Tap to Read ➤

Nutrition from Oatmeals

Are you aware about the oatmeal nutrition facts and benefits? Learn what this deliciously healthy breakfast has in store for you, from this write-up.
Rajib Singha
As we all know, oatmeal is referred to a porridge made from ground oat groats, steel-cut oats, crushed oats or rolled oats. It is a well proven belief that no breakfast is more ideal than taking a bowl of oatmeal every morning to kick-start the day.
Oatmeal is loaded with calcium, vitamins, minerals, protein and is also abundant in soluble and insoluble fiber. These beneficial properties of oatmeal makes it one great and healthy meal for breakfast; the most important meal of the day.
Apart from being an ideal breakfast, oatmeal is also used as a part of several home remedies to take care of certain medical conditions.

Oatmeal Nutritional Values
The values are according to the serving size of 1 cup (81 g).

Nutrients and their Values:
  • Total Fat - 8%
  • Cholesterol - 0%
  • Sodium - 0%
  • Total Carbohydrates - 20%
  • Dietary Fiber - 33%
  • Calcium - 4%
  • Iron - 19%
  • Vitamin E - 2%
  • Vitamin K - 2%
  • Vitamin B6 - 4%
  • Thiamin - 25%
  • Riboflavin - 7%
  • Niacin - 5%
  • Folate - 6%
Coming to oatmeal calories, here you will find the calorific information of oatmeal for a serving size of 1 cup (81 g)

Total Calories - 307 (1285 kJ). This amount is a total of all the values which are obtained from:

Calories from Carbohydrates - 226 (946 kJ)
Calories from Fat - 44.2 (185 kJ)
Calories from Protein - 36.8 (154 kJ)
Oatmeal Types and their Calorie content:
  • Oatbran (1 oz) - 97
  • Old-Fashioned Oatmeal (1 oz) - 110
  • Instant Oats (1 oz) - 105
  • Rolled Oats (1 oz) - 110

Health Benefits
● Oatmeal is associated with decrease risk of breast cancer, because of its abundance in insoluble fiber. Apart from insoluble fiber, oatmeal is considered to be a power house of soluble fiber, and this is the reason it is known to reduce levels of LDL ('bad') cholesterol in the body, without causing any effect on the HDL ('good') cholesterol.
● Soluble fiber keeps a check on rising levels of cholesterol by breaking down as it passes through the digestive tract. While it gets broken down, it forms a gel that traps substance which are associated with elevated levels of cholesterol.
● A daily serving oat-based cereal does wonders in improving blood pressure control thus, at the same time, decreasing the need of anti-hypertensive medication. This was evident from a clinical study that was conducted on about 80 people with hypertension who were recommended to have oat-based cereal for 12 weeks.
● Results showed a major part of the group stopping or decreasing their medication. Also, most people in the oats group showed a 15% drop in their total cholesterol levels, along with a decrease of LDL cholesterol by 16%.
● Oatmeal provides a great deal of benefits to diabetic patients. This is because the soluble fiber in oatmeal slows down the digestion process, and brings down the rate at which carbohydrates are absorbed into the bloodstream. This in turn, helps in avoiding spike in blood sugar level, which is generally noticed in diabetic patients post meal.
● Adequate quantities of iron, calcium, magnesium, protein, thiamine and phosphorus help in a healthy growth and function of bones, teeth and muscles. And, as we can see from the table on oatmeal nutrition facts, this stuff is rich in all such essential nutrients.
● Incidents of heart diseases have been found to be less common in people who have oatmeal as their regular breakfast meals. Oatmeal is also rich in vitamin E, zinc, selenium, copper and manganese.
● The reason eating oatmeal for breakfast keeps most people feel fuller for a longer time or until their next meal is the action of the soluble fiber. This substance, once digested, forms a gel-like substance. This gel adds to the viscosity of the contents in the stomach and that in the small intestines.
In this way, the stomach gets emptied in a slower manner thus, adding to weight loss. Children who are given oatmeal on a regular basis are 50% less vulnerable to develop obesity than those who do not.
To conclude, given the rich content of fiber, oatmeal benefits the digestive system. That is why, it is known as the best home remedy to relieve constipation. The insoluble fiber in the meal increases stool bulk thus, promoting its movement through the digestive tract for excretion.