Blog

12

4

I was reading an article on Mark's Daily Apple yesterday about oats. Everything was sounding very familiar and near the end I saw a reference to PaleoHacks. I clicked the link and BAM! It was my oatmeal post here!! He used my recipe to make baked oatmeal. Ha! So that inspired me to edit the pics below to be live instead of clickable links.

Click here for the article from Mark's Daily Apple >> Are Oats Healthy?

We've only made this twice since I posted this in March, but we are gonna make it again real soon and I think we might try it with steel cut oats instead of rolled and still follow all the same procedures. It's a very infrequent treat for us, but we do really like this recipe.

Here's my original post with some updates ↓↓↓

Pre-Paleo, my wife and I ate oatmeal all the time (almost daily). We were all engulfed in the whole 'low saturated fat, high fiber, cholesterol lowering foods' deal. Oh how off base we were.

The case against oatmeal:

  • high in: carbs, fiber, phytic acid

  • contains Avenin, which may be similarly (but less) offensive as Gluten

  • many people, especially those with sensitive insulin response, have a significant surge in blood glucose after eating oatmeal. specifically for those that have metabolic disorders, this may play a role in contributing to health issues depending on the individual.

The case for oatmeal (and why I still choose to eat it):

  • like potatoes, oatmeal doesn't have much flavor by itself, but can be made to be delicious with the use of some selective additives

  • if prepared properly, it is not much different than the 'safe starches' from a metabolic perspective

  • although not particularly 'rich' in nutrients, oatmeal does contain some minerals such as iron, magnesium, zinc, copper and manganese

  • extremely inexpensive if you're on a budget (sometimes finding inexpensive meals that 'qualify' allows more room in your food budget to purchase the premium quality foods to satisfy your main staples)

Best way to prepare oatmeal: soak/ferment to predigest the oats and reduce phytic acid:

  • pour 4 cups of raw oats into glass bowl and fill with purified water until oats are covered

  • add 8 tablespoons of raw whey (or any acidic medium like kefir/yogurt)

  • add 2 tablespoons organic buckwheat flour (this adds phytase to break down the phytates)

  • stir thoroughly. cover with paper towel and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours

  • drain and rinse thoroughly (most of the buckwheat flour will rinse out) and you'll notice that the oatmeal composition has been drastically altered. the oats appear to be 'broken down'

Now you can cook them as normal and prepare as desired. Personally, I add 4 organic eggs, half stick of melted pasture butter (the more butter, the more 'mushy' the end product is. the less butter, the more 'bready' it is, so consider this based on your preferences), 2 tsp vanilla, a dash of cinnamon, a handful of fresh blueberries and/or strawberries, 2 tbsp pure maple syrup, 1 tbsp baking powder, mix it all up, pour the oats into a casserole dish, and bake at 400 for 35-40 min.

The result? 'Baked blueberry oatmeal' that will make your entire house smell like the holidays. The oats are very light and fluffy, and do not cause gas or stomach upset. Qbviously you wouldn't want to eat this in large quantity, especially if you are T2 diabetic. If you're not low carbin it and you need to replenish glycogen or you are looking to get some starchy carbs, this will work. Also, these digest much better since the whey/buckwheat breaks down the oats so well before baking.

Now you've got yourself a delicious 'bready' style treat without the grain issues. We don't make this very often but we love it every time because we can be creative with the fruit variables and change it up each time.

Would this post possibly sway you to give oatmeal a try? And if so/if not, why so/why not?

Freshly Baked Strawberry Blueberry Oatmeal ▼ ▼

alt text

On a plate with pasture butter (it already melted through) ▼ ▼

alt text

Bowl style with a bit of fruit, sprouted almonds, pasture butter, and heavy cream ▼ ▼

alt text

Cheers!

Jack Kronk :)

