I discovered a new way to eat oatmeal by using soaked oats, and my digestive system and my taste buds are loving it!
I’m going to share a bit of backstory. If you want to jump to the instructions on how to make it, scroll down to the How to Make Soaked Oats heading.
I stopped eating oatmeal (or any other kind of cereal) for breakfast a couple of years ago. I was having problems with my digestive system where I would have stomach pain and become so bloated that I looked pregnant by the end of almost every single day. It was miserable!
Through treatments with a digestive specialist, lots of supplements, a special diet, and finding out I had a bunch of food intolerances (read all about that journey here), I also found out I had a candida overgrowth.
If you’re not familiar with candida, it’s a yeast that everyone has in their bodies. But if it becomes an overgrowth, it can cause a lot of health issues including leaky gut, because it can actually break down the intestinal wall and release toxins into the bloodstream.
Candida feeds on grains and sugar (especially when they’re not being digested properly), so I began eating mostly paleo (read about the paleo diet in my post) to kill off the overgrowth and avoid it coming back.
But here’s the thing.
I realized recently that I don’t think I’m eating enough carbs. Since the paleo diet cuts out grains, potatoes and sweet potatoes and the rare banana are the only carbs I’ve been getting on a regular basis.
I’ve been having extremely severe periods for a couple of years now, and I’ve been on a journey of trying to figure out what’s wrong and how to balance out my hormones. I came across some articles last week that talk about the reasons why eating a low carb diet can be harmful to hormone health in the long-term. It made sense to me, and I couldn’t believe I didn’t know about that sooner. I was eager to see if my low-carb diet could be contributing to my hormonal problems.
If you’re interested, I recommend this article by a dietitian: How Eating Carbs Can Help Heal Your Hormones.
I decided to try reintroducing some easy-to-digest carbohydrates and see how my body responds.
I’ve missed my morning oatmeal, so I went on a hunt to find out if there was a way to make oatmeal easy for the body to digest. It turns out there is! Before instant oatmeal was a thing, I guess oatmeal was often traditionally prepared this way.
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How to Make Soaked Oats for Quick and Easy-to-Digest Oatmeal
Soaking your oats overnight in an acidic substance makes the oats easier to digest, quicker to cook, and allows your body to process and use more of the nutrients found in them.
Why Should You Soak Oats?
Oats are a grain, and grains are seeds. Seeds in nature are made to be difficult to break down digestively, because (sorry) when animals eat them and poop them, eventually the seeds end up back in the earth.
They’re resistant to breaking down so that they can be planted and grow! I think that’s pretty cool.
But that also explains why grains and oats, specifically, can be difficult to digest well. Grains, including oats, actually contain what are called anti-nutrients. Anti-nutrients interfere with the body’s ability to process and use the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients in food. They can also inhibit digestive enzymes.
Soaking oats in an acidic substance breaks down the anti-nutrients, making them easier to digest, and more nutritionally beneficial to the body!
How to Soak Oats
A Few Important Notes First:
1. I highly recommend buying organic rolled oats – not instant oats. Instant oats have been refined and lose some of the nutritional value. Also make sure your oats are certified gluten-free if you avoid gluten. I’ve been eating Bob’s Red Mill Organic Rolled Oats!
2. You can soak your oats with lemon juice, buttermilk, liquid whey, yogurt, or apple cider vinegar to break down the anti-nutrients and make them more digestible, but I highly recommend using yogurt. I use full fat Greek yogurt.
3. Be sure to soak your oats overnight at room temperature, not in the fridge. The fridge’s cooler temperature would actually keep the soaked oats from breaking down properly. Don’t worry, the yogurt won’t go bad!
4. To balance oatmeal’s effect on blood sugar because of all the carbs, add healthy fats, protein, and fiber to your oatmeal. I like to add a bit of coconut oil, almond butter, and ground flax meal with some berries and coconut while it’s cooking.
5. You’ll notice that after being soaked, the oats will cook much more quickly than they would have without being soaked.
Soaking oats in an acidic substance overnight breaks down the anti-nutrients and makes them easier to digest - and they're delicious!
- 1/2 cup organic rolled oats
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tbsp yogurt
- 1/2 cup almond milk, or milk of choice
- oatmeal toppings
Combine oats, water, and yogurt in a bowl. Cover it and soak it at room temperature for at least 7 hours, or overnight.
When they're done soaking, put oats, water, and yogurt mixture in a pot over medium-high heat and add 1/2 cup almond milk, as well as any other desired toppings.
Cook and stir for 5 minutes, then remove from heat and enjoy!
Have you tried using soaked oats for your oatmeal? What did you think? Let us know in the comments!
You might also love these posts:
The Best Coffee for Sensitive Stomachs
8 Simple Ways to Improve Digestion Naturally
Maca Powder Benefits: Mood and Energy Booster, Hormone Health
8 comments
Wow what an original recipe! only good ingredients, the best for health. I will try this recipe as soon as possible, thanks to the editorial staff!
So instead of yogurt I can substitute it for the exact ratio? 1 tablespoon of any acid? Lemon or ACV?
Yes, you can! I tried using ACV and found it impacted the flavor too much for me to enjoy, but it’s worth a try.
is this microwavable?
Yes, you can microwave the oatmeal after you’ve soaked the oats overnight!
hi! Thank you for this recipe! I’m able to eat oats again with much less pain and bloating. Do you think this will work with steel cut oats?
Hi Kari! I’m so happy to hear this has helped you. I have not tried this with steel cut oats, so I’m not able to advise there, I’m sorry. If you do give it a try, I’d love to hear how it goes for you!
I can’t wait to try this! Can I use dairy free yogurt as a substitute? I try to avoid milk products.