another book reference to my library of things I quote from. I got this at Costco and it's by Readers Digest. I know, like what do they know about health and can I really trust this as a source. Well I read through the list of consultants on the book and most of them have MD or PHD or RD or some other big title attached to their names. Looks good to me. The book is called Food Cures by Readers Digest.

So when I stare, sleepy eyed, at that big bowl of Oatmeal in the mornings what can I add to it to make it better for me? It has to be simple and quick.

1. Ground Flax Seed - I am discovering that ground Flax seed is awesome. All the articles I have been reading about it says that I definitely need to add it to my diet. Why? Flax is a good source of Omega 3 fatty acids (another term that needs English translation work). I do know it's a plus for your heart. It also is a good source of phytoestrogens (the good phytoestrogens called Ligans). The cancer fighting properties in this are awesome. It's high in fiber both the soluble (for maintaining blood sugar) and insoluble fiber (as any three year old would tell you 'it helps you poop'). You can easily get Ground Flax Seed but try to make sure that it's cold ground to make it healthier or you can grind your own but don't eat the seeds without grinding or they just go straight through you. Oh and you only need a couple of tablespoons of ground flax a day to get the health benefits from it.

2. Cinnamon - all you need is about 1/4 to 1/2 tsp per day of this and it does wonderful things for your blood sugar level. It also helps lower your triglyceride level (my is always horribly high because of my cancer drugs). I have been reading a lot about the new buzz word 'inflammation' and how that effects us all - I'll probably do a blog about it too - but for now cinnamon helps reduce inflammation. All good. I have actually mixed cinnamon with a sugar substitute and put it in a shaker to put on Oatmeal and other stuff too. Works great!

3. Fresh or Dried Fruit - bright colored fruits add great stuff to your oatmeal. Blueberries have the most antioxidants of any fruit that I have seen so far. Fresh is best (when you cook them they loose some of their pluses) and dried seems to concentrate the amount of sugars in the fruit. One of the things I am learning is that the brighter and the more intense the color of the fruit the more health benefits it seems to have. I like raisins and dried cranberries too but they both have a lot of sugar, all natural, but sugar none the less. I have to be careful on the amounts that I am adding of these items. If I use fresh I can use more. Bananas are great too - you get a lot of potassium from them (getting leg cramps? add some bananas to your diet). Of course I haven't even listed all the vitamins and minerals but that would take up a whole page for each fruit :)

4. Non Fat Milk - yes, I drink non fat milk (not 1% or 2% or whole milk). I raised my kids on powdered milk so going to non fat milk was a huge upgrade. My kids think that the 'fatty' milks are thick. Non Fat has more of the milk solids without all the fat that whole milk has in it. Good for you and your family. We are huge milk drinkers (6 gallons a week for a family of 4). Lots of Calcium, Vit A (good for your skin and eyes) and Vit D (big cancer fighter).

*Updated note: When I got my mail after writing this I got a WHEL study news update. WHEL is Women's Health Education and Learning - it's findings are from an on going study of cancer patients. It's through Kaiser and UCSD - the Moores Cancer Center. Anyway they said that any processing of Oats takes away some of the nutrition so your best option is Steel Cut Oats (Scottish Oatmeal) worst scenario is Instant (I told you it tasted like wall paper paste).