flag
1 
 Shari - the recipe is embedded in code within the text. you have to separate out each third character and flip it around. mark figured this out. you should be able to also. – Jack Kronk Aug 19 2011 at 17:53
1 
 Really, if I wanted grain-based recipes, I would go to the WAPF site. – Dragonfly Aug 20 2011 at 2:28
4 
 Hmmm. good thing you're not a mod then. WHY are being so abrasive and annoying? WHAT did I do to you. I see you deleted one of your more annoying comments that you had posted above. You also put an answer below (that you've now also deleted).. "Am I the only one who finds this post offensive?" Really? Offensive? Oatmeal? Fermented oatmeal with raw whey and buckwheat? Yes my goal here was to offend PH user DragonFly. So I put a whole bunch of time and effort in an elaborate post on how to properly prepare oatmeal. And what do ya know! It worked!! – Jack Kronk Aug 20 2011 at 15:29
2 
 This is one of my first posts on PaleoHacks. Just for you, I will make this into a question. Now WHY don't you go hound Mark Sisson for posting about oats too since it's sooooooo unPaleo? – Jack Kronk Aug 20 2011 at 15:29
4 
 DragonFly - STOP! seriously. Your comments are rife with nonsensical thinking. 1) Seeing grain recipes cannot possibly be offensive. 2) If you knew that I did not intend to be offensive, then how in the world do you take issue with me? 3) I find your comments abrasive and annoying, not everyone else. 4) More obviously than the sun in the sky, it is you who took things personally. I cannot even believe I am spending time typing this. I am done with this exchange. – Jack Kronk Aug 20 2011 at 21:46
show 16 more comments

10 Answers

0

Maybe I'm just lucky, but oatmeal (the McCann's steel cut variety) does not affect me negatively, at all. I'm hypoglycemic but I have zero blood sugar problems from oatmeal. In fact it keeps me satiated for 3 hours. Eggs don't even do that. And the whole phytic acid thing is blown way out of proportion. Don't take your mineral supplement with your bowl of oatmeal - problem solved.

link|flag
6

Alot of responses, and I didnt see one mention Avenin.

Avenin is the Gluten of Oats. Avenin is the Prolamine found in wheat, and while not nearly as offensive to the human system as Gluten... it does the same thing on a smaller scale. Its a Grain. With a Prolamine. Its why we dont eat Wheat or Corn(whose prolamine is Zein)

an argument for Reducing Phytic Acid etc for Oat, is the Weston Price approach, Soak, Sprout, Ferment and severely limit the toxin load.

Personally, id rather avoid the toxins all together. Noatmeal ala Mark Sisson is a much healthier alternative, and im not exactly pro-nut either.

link|flag
1 
 Similar to how some people who are sensitive to wheat gluten can eat sourdough bread or fermented grains without a reaction, what if predigesting the oats in whey significantly reduces the Avenin? It's amazing the composition difference pre vs post soaking. – Jack Kronk Mar 3 2011 at 18:07
4 
 it reduces it. It does not eliminate it. It ultimately comes down to, "Do you need it?", "What nutrients are you displacing to eat it?" – Stephen-Aegis Mar 3 2011 at 18:18
i eat a lot of things i don't need though. i'm ok with it. – Jack Kronk Mar 5 2011 at 8:13
3 
 I gotta go with heavily "not paleo" and strongly recommend against for anyone with any health issues. Best of luck to you. – Stephen-Aegis Mar 5 2011 at 12:45
6

Let me first say that I think people should eat what they like and what works best for them, paleo or not. My question would be around cost-benefit (sorry...I'm an economist). Sure, it may be harmless to some (not me), and sure there are ways to manipulate it into something less harmful, but where's the benefit?

After the prep and 24-hour soak, I would argue that most of the benefit of the casserole comes from everything else you add to it (eggs, cream, butter, berries, cinnamon...). Running "cooked oats" through my trusty ole Cron-O-Meter shows trace amounts of a few B vitamins, very small amounts of a range of minerals, and more than double the Omega 6 to Omega 3.

Half a cup of blueberries by themselves triple and quadruple most of what's in the grain. Add eggs, butter, cream, etc. and you've got the benefits of a very healthy and balanced plate of food without the costs of prep, soaking, insulin spikes, and anti-nutrients.

link|flag
1 
 all true. all very true. but oats are the vehicle. i tell you suredly, it's delicious. and if the 'benign oats' provide the desire to transport into my mouth all the nutritive foods that I add to the casserole, then there you have it. a win. – Jack Kronk Mar 3 2011 at 17:06
1 
 In my pre-paleo days, oats worked the other way round: they served as a very effective brown sugar delivery mechanism! If they are truly benign, I can see using your recipes as an endurance sport fuel. I ride road bikes and am always looking for safe sources for long events. I have some fairly serious autoimmune issues, so will probably leave them alone for now. – Riveted Mar 3 2011 at 17:48
1 
 john meadows, mr ohio and bodybuilding extraordinaire, uses oatmeal for pre workout carbs. he doesn't mention soaking or anything, but he eats somewhere between paleo and WAP or something. maybe not spot on with everything, but leagues ahead of others... mountaindogdiet.com/nutrition_carbs.php – Jack Kronk Mar 3 2011 at 18:40
I sometimes add oatmeal to my homemade yogurt and blueberries (or dried cranberries - any vaccinum will do, but huckleberries and lingonberries are harder to get). It give the dish a nice pasty texture and a little more carb kick for extended walks. – thhq Aug 20 2011 at 17:18
1

