For the person with diabetes, the addition of cooked oatmeal to the diabetic menu can be a smart move that provides benefits for diabetic health. The suggestion is to start the day right with a bowl of cooked oatmeal, it’s tasty but more than that, it’s good for the person with diabetes because oatmeal contains fiber and fiber slows the digestion process which then slows the entry of glucose from the meal into the bloodstream. This helps moderate the extent of the usual spike in glucose that occurs after a meal is eaten.
Diabetes is a serious disease with many potential complications. A person who suffers from diabetes knows that the foods on their diabetic menu affect their blood sugars. Choosing the right foods and avoiding the foods that contribute the higher amounts of sugar to the body is a key factor in controlling the diabetic condition. The objective is to keep blood sugar levels as close to a safe range as possible in order to minimize the impact of the high sugar levels that circulate throughout the body which can, over time, cause considerable damage to tissues and organs.
A good start for the first meal of the day would be a bowl of whole grain cereal or cooked oatmeal, almost a tradition in many American households anyway but one that supplies the necessary proteins and other nutrients to provide a source of energy for the day’s activities and takes care of some of the concerns of the person with diabetes.
Several types of oats are available in food stores, processed to different degree for easy cooking preparation. The raw oats can be cut, rolled, steamed, rolled again and so on, in the manufacturing process but generally the type that passes through the fewer number of steps retains the greatest amount of the available nutrients and provide better nourishment for the consumer — but sometimes people prefer the more processed type of oatmeal because they require less time to cook to make ready for eating.
The more processed oats will have more of the bran part of the oats removed in the manufacturing process causing a loss of many of the vitamins and fiber which provide so much of the benefit — so the less processed steel cut oats are the recommended type to use.
Prepare ahead of time
It is usual to prepare a batch of oatmeal ahead of time, cooked in a large pot, enough for several days for an individual who can re-heat each day, a single bowlful, or the amount required, for about two minutes or so.
For cooking about 4 servings on the stovetop, the 100% steel cut oats that I use, the store brand, provide the preparation instructions as follows:
- In a saucepan bring 4-½ cup (1,125 ml) of water to a boil
- Add 1 cup (250 ml) of oats
- Reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered for 20 – 25 minutes or until thickened, stir occasionally
- Optional: Add ¼ teaspoon (1 ml) of salt
- Serve with milk or soymilk added (I use vanilla soymilk)
That is so easy — and nutritious. For additional flavoring you can add a little dried fruit, such as cranberries or other berries and for an extra nutrition boost that can add extra omega-3’s, I add 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed when the oatmeal is ready to serve — and sometimes a few walnut pieces, also a great sources of omega 3 essential fatty acids.
But here’s a tip, if flaxseed is to be included, then actually it is best to put the flax serving, about 2 tablespoonfulls, into the bowl first before adding the oatmeal — it makes it easier to stir into the oatmeal — and at that time it doesn’t do any harm to add a half teaspoon of cinnamon to the flaxseed and that is also easier to mix in before adding the oatmeal. If the oatmeal is from the batch made earlier and stored in the refridgerator, it can then be placed in the microwave for re-heating for about two or three minutes, either with milk or soymilk added before or later..
Hot oatmeal can also be prepared in the microwave using slightly different preparation instructions that are provided on the container of the packaged oats that I buy.
In the reference source that I consult, I see that a single serving of about 90 grams, providing about 360 calories, contains:
manganese, omega 3 fatty acids, tryptophan, dietary fiber, vitamin K, phosphorus, vitamin B-1, a very good mix and I read in another ssource that manganese plays a role in blood sugar metabolism, another bonus for the diabetic person.
I do believe that cooked oatmeal can be a valuable addition to the diabetic menu.
For more information and an outline of the Food Plan devised for me, a type 2 diabetic, please visit My Diabetic Food Plan.
And for information and suggestions in developing a diabetic menu, check out Diabetic Food Lists.
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