Is oat milk healthier than cow's milk? Nutritionist: 3 points to pay attention to when drinking oat milk to prevent blood sugar spikes

As the trend of health becomes popular, advertisements for beverages such as oat milk and nut milk are broadcast everywhere in the streets and alleys. Many people firmly believe that drinking more oat milk is good for health. What is oat milk? What are the benefits to the body? Is oat milk milk? Can oat milk be used instead of cow's milk?

Strictly speaking, oat milk is not milk. Oat milk is oats that you drink, which means you drink sugar.

In outpatient clinics, we often see many patients who want to be healthy and are looking for food that is healthy but does not take too much time and effort to make. Oat milk happens to be a product that is not time-consuming and labor-intensive to make and seems to meet health needs, so the trend of "oat milk = healthy food" has become popular.

What is oat milk?

Strictly speaking, oat milk is not milk. Oat milk is oats that you drink, which is sugar that you drink. People who are used to drinking oat milk as milk will be surprised to hear this. Oat milk looks like milk, so how can it not be milk and how can it be sugar? First, let’s take a look at the ingredient labels of commercially available oat milk, which show that water and oats are the main ingredients. Some products will add additional vegetable oils, salt, etc., so there is no milk ingredient in commercially available oat milk at all. Naturally, oat milk is not a dairy product, and of course it cannot be used to replace milk.

Therefore, if oat milk is to replace the food you eat, it should be classified as a whole grain rather than a dairy product. That is to say, oat milk can be used to replace the staple food of three meals or snacks (for example, rice, bread, sweet potato, taro, etc.). Therefore, people who need to limit their sugar intake, such as diabetic patients, patients using a ketogenic diet, etc., need to pay special attention to the amount of sugar they consume.

What are the benefits of drinking oat milk?

The benefits of oats can perhaps be seen in oat milk. Since oats contain a lot of water-soluble fiber, studies have found that the beta-glucan in oats helps lower bad cholesterol (LDL) in the blood. Oat milk is not a dairy product, so it does not contain lactose. It is indeed an option for people who want to have a drink with their meals and who are lactose intolerant. In addition, oat milk is a plant-based product, so it does not contain cholesterol.

Is oat milk healthier than cow's milk?

Oat milk is classified as a whole grain. Whole grains are high in sugar and low in protein. They are one of the main sources of calories for the human body, while milk is a dairy product that can provide the human body with easily absorbed protein and calcium. Since the two belong to different food categories and have different standpoints, there is no way to compare them! The less the food is processed, the less nutrients it will lose from natural food. Of course, if we consume it in moderation, it will be healthy food for us.

What should we pay attention to when choosing oat milk?

Oats are rich in dietary fiber, so they have a rough texture when eaten. Therefore, in the process of making oat milk, more steps must be taken to make the oat milk taste better and smoother. So after the oats are ground into pulp and boiled, they will be filtered to filter out the fine residue that will affect the taste.

In addition, in order to reduce the viscosity of oat milk, some manufacturers will also increase the fluidity of the product through the step of enzyme hydrolysis. Moreover, after the processes of whipping, filtering, and enzyme hydrolysis, the amount of dietary fiber in the oat milk is not only reduced, but the molecules become smaller due to enzyme hydrolysis. After drinking, the sugars are quickly absorbed by the body. If the consumption is not controlled well or the food is not matched correctly, diabetic patients may experience postprandial high blood sugar or relatively unstable blood sugar.

Oat milk is classified as a whole grain. Whole grains are high in sugar and low in protein. They are one of the main sources of calories for the human body, while milk is a dairy product that can provide the human body with easily absorbed protein and calcium. Since the two belong to different food categories and have different standpoints, there is no way to compare them!

Therefore, if you need to drink oat milk because it is difficult to prepare meals or you have bad teeth, paying attention to the following points may allow you to eat healthily. For diabetics, blood sugar can also be relatively stable.

1. Replace staple food

Oat milk is a whole grain. 200 ml of sugar-free oat milk on the market can replace about 1/4 bowl of rice or 20 grams of oats. 375 ml of sugar-free oat milk on the market can replace about 1/2 bowl of rice, about 2 slices of thin toast or 2/3 of steamed bun.

2. Balanced diet

Food diversity is a very important thing. The most important thing is to combine a variety of foods to avoid eating too much or not enough of a single nutrient. Therefore, whole grains are best paired with beans, fish, eggs, meat and vegetables. For example: oat milk with chicken breast salad is a very simple whole grains (oat milk) with beans, fish, eggs, meat (chicken breast) and vegetables (salad). But one thing we must pay attention to is that when choosing salads, we should avoid salads containing staple foods such as mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes.

3. We can also make our own oat milk

Weigh the amount of staple food you want to eat (20 grams of oats is equal to 1/4 bowl of rice, weigh according to the planned amount), you can add eggs, or soybeans, edamame, soy milk, etc., and then add vegetables and blend together and drink without filtering the residue. This is a cup of truly balanced and nutritious oat milk.

Food production technology is changing with each passing day, but the only unchanging truth is that we need to correctly understand the types of food and consume a balanced diet. Healthy food should also be eaten in a healthy way. Only in this way can we achieve a win-win situation of enjoying food and maintaining good health.