Health tip #2 should cause a significant improvement in the business we somtimes call “#2”. I grew up with packaged cereals and habits don’t change easily. As an adult, I easily avoided those child-appealing over-sweetened brands, and settled for Kellogg’s Raisin Bran. For about ten years, I ate this cereal everyday before going to work, feeling good about the promise of “High Fiber” and two sccoops of raisins, and being willing to accept some extra sugar and salt. The raisins were there, albeit coated in still more sugar, but my intestines disagree with the claim of “High Fiber”

My family history includes a father, who survived colorectal surgery and a maternal aunt, who died from intestinal cancer, which makes me a high risk for this disease. And I appeared headed in that direction as my stool-size shrank and I seemed lucky to have a single bowl-movement a day.

I don’t recall what lightning struck me and I finally said, “No more Raisin Bran!”, and I started cooking porridge from Old-Fashioned, or Slow Cook rolled Oats. But, it seemed like with each bowel of porridge I ate, my bowel activity improved. So rolled oat porridge filled my breakfast bowel every day before work; week-ends we enjoyed egg dishes, pancakes or waffles. And I learned an interesting method of cooking lots and reheating to save cooking time. Retirement has eliminated the significance of the days of the week in my diet, but porridge is breakfast four days a week and, for me, that properly fuels my system.

I will provide my recipe at the end, but two important things: don’t buy quick-oats, or expect much benefit from the little package which is ready after adding boiling water and giving a quick stir, – buy Slow Cook or Old-Fashioned only, and you don’t need to spend extra money on organic or special grinds, unless you truly value and can afford such choices; no name old-fashioned, or a moderate brand-name like Quaker will get your bowels moving and suck up lots of cholesterol.

Oats contain more soluble fiber than any other grain. Soluble fiber is the kind that dissolves in water, so the body turns it into a kind of thick, viscous gel, which moves very slowly through your body. One of the benefits is that your stomach stays fuller longer, providing satiety. Soluble fiber also slows the absorption of glucose into the body, which means you’re going to avoid those nasty sugar highs and lows. Last but not least, it inhibits the re-absorption of bile into the system, forcing your liver to get its cholesterol fix from your blood. This serves to lower your blood-serum cholesterol. 

Oatmeal has a specific type of fiber namely – beta-glucan, which lowers total cholesterol levels in the organism. According to some studies oats also help prevent heart disease. Antioxidants that oats have, called avenanthramides, don’t let free radicals damage LDL cholesterol and, with that, reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases like atherosclerosis. 

Oats, Avena sativa, first grew, uncultivated ,in lands around the Mediterranean Sea. Earliest findings of the cultivated plant appeared in Switzerland about 3000 years ago. Oats do not require as much heat as grains like wheat,rye and barley and grow well in rainy climates. This explains their presence in Scotland from about the 15th century. Scots are among the biggest consumers of oats. The grain made it to America by the 17th century, but was grown mostly for horse feed, which wass its only use in Ancient Rome.

                                                   My Recipe

I like to start with 1 cup of water. I bring the water to a boil and add 1 cup of oats, a pinch of salt, a teaspoon of butter, and a hand-ful each of raisins and craisins. As the water soaks up, I reduce the heat and add a half-cup of 1% milk. More water or oat or almond milk could be used instead. I leave the heat on low for about 30 minutes. I check and stir and sometimes add a little more milk. Serve with sliced banana, or other fruit. If you don’t like raisins, leave them out; try adding grated apple instead.