SAY YES TO OATS

SAY YES TO OATS

Food uses : oats figure in processed breakfast cereals
(oat bran cereals), oatmeal biscuits, cakes,pastries,
protein concentrate and infant foods.
oat floor is no good for making bread - its high fat
content turns it rancid too quickly,but in turn prevents
spoilage and increases the shelf life of milk products,
pork,fish,and edible oils.

Nutrition: About 100 gm of oat seed contains 374 calorie,
with 13 gm protein, 7 gm of fat and nearly 65 gm of carbo-
hydrate.
Oats are among the richest grain sources of dietary fibre,
and they contain significant amounts of calcium,phosphorus,
thaiamine, riboflavin and niacin. Oat profile has the best
amino acid profile among cereals.
The soluble dietary fibre found so abundantly in oats forms
a viscous gel in the gut and provides early and long lasting
satiety.
It slows down absorption of glucose from the gut and prevents
wide swings in blood sugar levels.I t also lowers blood choles-
terol levels by inhibiting reabsorption of cholesteroltrapping
bile from the gut.Oats can be a valuable source of carbohydrate
and protein for those allergic to the gluten in wheat.
Medicinal Uses: Oat extracts were once a remedy for the smoking
habit,but this cure has now been discredited.
The grains are a folk remedy (unproven) for everything from
colic to cancer. Oats do, however, contain b-sitosterol,
a compound with anti - cancer properties.

Writer --- RAJIV.M
THE HINDU NEWS PAPER MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2005