When you’re planning healthy meals, you’re probably focusing on protein and veggies, right? That’s great, since those two sources contain key nutrients.
At the same time, it’s important not to demonize or underestimate the value of carbohydrates.
While you might have heard that carbs are a no-no, many dietitians are changing their tune — and it’s time that we did, too.
Carbs are a favorable energy source for the body. They can also help control blood glucose and insulin metabolism, help with gut health, and aid cholesterol and triglyceride metabolism, among other things.
Needless to say, carbs are packed with benefits. The dietitians we spoke to homed in on a specific type of carb that supports healthier aging and gut health: oat cereal.
Healthy aging benefits
When it comes to oat cereal’s benefits on aging, give us a minute to explain the science. It starts by helping prevent blood sugar spikes. This comes from its soluble fiber — more specifically, beta-glucan — that turns into a gel-like substance in the intestines. While that may sound gross, it’s a helpful process.
“The thick gel increases the volume of the stool for easier elimination, speeds up the transit time for improved regularity, reduces the nutrients available for absorption and slows nutrient absorption, which helps prevent blood sugar spikes,” says Stephanie Dunne, a registered dietitian nutritionist and the founder of Feed Your Intention. “The fewer blood sugar spikes we experience, the less likely we are to develop Type 2 diabetes.”
Oat cereal and that gel we talked about are also helpful for keeping cholesterol numbers at a healthy level. Essentially, the gel attaches to bile and carries it out of the body during a bowel movement, requiring the liver to make more bile using cholesterol.
“The more bile the liver has to make, the lower cholesterol will fall,” Dunne says. “Although LDL cholesterol numbers are not the only indicator of cardiovascular health, keeping these cholesterol numbers within an optimal range is necessary for healthy aging.”
Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide, which cannot be ignored. What plays a role in cardiovascular issues — and many other age-related and health-related issues — is chronic inflammation.
In other words, chronic inflammation is at the root of conditions such as metabolic syndrome, Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, cancer, depression, neurodegenerative disease, autoimmune disease and osteoporosis.
“Because of this connection, foods that support cardiovascular health and help regulate inflammation may contribute to healthier aging,” says Jennifer Pallian, a registered dietitian, food scientist and recipe developer at Foodess Creative.
You guessed it: Oat cereal is a great food for heart health, immune function and reducing inflammation thanks to compounds such as phenolic compounds and avenanthramides and micronutrients such as iron, zinc, selenium and B vitamins.
Gut health benefits
As mentioned earlier, oat cereals are an amazing source of the soluble fiber beta-glucan. This is a different type of fiber than those found in other grains, veggies and fruits, according to Dunne.
“An important factor for a healthy gut is the diversity of the microbes that live there,” she adds. “By consuming different types of fiber, we are feeding different types of microbes, which increases the microbiome diversity and, therefore, our gut health.”
Pallian adds that oats provide fiber that feeds beneficial microbes that help gut processes.
“The gut microbiota is made up of trillions of microorganisms that live in the intestine and help regulate digestion, metabolism, fermentation, immune signaling and hormone activity,” she says.
Best types of oat cereal
So what kind of oat cereal — and how much — is best?
Dunne suggests original Cheerios, Seven Sundays Oat Protein Cereal, Kind granola cereal in oats and honey, and Kodiak protein-packed granola in blueberry vanilla. Pallian recommends options that contain whole oats or oat bran, including steel-cut oats, large-flake oats, oat bran cereals and oat porridge made from traditional rolled oats.
As far as how much is needed, the answer is a bit more complex.
“Research suggests that eating 3 to 4 grams of beta-glucans per day is necessary to see modest improvements in LDL cholesterol levels and blood sugar regulation,” Dunne says. “Unfortunately, most people are not going to get this much soluble fiber from cereal alone.”
So, don’t forget to consume fiber at other points in your day with other foods, too. Again, a variety of fiber types is ideal.
Other high-fiber foods include strawberries, avocados, quinoa, almonds, peanut butter, pears and raspberries.
Remember: Carbs are good for you. Oatmeal and oat cereal, in particular, are two great examples that can strongly influence your aging process, gut health and overall well-being.