Definitely a useful recipe to have on hand for any non-paleo guests. Would sort of 'bridge the gap' so to speak. And good job slathering it in butter haha. I might have to add a fat dollop of unsweetened, fresh-made whipped cream.

link|flag
0

Great work here, I definitely would see no problem from a physiological point of view if you are fine with the carbs. My only issue is that you are mentally still consuming SAD type foods, which means that your cravings are still there. Still great for those just starting out and not wanting to go the whole way and fast or eat some meat or equivalent.

link|flag
1

You processed oats down to an inoffensive carb source (if you left out the fructose-heavy sweetener). I see nothing wrong with this, though I wouldn't eat it by itself. As a starch source in the context of a meal, I think it's great for mixing things up. Well done.

It's more work than I'd like to do regularly, but I think I'll try this out on a weekend at some point.

link|flag
yah i think i've decided to ditch the extra 32 carbs of maple syrup, seeing how it is mostly fructose. i'm more comfortable with honey fructose than with maple fructose. if you try this travis, follow up and let me know how it goes. it's a nice 'once in a while' treat. – Jack Kronk Mar 3 2011 at 4:24
2

Flaked quinoa make a VERY nice Paleo Oatmeal alternative. Easy to find at Whole Foods.

link|flag
3 
 I think a lot of people would consider quinoa quite un-paleo too. – valkyrie Mar 3 2011 at 4:05
Saponin content is the main detractor of quinoa. – Stephen-Aegis Mar 5 2011 at 12:47
That's SOAP, Which can contribute to leaky gut. And therefore regardless o "paleo" it's not near optimally healthy – Stephen-Aegis Mar 5 2011 at 12:47
I disagree but appreciate that some do feel this way. The saponins are minimal due to the washing and the cooking. I would not advise anyone to eat it raw though. At any rate, that's the great thing about paleo. We each get to do what makes the most sense to us with the information we have. – Shari Bambino Aug 20 2011 at 17:08
5

Ok I really feel the need to make a case here. Let's look have an honest look at this, because this is very different from your average bowl of instant oatmeal that more than half the people who work in offices all around this country eat daily. I am very open to some real rebuttals against this type of prepared oatmeal but I'm looking for something more concrete if it's gonna sway me toward not eating this every now and then.

The questionables in the ingredients are: oats, buckwheat flour, maple syrup. Right? The fruit is optional and a wee bit of fruit in moderation is totally fine, so we'll leave that out.

Oats: soaked in whey to literally predigest them and remove phytic acid (up to 96% efficiency). As I mentioned in the notes, the composition of the oats completely change after soaking them. The fiber content is almost compelely broken. Predigesting them negates most of the problems associated with the 'grain', even though oatmeal is a very mild grain as far as antinutrients are concerned.

Buckwheat flour: first of all, this is not from the wheat family, and is gluten free. Stephan Guyenet recommends adding buckwheat for the phytase content. Also, the entire recipe has 2 tablespoons total. And as I mentioned, when you rinse the oats after soaking, almost all of the buckwheat goes down the drain. It has served it's purpose. I'd say at least 95% of it gets washed out, so how much could be in the final bake... 1/8 teaspoon? The oats, after being rinsed, look pure cream colored, with the buckwheat flour being nearly undetectable.

Pure Maple Syrup: 2 tablespoons (you could leave this out by the way). That's 32 carbs. Figure you cut this dish into 8 squares. That's 4 carbs per square from the maple. If that's too much, leave it out then. No worries at all.

But consider that of all the ingredients, there is no manmade stuff or weirdo chemicals ("processed" oats/flour... sure, but still not "concocted"). There is virtually zero poly. There is virtually zero gluten (save for the possible faint remainder left in the soaked oats). There is no refined sugars, and no sugar at all if you leave the maple out of it. Plus it's loaded with eggs and ghee. Plus if you add butter or cream to it afterward, you've got far more fat than carbs.

