While walking through the local grocery store, you reach the cereal aisle and notice the various types of oatmeal. There’s your standard rolled oats (i.e. the ones that come in a big Quaker box), steel cut oats and instant oats. So what are?the differences?
First and foremost, both the rolled and steel cut oats are in the whole grain family, which are necessary for a balanced diet. Oatmeal is extremely better for you than refined bread or pasta, and any kind of sugary cereal. So don’t pass the Quaker man for the Sugar Smacks Frog your next trip to the grocery store.
However, in effort to add more oatmeal to your diet, stay away from instant oatmeal that usually comes in individual packets. Instant oats are usually pre-cooked, loaded with sugar and less nutritious than rolled or steel cut oats.
Instead, make sure you’re buying standard rolled or steel cut oats. In short,?steel cut oats typically are more natural and go through less processing than rolled oats, so their nutritional value is usually higher. They often take longer to cook, however, so keep that in mind if you’re on a time crunch. They have a much nuttier flavor too, so they usually don’t taste as bland as rolled oats do when you cook them. Rolled oats, on the other hand, take less time to cook, but are more processed than steel cut oats and sodium is often added for flavor. As previously noted, however, both types have a ton of nutritious value to them, especially if they can take the place of refined cereal, bread or pasta.???
