The Skinny on Eating Oats

Oats are a super food that even those with gluten sensitivities can generally eat because the gluten content is so low.  Oats can provide a healthy alternative to refined cereals that are packed with gluten. In addition to naturally being a whole grain, meaning that they have an almost full amino acid profile that can help your body build protein, oats provide a variety of weight loss and health benefits.

Oats Help With Weight Loss

For example, one study conducted at Vanderbilt University showed that reducing your calorie intake by 500 calories per day and eating two servings of oats for 12 weeks caused people to lower their LDL levels and decrease the circumference of their waist.

However, oats can do much more than that. Their high fiber content and filling quality makes them a choice food that will lower blood pressure, improve your heart function, and promote weight loss. Because of the soluble fiber, they slow digestion and increase the time for nutrients to absorb into your body, allowing you to get more nutrition from the foods you eat.

When people eat oat bran consistently, their blood sugar levels become lower overall. The slowing effect on the digestive system causes blood glucose levels to stabilize without the spikes or drops that can increase cravings.

Oatmeal is an excellent source of manganese and contains more than half of what you need in a day. One cup of oatmeal cooked in water also contains significant amounts of thiamin, iron, phosphorus, zinc, selenium, and magnesium.

Fortified, Instant and Steel Cut Oats

Steel Cut Oats Before Cooking

Oatmeal contains protein and can be an excellent way to start your day. It provides you with long-term energy and makes it easy to incorporate fresh fruits into your diet. Some studies even claim that oatmeal in your diet will improve your mood.

You should purchase “rolled,” “old-fashioned,” or “quick” oats. “Instant” oats have been prepared once and have lost some of its nutritional value from processing. If you purchase “instant” oats, make sure they are “fortified” so the nutrients have been added back to it afterward. “Instant” oats contain different levels of nutrients than the other forms of oats.

How to Prepare Oats

Most people prepare oatmeal for breakfast. For a change, try “steel-cut” oats. These are oats that have not been pressed or “rolled.” They tend to take longer to cook, but they have more texture.

Instead of buying instant oatmeal that contains fruit or spices and high amounts of sugar, buy the plain variety and add cinnamon and nutmeg, blueberries, or even semi-sweet chocolate pieces. Prepare it with milk and drink coffee or green tea to have a complete breakfast.

Although frequently people think of oat cereals as a breakfast food, they can also be eaten before a workout for a sustained energy boost. For snacks, sprinkle some oatmeal over your yogurt or muffins. Or, when you are craving something late at night, munch on a handful of homemade granola to help curve your hunger.

Make tasty chicken by processing oatmeal with whole-wheat flour and seasoned salt in a food processor until well combined and then coat your chicken with it before broiling or baking.

For more information or to book a consultation about anti-aging, diet and weight loss programs or any health issue you may be experiencing, visit the Pinewood Natural Health Clinic website that has a list of full services and products at www.pinewood.ca or call our Toronto Office at  (416)-656- 8100.  We also have an office in Pickering, Ontario at (905)-427-0057. You can also email us at info@pinewoodhealth.ca and we would be happy to answer any question that you have about our holistic health services.

Why High Protein Low Carb Diets Don’t Always Work

Many people who come to the Pinewood Natural Health Centre in Toronto to ask about a weight loss solution have actually lost weight through trying other diets. The only problem is that once they have lost the weight, they often gain it all back plus a few pounds moree  nThere are other options, including a largely successful low calorie diet accompanied by hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin)

The problem with High Protein Low Carbohydrate diets is that it is very hard on the urinary system and liver because it pushes your system into a state where it begins to eliminate ketones. These are acids that are produced when the body burns fat for energy.

Ketones  are also produced when the body is not producing insulin properly.  It is ketones that help you process sugar for your cells to use as energy. When is occurs, ketones form in the blood and if they are not excreted or if the body is overwhelmed by them you can get very sick, especially if you have been diagnosed with insulin resistance or diabetes.  A lot of people gaining weight in our society today are very insulin resistant which make a high protein low carb diet an unwise  choice for them.

How High Protein Low Carb Diets Became So Popular

This type of diet is not a new one. It was first developed in the sixties by Dr. Irwin Maxwell, M.D. in 1967. The idea of forcing the body into a state of ketosis by feeding it only protein  so that pounds became the basis for The Doctor’s Quick Weight Loss Diet, known more casually as the Stillman diet. The body would be tricked into releasing fat through the urine.

The Atkins diet, officially called the  Atkins Nutritional Approach is exactly the same thing. His book called Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revolution in 1972 was revamped as Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution (2002).  The New Atkins for a New You (2010) is the most recent edition of the same diet.

Today the concept of losing fat by eating protein and no carbs is a big business and the basis of many supplement products and newer spinoff fad diets.

The Drawbacks of High Protein Low Carb Diets

These diets produce ketosis and this is just simply not the greatest state for the body to be in. It can cause fatigue, nausea and constipation, none of which fit into the definition of living a healthy and active lifestyle. Long term side effects are bone loss, heart problems and kidney damage.

To top it off, ketosis is not the greatest state for your body to be in. Ketosis is an abnormal body process that occurs during starvation due to lack of carbohydrate. Ketosis causes fatigue, constipation, nausea, and vomiting, none of which are part of a healthy lifestyle. Long-term side effects of include heart disease, bone loss, and kidney damage.

A nutritional analysis of the Atkins diet by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (http://www.pcrm.org/) concluded that this diet was much too high in saturated fat and cholesterol and too low in fiber to be healthy.  This is because there is a lot of cholesterol in all of the meat and butter approved of in the diet. Eating so much animal product also stresses out the liver, intestines and kidneys.

 It is also a very acidic diet that was analyzed as being deficient in   seven key vitamins and minerals including calcium, iron, vitamin C, vitamin A, folate, vitamin B12, and thiamine.  Alkaline diets are more healthy for you.

As to be expected they also found that this diet that is very heavy on butter and meat was very high in cholesterol and saturated fat and very low in fiber.  In fact if you stick religiously to an Atkins diet you are likely to only have two to seven grams of fiber a day when at least 35 grams is what is recommended.

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The problem is that eating this much meat it means including more toxic, artery clogging fat in your body.  The excess protein also stresses every organ in your body including the kidneys, intestines and liver. 

The Not So Great Results

The typical Atkins dieter loses a great deal of weight but only for a short while. The spin-off diets, like the South Beach diet are just as bad and include liberal use of toxic sugar substitutes like Splenda that also make the blood very acidic.

 It also does not help that the low level of carbs ingested while they do these diets makes people feel tired so they do not feel like exercising.

If you want to lose weight there are healthier options at your disposal. This includes hCG plus injections.

For more information or to book a consultation about anti-aging, diet and weight loss programs or any health issue you may be experiencing, visit the Pinewood Natural Health Centre website that has a list of full services and products at www.pinewood.ca or call our Toronto Office at  (416)-656- 8100.  We also have an office in Pickering, Ontario at (905)-427-0057. You can also email us at info@pinewoodhealth.ca and we would be happy to answer any question that you have about our holistic health services.