I have been asked which Oatmeal is the best to buy. There are many choices. You have Steel Cut Oats (also known as Irish Oats), Rolled Oats, Quick Cooking Rolled Oats and Instant Oatmeal. Oatmeal is great for breakfast but can also be used in many recipes such as muffins, pancakes, cookies.
Steel Cut Oats and Rolled Oats are not that much different when it comes to calories, fiber, carbohydrates, fats until you look at the glycemic index. Steel Cut Oats is lower on the glycemic index with a rank of 42 and old fashioned rolled oats ranking is about 55.
Quick Cook Rolled Oats are more processed than the regular old-fashioned oats, so they cook up a bit quicker and are mushier in texture. These are oats that have been pressed slightly thinner than rolled oats. The glycemic index of the Quick Cook Rolled Oats is about 66.
The most processed of the oats is the Instant Oatmeal. Pressed even thinner than quick oats, instant oats oats often break into a coarse powder. They cook the quickest of all and make a very soft. These are the most heavily processed. The groats have been chopped fine, flattened, pre-cooked, and dehydrated. Instant oatmeal usually has added salt and sugar. The glycemic index of instant oatmeal is about 83. I would suggest you leave the instant oatmeal in the store and buy either the Steel Cut or the Rolled Oats.
A glycemic index of 55 and under is low and best, 56 to 69 is medium, and 70 and above is high. The lower the glycemic index the ranking of carbs based on their effect on blood sugar levels. The lower the ranking the slower the carbohydrate will break down. You want to avoid blood sugar spikes.
And for those who need gluten free oats, you can find those too.
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What Is It?
Sucralose is the newest nonnutritive sweetener on the market. It is most well known for its claim to be made from sugar. It is used alone or found in Splenda and is 600 times sweeter than sucrose (table sugar). When used alone, it provides essentially no calories and is not fully absorbed. In 1998, it was approved for limited use, and in 1999, it was given approval for use as a general-purpose sweetener. It is currently found in over 4,500 products, including foods that are cooked or baked. This artificial sweetener that can be used for cooking, so it has rapidly become one of the most popular and highly consumed artificial sweeteners.
It is Nothing Like Sugar!
The most misunderstood fact about sucralose is that it is nothing like sugar even though the marketing implies that it is. Sucralose was actually discovered while trying to create a new INSECTICIDE! It may have started out as sugar, but the final product is anything but sugar. According to the book Sweet Deception, sucralose is made when sugar is treated with trityl chloride, acetic anhydride, hydrogen chlorine, thionyl chloride, and methanol in the presence of dimethylformamide, 4-methylmorpholine, toluene, methyl isobutyl ketone, acetic acid, benzyltriethlyammonium chloride, and sodium methoxide, making it unlike anything found in nature. If you read the fine print on the Splenda web site, it states that "although sucralose has a structure like sugar and a sugar-like taste, it is not natural."
The name sucralose is misleading. The suffix -ose is used to name sugars, not additives. Sucralose sounds very close to sucrose, table sugar, and can be confusing for consumers.
The presence of chlorine is thought to be the most dangerous component of sucralose. Chlorine is considered a carcinogen and has been used in poisonous gas, disinfectants, pesticides, and plastics. The digestion and absorption of sucralose is not clear due to a lack of long-term studies on humans. The majority of studies were done on animals for short lengths of time. The alleged symptoms associated with sucralose are gastrointestinal problems (bloating, gas, diarrhea, nausea), skin irritations (rash, hives, redness, itching, swelling), wheezing, cough, runny nose, chest pains, palpitations, anxiety, anger, moods swings, depression, and itchy eyes. The only way to be sure of the safety of sucralose is to have long-term studies on humans done.
Splenda is a product that contains the artificial sweetener sucralose, but that is not all that it contains. Sucralose does have calories, but because it is 600 times sweeter than sugar, very small amounts are needed to achieve the desired sweetness so you most likely won't consume enough to get any calories. The other two ingredients in Splenda are dextrose and maltodextrin, which are used to increase bulk and are carbohydrates that do have calories. One cup of Splenda contains 96 calories and 32 grams of carbohydrates, which is often unnoticed due to the label claiming that it's a no calorie sweetener. Because this is found in so many products and can be used in cooking, it can be possible to consume 1 cup or more each day. For people with diabetes, this is a significant amount of carbohydrates, and for people who are watching their weight, this can be a problem. Consuming an additional 100 calories a day can result in a weight gain of 10 lbs. per year!
A recent study found that Splenda affected the absorption of medications in rats. The rats were given sucralose at doses of 1.1-11 mg/kg. After 12-weeks, they found that the rats had half of the good bacteria in the gut. To lose half of your good bacteria, from your gut, is not good! 80% of your immune system is in your gut. They also found that Splenda interferes with the absorption of prescription medications. However, there are other research studies that have come out to show that this is not what happens. There has been no long-term studies in humans so the limited number of studies and lack of long-term studies on sucralose means that we are going to have to learn things like this as we go!
