Friday, March 12, 2010

Oatmeal healthy? If you like high blood sugar.

Oatmeal = Tons of carbs (52% carbs)
Tons of carbs = Raised blood sugar
High blood sugar = Insulin production
Insulin = Prevents fat burn
Insulin = Instrumental in fat storage
Insulin = Falling blood sugar
Falling blood sugar = Hunger
Hunger = Eat more
Eat more = Overeating
Overeating = Obesity

Simply put. ;)

I meet a lot of people eating oatmeal believing it is healthy. I am from Sweden and we have a long, long tradition of oatmeal.

The grain industry has been sponsoring Swedish athletes for a very long time.

Apparently, kids who get into sports get a brochure, from sponsored by one of the biggest grain producers, AXA in Sweden, loaded with propaganda about how athletes must eat a lot of carbohydrates. If nothing else the AXA executives can afford new Beamers.



Fortunately there are more and more athletes breaking away from traditional diets. One of the main reasons being, that top athletes get sick a lot. Björn Ferry, who won a gold in Vancouver, is on a low carb diet. No oatmeal whatsoever for him.

Dr William Davis at The Heart Scan Blog writes:
I now no longer recommend any oat product due to its blood sugar-increasing effects.

5 comments:

  1. Great post though I think u r missing out one essential fact about insulin. It not only stops fat burn, it also is instrumental in storing fat in the cells.

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  2. Hi, just found your blog by clicking your link as you are a follower of Annika Dalquist's english blog. I saw the name Peter and thought maybe you were Peter-Hyperlipid but I am equally pleased to see that you are a new low carb blogger I hadn't ever discovered. Can't wait to check your info out. I too saw that post from Dr. Davis today, but my experience when I was not following a low carb (high fat) plan was that my morning bowl of oatmeal would keep me satisfied through the day. Though I did fortify my oatmeal with a large spoon of peanut butter, and I sweetened it with low sugar jam. Anyway just wanted to say glad to have found you. Off to read.

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  3. @joche: Good catch. Edited. Thanks. Since you are from Sweden you are familiar with the oat and muesli craze in Sweden.

    I ate muesli, which contains a lot of oat and a lot of sugar, for years for breakfast. I never made the connection with why I never lasted very long on a muesli breakfast. I would be hungry only a few hours after breakfast again. Bacon and eggs.

    @Hi Matt. Thanks for stopping by. I read the Hyperlipid as well. Good blog.

    I am just a regular guy writing about my low carb experience, so I am trying to focus on the "soft" aspect, my personal experience of low carb, given I am not a scientist or a doctor. I am however reading a lot as of late. Currently I am reading a book called The Secret Chef, which is about how food is no longer made in kitchens but in laboratories. Very interesting read.

    Time for my egg and bacon breakfast. Have a great weekend guys!

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  4. Potatoes are considered a "no-no" on LC diets. Oat flour too. BUT, once one get's over the 100% ZEAL of demonizing them, the creative food-chemists think "How can I possibly make those things acceptable? GUESS WHAT ... there is a way to do both! Mix 0.7 cup certified GLUTEN FREE oat flour, 1.7 cups Almond Flour, and some sifted coconut flour (Lots of fiber in the last 2!) and bit of xanthan gum and suddenly you have a very tasty versatile Hybrid flour that is very benign and VERY low-Carb! Way more acceptable than the feminising, goiterogenic SOY flour that Dr. Davis says is OK. How do we know? Well, I'm part of a team of LOW-CARBING experts that dates back to the 1990's and worked with Dr. Atkins and others, and we're dedicated to taking "problem-children" and seeing if they can be reformed. WHEAT and SOY cannot be reformed. However, if you take a baked Potato, cut in half and scoop out 90% of the pulp, then fill it with Cauliflower mash and cheese and bacon - WALA, you have a REALLY nice side to your STEAK etc. and the skin and bit of potato left is less than 5 carbs. So being Zealous has a price ... in this case closing our minds to what's possible would limit our legitimate enjoyment of food, AND leave us with man-boobs, reduced sex-drive and sub-optimal thyroid function.

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  5. I eat oatmeal every day and have plenty of energy. I am also in perfect health . Oatmeal is a healthy inexpensive food, don't buy into this nonsense.

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