Oatmeal Is Still the World’s Best Performance Breakfast

[Islander]

Wes Judd
Nov. 27, 2020Sure, it’s old fashioned. But it’s also nutritional rocket fuel, and athletes are making it taste great. Here’s how.

In a world of green juice and chia seed pudding, this age-old dish is the original, and perhaps most powerful, superfood, especially for athletes competing at the highest levels.
“I’ve asked a lot of elite endurance athletes about their breakfast foods, particularly before races, and oatmeal comes up again and again and again,” says Matt Fitzgerald, endurance coach, nutritionist, and author of The Endurance Diet.
You’re most likely to see oatmeal served with a ton of fixin’s, but even a bowl of plain oats holds its own as a nutritional panacea. Oatmeal is a whole grain (unless you buy oat bran—just part of the seed—as opposed to rolled oats) filled with key vitamins and minerals, a low-glycemic carb that provides lasting energy for your workout and helps fuel recovery without causing a sugar crash, and high in fiber to aid your digestive and metabolic systems.
But a bowl of oats is also a big blank canvas, ready to be combined with a truckload of other high-quality, nutritious ingredients that make it even better training food. “That’s one of oatmeal’s great virtues. You can take it in so many directions,” says Fitzgerald.

Read on for some great recipes: https://getpocket.com/explore/item/o...ance-breakfast

[grulla]

Ahh, oats, one of my recent favorite subjects. I have summed up my WHOLE OAT GROAT preparation since I last discussed this subject in post #27 of the HH thread https://www.hawkeshealth.net/communi...ghlight=groats

My updated WHOLE OAT GROATS (not crimped, rolled, or even steel cut oats) preparation for a week's supply is to first soak three (or whatever amount) cups of groats submerged in water with some apple cider vinegar for 24 hours to help eliminate any phytic acid and saponins, followed by a thorough cold water rinse.

Next, just one cup of water is added for each cup of soaked groats in a pot, with some organic diced apple, and simply brought to a boil. Keeping the water to grain ratio low at just one to one helps keep the large batch nuttier and crunchy longer with less possibility of turning into starchy paste over time in the fridge.

Once the groats start to boil, the heat is immediately turned off and the boiled groats stay in the pot to slowly cool down for 24 hours. When the batch is cooled to near room temperature, I cool it the rest of the way in the fridge, and serve it the following day with cassia free Ceylon cinnamon, butter or ghee, and a few dried TART cherries. Or one could also add a little real organic Maple syrup. The above groats obviously don't lend themselves for people in a rush, hence the idea of preparing a large size to last a week or so, and without sacrificing nutrition with store bought instant oats.

Earlier this past year, I did some experimenting and figured out that the WHOLE oat groat prep. can also equally apply to WHOLE groat buckwheat, WHOLE groat barley, as well as whole quinoa, (and perhaps some other WHOLE GROAT grains as well). One size (prep recipe) fits all, and nutrition is well maintained with nutty/crunchy results.

[Islander]

Since not everyone has Grulla's time and patience, I'm going to append my method for preparing rolled oats (I don't have the patience for groats). Everything's organic, naturally.

Bring 1/3 C. rolled oats and 2/3 C. water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add a dash of salt, cover, lower the heat and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Voila: oatmeal!
Like the link I've appended in the OP, I like to gussy up my rolled oats with something interesting. One choice is chopped nuts and a splash of maple syrup. Or I melt a tablespoon of butter or coconut oil in the oats and add 1/4 C. of blueberries or raspberries. Since my berries come out of the freezer, they bring the whole hot mess instantly down to dining temperature and of course I eat them right out of the pan. Why yes, I am a barbarian!

[grulla]

Since not everyone has Grulla's time and patience, I'm going to append my method for preparing rolled oats (I don't have the patience for groats). Everything's organic, naturally.

I guess I should have emphasized that "PLANNING AHEAD" by preparing a large batch of WHOLE groats for a week's + supply should overcome any "time and patience" issues in the long run. And when I see the groat batch nearing the end, I start the afore described procedure all over again so I don't run out. And it's all easy peasy.

And another thing, if you live near a grain and feed store that carries organic grains, such as WHOLE OAT GROATS, you could probably purchase the groats in either a 50 or 25 lb sack to be kept in an adequate sized chest freezer which will not only help to keep the groats fresh, but also kill off any mites in the process, for your prepper food storage in case of bad times. You can't get much better "bang for the buck" in nutritional value and survival than from WHOLE oat groats.

[Havanana]

A quality oatmeal does a lot to assist with overall digestive processes, which could help outweigh the total carb count. Plus I believe a lot of the carbs in oats are fiber, which a lot of people will subtract from the "net carb" count for a low carb diet. Outside of that I think a lot of it may just be a personal preference.

[Islander]

If I were to buy a 50-pound, or even a 25-pound sack of oat groats, I think I would have to include that in my will… Since at the age of 81, and at 1/3 cup per day serving, I don't think I'd live long enough to consume the entire sack!

[grulla]

If I were to buy a 50-pound, or even a 25-pound sack of oat groats, I think I would have to include that in my will… Since at the age of 81, and at 1/3 cup per day serving, I don't think I'd live long enough to consume the entire sack!

That may sound like a lot of groats, but as a single person, (I only join SIL next door for my noontime IF intermittent fasting dinner), I consume 3 cups (= 1 dry lb) of whole oat groats, every day at breakfast for one week, so theoretically, a 50 lb sack of oat groats might only last almost one year.

[grulla]

Mercola has repeated a 3 Y.O. glyphosate oat article this morning: https://media.mercola.com/ImageServe...oducts-pdf.pdf

[Julieanne]

I wish you wouldn't recommend Mercola articles grulla. Alongside that is yet another fear-producing article: " The Path of No Return? The Final Step Toward Tyranny. Health news on his site these days is few and far between, and often a few years old. Once upon a time the comments were often more useful than the article - but now mostly rants and raves against the government. I no longer read them. The man complains that the MSM spreads fear, but what he writes is far more fearful. It's irresponsible.

[grulla]

I provided the 48 hour oatmeal article and forum link that includes those other fearful articles, and then I also provided the constructive and informative, stand-alone, oatmeal PDF link without the other articles and forum, so if it's not a problem, from here on, I'll only provide just the specific and informative health related article PDF links without all the other articles and forum, as long as those health related PDF links are made available.

[Islander]

1. As a diabetic, I'd like to point out that for me, 3 cups of oats/day is way too many starchy carbs. In fact, that daily amount may be fine for a horse but could be putting you on a pre-diabetic trajectory, seriously. When I make rolled oats, I use 1/3 cup. Sometimes I use farro instead of rice or oatmeal, same quantity. And given that heavy breakfast, I hope you have a light lunch.

2. I agree with Julieanne. The direction that Mercola has taken in recent years has made him anathema to the health industry and I would prefer not to have his name associated with ours in any way. Even his occasional health articles are dated.

[grulla]

1. As a diabetic, I'd like to point out that for me, 3 cups of oats/day is way too many starchy carbs. ...

No, no, no, it's 3 cups (1 lb) of whole oat groats, made in advance, to last ~1 week for just me. lmao

[Islander]

OK, sorry for the misunderstanding. Even so, 3 cups divided over a seven day period is almost half a cup a day. Probably fine for you but again, as a diabetic, I would stay with my 1/3 cup and probably take that no more than three or maybe four times a week, since I like variety.