The oat is a species of cereal grain. Oats are suitable for human consumption as oatmeal, oat bran and oat flour. But they are also commonly used as livestock feed, especially horses. It is also used in some brands of dog meal.The oat has a variety of health benefits:
It reduces blood cholesterol: Inhibiting bad cholesterol (LDL) through its water-soluble fibres. The oat acts like a sponge during digestion, soaking up and removing cholesterol from the body. This fact helps prevent the risk of heart disease.
It enhances immune response to infections: The water-soluble fibres present in the oat significantly enhance the human immune system's response to bacterial infection. It does not only help our body to search for the site of an infection more quickly, it also enhances its ability to eliminate the bacteria it finds.
It stabilizes blood sugar: Oats and other whole grains are a rich source of magnesium, a mineral that acts in enzymes involved in the body's use of glucose and insulin secretion. They substantially lower type 2 diabetes risk.
Antioxidant benefits: Oats are also a very good source of selenium. It works with vitamin E in numerous vital antioxidant systems throughout the body. These powerful antioxidant actions make selenium helpful in decreasing asthma symptoms and in the prevention of heart disease. In addition, selenium is involved in DNA repair and is associated with a reduced risk for cancer, especially colon cancer.
Protective against breast cancer: Pre-menopausal women eating the most fibre (>30 grams daily) more than halved their risk of developing breast cancer, enjoying a 52% lower risk of breast cancer compared to women whose diets supplied the least fibre.
Protective against childhood asthma: Increasing consumption of whole grains and fish could reduce the risk of childhood asthma by about 50%.
An alternative for children and adults with celiac disease: Celiac disease is a disease often associated with ingestion of wheat, or more specifically a group of proteins commonly knows as gluten. Although treatment of celiac disease has been thought to require lifelong avoidance of the protein gluten, which is found in wheat, rye, barley and oats, recent studies of adults have shown that oats, despite the small amount of gluten they contain, are well-tolerated.
A good resource of soluble fibre, proteins, calcium and minerals, and also with low calories:
Due to its high amount of nutrients, the oat has a variety of uses, for example in human in a wide variety of forms, like an ingredient in many cold cereals, in particular muesli and granola. It is sometimes used in Britain to brewing beer. It has also other uses, like oat soap, oat shampoo, oat skin lotions, and in animal consumption as livestock, commonly to feed horses and cattle. It is also used to make oat straw.
Finally I can say that the oat is a benefic cereal to our body and a great resource for human kind.
