Do quick-cook oats have the same health benefits?

I have been eating rolled oats for decades. Lately, however, I’ve been thinking about buying the different flavoured oat sachets for a snack or lunch at work. How do they compare nutritionally to standard rolled oats?

Answer:

Oats are nutritious, versatile, and surprisingly budget-friendly. Oats lower blood cholesterol levels, stabilise blood sugar levels, and promote bowel regularity. Emerging research suggests oats, which are rich in fibre, can also positively influence our gut microbiota. But are these new oat sachet products so processed that they lose their health benefits?

Rolled oats have a unique composition of fibre, fats and bioactive compounds, such as antioxidants, vitamins and minerals that are likely responsible for their health effects. Importantly, whole oats contain a type of dietary fibre called beta-glucan that is not found in most other whole grains. Beta-glucan is responsible for oats’ cholesterol-lowering effects, ability to improve bowel regularity, and potentially boost gut health. New Zealand-grown rolled oats contain about 3.2g of beta-glucan fibre per 100g of oats, so a half-cup of rolled oats (weighing approximately 65g) would provide nearly 2.1g of beta-glucan.

However, when whole grains like oats are processed, dietary fibre, vitamins, and minerals are lost. While refined products have a longer shelf life, they are nutritionally inferior. So, does the additional processing involved in producing quick-cook oat sachets affect their nutritional quality?

Physically altering the form of oats can affect the amount, solubility and structure of the beta-glucan fibre in cereals. Highly processed cereals created through extrusion processes reduce beta-glucan’s ability to decrease serum cholesterol by up to 50%, a 2014study in the British Journal of Nutrition found.

Examples of extruded cereals here include Froot Loops and Nutrigrain. The oat flour in such cereals would therefore most likely not produce the same beneficial health effects as rolled oats. In other words, not all “oats” or “oat flours” listed on ingredient lists are equal.

Quick-cook oats are manufactured similarly to other rolled oats, though in a thinner size than regular rolled oats, so the starch inside the oats can absorb water more quickly, decreasing cooking time.

That also means quick-cook oats are digested faster, leading to a higher glycaemic response than larger-flake oats. Glycaemic response refers to how quickly and how much a food raises your blood sugar levels after eating it.