Sorry to ruin your oatmeal breakfast but… It ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Oatmeal is often marketed as a superfood breakfast that can lower cholesterol, manage blood sugar, promote heart health, and make you alright with your in-laws. While oats might seem like a healthy choice, the truth about their nutritional profile and contamination risks would make any smart person want to toss their precious Irish steel cut oats in the bin.
Let’s break it down.
The Misleading Health Claims
Many studies that claim oats improve cholesterol or blood sugar compare them to white bread. Yes, WHITE BREAD. So oats are better than white bread at helping us lower our cholesterol. Got any better studies? Anyone can argue that almost any other food is better than white bread.
Oats and Cholesterol: What the Research Really Says
Oats contain beta-glucan (β-glucan), a type of soluble fiber, which is overzealously credited to its cholesterol-lowering effects. Because of this, regulatory agencies around the world, including the U.S., Canada, Europe, and beyond, have firmly thrown their support behind oats, almost like they’ve made a lifelong commitment.
These health claims generally state that eating at least 3 grams of β-glucan per day as part of a balanced diet may help reduce cholesterol. For context:
- The U.S. FDA allows products with as little as 0.75 grams of β-glucan per serving to advertise this benefit.
- Europe, on the other hand, requires a minimum of 1 gram per serving to make similar claims.
But wait? What’s up with beta-glucan? Apparently studies that demonstrated the cholesterol-lowering effects of β-glucan used it in an isolated, purified form rather than as part of whole oats. This approach allowed researchers to measure the direct effect of β-glucan on cholesterol levels without interference from other components of oats.
So, since oatmeal naturally contains β-glucan, researchers and regulatory agencies extrapolated these findings to oat-based products, assuming the cholesterol-lowering effects observed with isolated β-glucan would translate to whole oats. Naturally.
How an isolated substance (like purified β-glucan) behaves in the body can be vastly different from how the same substance works when consumed in its natural matrix (like oats).
What really matters here is that we are looking at substances, isolated and fractured. We are researching one subject line versus how a whole food works in all it’s parts. We keep separating everything apart that we have forgotten we are part of something bigger that works in balance and synergy.
The Bottom Line:
While oats do have a mild cholesterol-lowering effect, the impact is relatively small. These reductions are more significant when eating 3 or more grams of β-glucan daily, which might require large portions of oats or oat-based products. However, this fiber benefit doesn’t necessarily outweigh the concerns around oats, such as heavy metals, pesticides, and anti-nutrients.
In other words, while oats may help a little with cholesterol, they are not a magical solution—and there are often better, more nutrient-dense ways to support heart health.
The Hidden Problems with Oats
1. Pesticides and Heavy Metals
According to the Environmental Working Group (EPA), 95% of ALL oats in the U.S. are often contaminated with glyphosate (linked cancer) and heavy metals like cadmium, which can harm fertility and cognitive health. Even organic oats aren’t safe from heavy metal accumulation. This is so unfortunate about glyphosate being sprayed on our crops here in The United States. It is truly something we should all be informed about. It destroys our water ways, kills our precious soil, and makes us sick (cancer!). What can we do? Vote with our dollars. Buy local, organic, seasonal, ancestral food. Support local farmers who are doing it right and engaging in restorative agricultural practices. We need them!
Unfortunately for oats, even without the glyphosate or their special gene that causes them to accumulate cadmium, I still wouldn’t touch ’em.
2. Anti-Nutrients in Oats
Phytic Acid: Steals minerals like calcium and magnesium, making it harder for your body to absorb nutrients from other foods you eat with oats. If eating oats with milk or grass-fed butter you will not be getting that calcium due to phytic acid impairing its absorption.
Cooking your oats cuts phytic acid into about 40-50%. There is still an issue with this as any mineral rich foods that you eat with the oats still won’t have the same nutritional value. The phytic acid will chelate the minerals and inhibit their absorption. Phytic acid steals those minerals before you can absorb them.
Fermentation is one of the most effective ways to reduce phytic acid, unlocking more nutrients in foods and improving their digestibility. During fermentation, the process activates an enzyme called phytase, which is naturally present in many grains and seeds. Phytase breaks down phytic acid into inositol and free phosphorus, reducing its ability to bind minerals and making those minerals more absorbable. Overnight oats are slightly better than…
However, oats are naturally lower in phytase, so they require fermentation with additional microbes or a phytase-rich grain (like wheat or rye) to reduce phytic acid effectively.
So yeah, not a huge fan of the phytic acid in oats.
Here’s some more anti-nutrients:
– Saponins: Gut irritants that cooking doesn’t destroy.
– Avenin: A gluten-like protein that can trigger inflammation, especially in people with IBS, celiac, or autoimmune conditions. So even buying certified Gluten-Free oats poses a problem with this inherent gluten-like protein in oats.
3. Mold Toxins
Stored grains like oats are prone to mold contamination, particularly fusarium toxins, which can disrupt gut health and overall wellness.
Shall we go on?
Oatmeal is not a superfood and it is not a 5-star Heart Healthy breakfast. Sorry to break it to you. And anyone who disagrees, I guess you ate too many oats and now have cognitive issues.
Oat Milk: Don’t get me started
Oat milk often contains emulsifiers, seed oils, and stabilizers like carrageenan, making it even more inflammatory than oats themselves. Brands like Oatly add rapeseed (canola) oil, a cheap, unhealthy fat linked to total metabolic dysfunction. Canola oil in your oat milk?! I don’t think you really want to drink that or add it to your coffee, do you?
What to Eat Instead?
For a truly nourishing breakfast we have incredibly nutrient rich and bioavailable foods that our ancestors have been eating from the beginning:
– 🥚 Eggs: A nutrient powerhouse packed with choline and high-quality protein.
– 🥩 Steak: Rich in iron, zinc, and B vitamins.
– 🥛 Raw (Real) Dairy: Unprocessed milk & cream, Kefir, yogurt, or cheese provide essential minerals, vitamin K2, and probiotics.
– 🍯 Fruit and Honey: A clean, quick source of carbohydrates without the contamination of grains.
If you are craving something slightly on the sweeter side for breakfast then check out my recipe for banana egg pancakes! It’s 3 ingredients packed with protein and absolutely delicious.
The Bottom Line
Have your oatmeal once in a while, but eating it daily exposes you to pesticides, anti-nutrients, and mold toxins that can impact your health over time. Instead, focus on nutrient-dense, whole foods that truly fuel your body.
Don’t forget, buying quality food matters. When you can, choose locally, seasonally, organic/grass-fed/corn+soy free/pastured raised/regenerative farming, and eat like our ancestors.
With love,
Bridgette