The only real issue here could be with the carb content. For someone who is diabetic, I probably wouldn't recommend this. But for everyone else, how is this any metabolically different than eating a safe starch like white rice or white potatoes? Let's remember to keep in mind the 'content' of what we're eating versus labeling something "Paleo" or not. We all know cavemen didn't eat this, but so what.

link|flag
2 
 I think this sounds good once in awhile, and would be a nice casserole breakfast when I have guest from out of town. – FanOfSunshine Mar 3 2011 at 4:17
3 
 Jack, that's great that you advocate a whole foods diet. But (and I hate to be a stickler here), whole foods is not paleo. Paleo is, inherently a purely whole foods diet. So is following a Weston A. Price example and eating traditional sprouted/fermented grains with adequate fats. I bounce back and forth from each depending on the time of year, and my mood. However, I wouldn't say that the Weston A. Price example is paleo, anymore than I would say being VLC+Paleo is vegan because both advocate fresh locally sourced groceries. – Joshua Mar 11 2011 at 2:01
Joshua - I'm not quite sure where you are going with these comments. Thanks though! – Jack Kronk Mar 11 2011 at 2:27
1 
 I agree with everything you said, and am considering adding some oatmeal back into my diet this fall. Oatmeal is one of the foods that I crave (like liver), and I suspect it is because it has some nutrients that I really need. I prepare it by soaking it in whey and then cooking it with coconut oil/milk/cream, which I think has a pretty good nutrition profile, except for being relatively high in carbs. I have also been experimenting with eating more carbs about once per week which I think is a good idea. – UncleLongHair Aug 30 2011 at 8:37
Thank you for this post, and nice rebuttal here. Unfortunately, many Paleo people are just as ignorant as SADers or vegans and are simply blindly following advice and categorizing themselves under a label. All those uptight "what would grok do?"-ers are the most ironic. "Cavemen didn't eat potatoes so you're evil if you eat potatoes. Now I'm going to relax on the couch, watch some TV, eat some dark chocolate, and wind-down with a glass of wine." Cavemen also didn't use computers, so maybe if they followed their own logic we would find a lot less trouble. – Forest Jul 25 at 20:34
5

I would be free of Oatmeal were it not for haggis. But I won't justify it in the paleo sense, just like I don't justify alcohol as paleo, or any other occasional fare.

If you like it, feel free to eat it. But, it's still grain. All grain requires some form of processing to be made edible (in the loosest definition of the word), most grains are packed with antinutrients, and all grains seriously affect insulin.

And I've a hard time imagining pre-agricultural man threshing, sprouting, drying, milling, boiling, and eating oats.

link|flag
2 
 i agree with some of this, but i still think this is a relatively harmless treat to have every now and then for a fit and healthy person in the context of an otherwise healthy diet. obviously cavemen didn't soak oats in raw whey and buckwheat flour and add pasture butter, cream, and cinnamon. but then again, obviously cavemen didn't eat 83% dark chocolate bars either. i consider this here oatmeal dealio that i make once a month to fall into the 10 part of the 90/10 rule. to each his own though, for sure :) – Jack Kronk Mar 2 2011 at 2:40
3 
 ill pass on it. It really comes down to how much risk you want. If it raises the cardiac CRP (it does) I dont want it regardless of all the good it could do. Its like a hooker.....accomadating but it wont make me react. – The Quilt Mar 2 2011 at 3:25
3

Mmmmm, sounds delicious...But I vote it still has 'grain issues' by virtue of the fact that it contains not one but TWO kinds of grain. I'm a big fan of http://www.marksdailyapple.com/no-oat-oatmeal-its-no-atmeal/ myself. Got over my oatmeal addiction pretty quick when I started on this. I'd rather stay away all together from bready treats so's I don't still crave the bready treats so therefore am less inclined to 'fall off the wagon' and over-indulge in bready treats. Just my preference.

You know what they say; if it walks like a duck...

link|flag
oats and buckwheat hardly count as two kinds of grain. buckwheat is not a wheat grain. and oats prepared this way don't really have 'grain' properties. it's basically a starchy meal with added fats. – Jack Kronk Mar 2 2011 at 1:32
3 
 My friend, I concede, you're right. HOWEVER I would not call myself Paleo if I occasionally indulged in oats dressed as starchy fats the same as I could not call myself a vegan when I ate my monthly potatoes roasted in lard whist wearing my leather shoes... I appreciate that you and your wife are doing the do, though. 80/20 is enough, right? and by the sounds of things once a month is doing even better :) – Yoyo Mar 2 2011 at 10:51

Your Answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.