I was asked if I would answer some great questions by some of my class attendees- and I will address one of those tonight. Here you go, Jennilyn (and company)!:
Q- With all of the new research, how are we really supposed to prepare oats for oatmeal?
A- According to the latest research done by the Weston A. Price Foundation, oats are high in phytic acid and low in phytase, the enzyme that neutralizes the phytic acid and liberates the phosphorus. This enzyme co-exists with plant foods that contain phytic acid. Phytic acid is the compound that allows grains, nuts, seeds and beans to store for years at a time while retaining all of their nutrition, but it must be neutralized as it is a powerful anti-nutrient and enzyme inhibitor. I experienced the negative effects of phytic acid full force and it nearly destroyed my health, but learning how to properly prepare grains and legumes turned my life and my health around. I will share more of that later when I tell my story.
Because of its high phytate and low phytase levels, oats cannot simply be cooked and eaten without losing calcium and other nutrients. Neither can it be soaked overnight and get the desired health benefits. The good news is that the process of rolling oats removes at least part of the bran, where a large portion of the phytic acid resides. My understanding of their research is that the best way to prepare oatmeal is to soak it for 24 hours in warm water (about 100ยบ) with whey or other acidic medium such as lemon juice or adding a small amount of freshly ground rye flour to your soaking oats. That process of soaking, cooking and consuming with plenty of raw cream, butter or other raw cultured dairy products and taking your daily dose of cod liver oil helps to prevent the loss of calcium if you have a high oat diet. I would recommend soaking the oats in a crock pot if you have a low or warm setting for 24 hours.
Here is the link to the latest article on phytic acid from the WAPF, for those of you who may have not seen it yet.
I bet Jennilyn is relieved...she wasn't going to let her oatmeal go without a fight!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the class and for these posts. Keep those daily menus coming--just whatever you fed your family for the day--they are EXTREMELY helpful.
--Karen Hyatt
The warm setting on my crock pot cooks it fully in that time, but if you leave the oven light on with the door closed the temperature ends up being about 100 degrees. That might work better for soaking and then cooking them overnight in the crock pot.
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