The proverb says, “A good woman does not exceed one hundred.” Regardless of a woman’s age, she hopes to have a “perfect body,” so weight loss is always a hot topic for women. However, losing weight is really difficult, and there are countless “weight loss tips” and methods online, among which oatmeal weight loss method is one. So, does eating oatmeal help with weight loss? Why do some people gain weight instead of losing weight while eating oatmeal every day?
Oatmeal has always been praised by nutritionists and doctors as a healthy food, suitable for overweight, high cholesterol, and diabetes populations. This is because oatmeal contains rich soluble dietary fiber, which is not easily digested and can stay in the gastrointestinal tract for a long time, giving us a sustained feeling of fullness, thus limiting the intake of other high-fat and high-calorie foods, which is beneficial for weight loss. Secondly, the dietary fiber in oatmeal absorbs water in the human intestines, forming a gel-like substance, promoting intestinal peristalsis, helping digestion, preventing constipation, and also inhibiting the absorption of cholesterol in the body, having a slimming effect. However, oatmeal weight loss requires long-term persistence to see results, generally requiring 3 to 6 months, during which normal diet and exercise should also be maintained.
Oatmeal is indeed an excellent coarse grain because of its low processing level, preserving almost all of its nutritional components. Oatmeal contains rich dietary fiber, B vitamins, protein, unsaturated fatty acids, cellulose, vitamin E, β-glucan, minerals, etc., all of which have higher nutritional content than ordinary rice, making it a low-sugar, high-nutrition, high-energy food.
However, it is important to note that oatmeal is also very high in calories, with 367 calories per 100g of oatmeal, more than three times that of the same weight of rice. In other words, a bowl of oatmeal is equivalent to three bowls of rice in terms of calories. If you replace other staple foods with oatmeal, you will only get fatter.
There are many types of oatmeal products, some are rolled, some are whole grain, some are powder forms, some need to be cooked, and some can be eaten by just pouring boiling water. Facing the dazzling array of “nutritious oatmeal” on the supermarket shelves, you must look carefully. For those who want to lose weight, you must choose pure oatmeal, which means oatmeal with no other additives listed on the ingredients label. Oatmeal with added dried fruits, starch, syrups, and nuts have undergone many processing steps, are already cooked, can be eaten by just pouring boiling water, similar to drinking porridge, fast digestion, poor satiety, strange not to gain weight. This kind of oatmeal has a strong sweet smell, less sticky after soaking in boiling water, tempting taste, feels like eating a snack.
So, if you really want to lose weight, buy pure oatmeal, those instant, ready-to-eat nutritious oatmeal will only make you eat more and get fatter!
Many people, when cooking oatmeal, in addition to adding milk, also add nuts, dried fruits, or yogurt, sugar, and other ingredients as toppings. Oatmeal itself is not low in calories, and by adding other ingredients, the calorie intake is significantly increased, naturally, it won’t have a weight loss effect.