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We all know that buying organic is healthier for our families but it can get expensive. There are some fruits and vegetables that you should try to be organic whenever possible. The dirty dozen are listed below:
1. Apples - Tops the dirty dozen list. More than 40 different pesticides have been detected on apples, because fungus and insect threats prompt farmers to spray various chemicals on their orchards. Not surprisingly, pesticide residue is also found in apple juice and apple sauce, making all apple products smart foods to buy organic.
2. Celery - Another perennial food on the dirty dozen list is celery. USDA tests have found more than 60 different pesticides on celery.
Can't find organic celery? Safer alternatives with a similar crunch include broccoli, radishes and onions.
3. Strawberries - Strawberries are always on the list of dirty dozen foods, in part because fungus prompts farmers to spray, and pesticide residue remains on berries sold at market. Nearly 60 different pesticides have been found on strawberries, though fewer are found on frozen strawberries.
Can't find organic strawberries? Safer alternatives include kiwi and pineapples.
4. Peaches - More than 60 pesticides have been found on peaches, but far fewer in canned peaches.
Safer alternatives include watermelon, tangerines, oranges and grapefruit.
5. Spinach - Leading the leafy green pesticide residue category is spinach, with nearly 50 different pesticides. While frozen spinach has nearly as many, canned has had fewer detected pesticides.
6. Nectarines (imported) - Nectarines, at least imported ones, are among the most highly contaminated tree fruits. Domestic nectarines do not test with as much pesticide residue, but overall 33 pesticides have been detected on nectarines.
Can't find organic nectarines? Try pineapple, papaya or mango.
7. Grapes (imported) - Imported grapes can have more than 30 pesticides. Raisins, not surprisingly, also have high pesticide residue tests. Makes you wonder about wine, eh?
8. Sweet Bell Peppers - tends to have high pesticide residue. Nearly 50 different pesticides have been detected on sweet bell peppers.
9. White Potatoes - America's favorite vegetable is the potato; unfortunately, more than 35 pesticides have been detected on potatoes in USDA testing. Sweet potatoes offer a delicious alternative with less chance of pesticide residue.
10. Blueberries - More than 50 pesticides have been detected as residue on them. Frozen blueberries have proved somewhat less contaminated. Unfortunately, obvious alternatives like cranberries and cherries, while they may not make the dirty dozen list, are often contaminated themselves. For breakfast cereal, if you can't find organic blueberries, consider topping with bananas.
11. Lettuce - Joining spinach in the leafy greens category, lettuce makes the list of dirty dozen foods with the most pesticides. More than 50 pesticides have been identified on lettuce. If you can't find organic lettuce, alternatives include asparagus.
12. Kale - A superfood, traditionally kale is known as a hardier vegetable that rarely suffers from pests and disease, but it was found to have high amounts of pesticide residue when tested in each of the past two years.
Can't find organic kale? Safer alternatives include cabbage, asparagus and broccoli. Dandelion greens also make a nutritious alternative.
Collard Greens - Put on par with kale for the dirty dozen list, collard greens tests have revealed more than 45 pesticides. Alternatives include Brussels sprouts, dandelion greens and cabbage.
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If you are gluten intolerant or have Celiac disease, be on the look out for the following ingredients in your food items and products.
Gluten allergies can be serious, whether you’re just a bit intolerant or have Celiac disease. It causes symptoms like bloating, cramping, fatigue, diarrhea and general gastrointestinal issues; it can even predispose you to liver disease or cancer.
Because gluten is found in so many things, from food to beauty products, it can be hard maintaining a gluten-free lifestyle. Get familiar with the terms on this list, and make sure to check food items and products to ensure they are gluten-free before using or consuming them. While this is a comprehensive list, you may still want to call the company directly to get a complete list of ingredients, just to be safe.
Gluten Glossary:
Amino peptide complex
Amp-isostearoyl hydrolyzed wheat protein
Avena sativa (oat) flour
Avena sativa (oat) flour kernel
Barley derived
Barley extract
Disodium wheatgermamido PEG-2 sulfosuccinateH
Hordeum vulgare (barley) extract
Hyrdrolyzed wheat gluten
Hydrolyzed wheat protein
Hydrolyzed wheat protein PG-propyl silanetriol
Hydrolyzed wheat starch
Hydroxpropyltrimonium hydrolyzed wheat protein
Oat (avena sativa) extract
Oat beta glucan
Oat derived
Oat extract
Oat flour
Phytophingosine extract
Rye derived
Sodium lauroyl oat amino acids
Triticum vulgare (wheat) flour lipids
Triticum vulgare (wheat) germ extract
Triticum vulgare (wheat) germ oil
Tocopherol
Tocopheryl acetate
Vitamin E (make sure it's not derived from wheat)
Wheat (triticum vulgare) bran extract
Wheat amino acids
Wheat bran extract
Wheat derived
Wheat germ extracts
Wheat germ glycerides
Wheat germ oil
Wheat germamidopropyldimonium hydroxypropyl hydrolyzed wheat protein
Information obtained from Dr. Oz
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