Oatmeal Breakfast Bowl

While I am typically a big fan of saving carbohydrates for the evening, there is at least 1 or 2 exceptions when it comes to this rule. When it comes to fall and winter and early spring, our infamous smoothie and yogurt bowls are out of the question. Without getting long in the tooth regarding TCM and our nutritional theories, cold and raw food should be extremely limited during the cool months and consumed in limited amounts during warmer months. This blog is going to break down our version of an oatmeal bowl. This blog will touch on nutritional science so if you are looking for the recipe only, you'll want to scroll down to the bottom. But, you'll be missing out on some great nutritional science, wink, wink. Without further a-do, let's jump right into our spin on a classic breakfast item, oatmeal.

Oatmeal

When it comes to oatmeal there are a lot of options available on the market - quick oats, rolled oats (old fashioned oats) and steel cut oats (Irish oats). Despite the variety of names, all oatmeal comes from the cereal grain known as common oat (Avena Sativa - for those who are interested in the Latin name). Nutritionally speaking, all three varieties are extremely similar. The one main difference is the glycemic load of the oat type.

While you may be familiar with glycemic index, glycemic load you may be unfamiliar with. Regardless, I plan on discussing both within this blog and this is due to the fact I've heard these terms used interchangeably, when in reality they aren't the same and are often confused.

Glycemic Index vs Glycemic load

The glycemic index (GI) was created in 1981, to help those with diabetes better manage their blood sugar. (1) While there is certainly a lot of back and forth regarding the index's reliability, it certainly helps to paint a clearer picture as to how the food source will impact the insulin response.

In summary, the glycemic index is a ranking system that is used to compare the acute glycemic impact of foods. The index was created by measuring the 2-hour glucose response curve in comparison to 50g of CHO of reference food. The big difference between glycemic index and glycemic load, is that the index does not take into account the amount of carbohydrates consumed. To demonstrate how the two can differ greatly, let's use the example of a can of full fat coconut milk. The glycemic index of coconut milk is 97, which is considered high, whereas the glycemic load is 4.81 which is considered low. How can it be a food can have a glycemic index almost as high as refined sugar, but be considered low on the glycemic load. The answer is, it comes down to the amount of carbohydrates in the food item, in canned coconut milk there are 2g of carbohydrates per serving, with 1g as glucose and the rest as mainly fat and little protein. That's where the conundrum arises, just because a food is high or low on the glycemic index doesn't necessarily mean the food item will or will not cause a rapid insulin spike. You'll need to take into account the full picture. To demonstrate this I'll use an example of two vastly different oatmeal bowls.

1) Rolled oats cooked in water and topped with raisins, brown sugar and walnuts.

2) Rolled oats cooked in coconut milk and topped with walnuts, pecans, coconut flakes, cacao nibs, wild blueberries and a pinch of brown sugar.

Now I'm going to invite you to take an educated guess as to which is a better option based on the glycemic load of the options presented above.

If you guessed option 2, you selected correctly. This bowl is a better option based on glycemic load as well as the overall nutritional density of the foods (high in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants). While you could calculate the exact glycemic load of the two options, it isn't necessary. By selecting foods that are naturally higher in fat and protein, you'll select options are are naturally lower on the glycemic load.

When it comes to selecting from the three options that exist, rolled and steel cut are better options with a glycemic index of 55 and 51, respectively. Additionally, as I previously hinted to, we cook our oatmeal in canned full fat coconut milk. There are three reasons why we do:

1) Lower the glycemic load

2) Increase fat intake

3) Increase amount of various vitamins and minerals consumed

Well, I guess there is a fourth reason, it's delicious. If you are going to opt for cooking your oats in coconut milk, I would recommend utilizing rolled oats as we have had the most successful oatmeal that way.

Coconut Milk

At first I was hesitate to attempt to cook oatmeal in coconut milk. I honestly thought it was going to be a complete failure. To my surprise the end result was a creamy nutty porridge like oatmeal - it was delicious. At that point, I went on the look for articles that discussed cooking oatmeal in coconut milk. I was then bombarded with hundreds of recipes...Anyway, why coconut milk. Coconut milk is loaded with healthy saturated fats called, medium chain triglycerides (MCT). I could go into great detail regarding the health benefits of MCT but I'll save that for another time. Additionally, coconut milk is a good source of iron, manganese, magnesium and zinc. Coconut milk is a plant based saturated fat that shouldn't be missed.

Ceylon Cinnamon

A cinnamon stick is a cinnamon stick, right? Well, not quite. Cassia cinnamon is inexpensive and the most commonly consumed cinnamon worldwide. When it comes to cinnamon cassia is consider inferior to its rival, Ceylon cinnamon. But, why? Well let's examine this a bit.

Overconsumption of cassia could lead to liver problems and possibly cancer due to the compound, coumarin (2,3) Remember this is in cases of over consumption, so a small dash is perfectly okay (less than 1 tsp). Ceylon cinnamon is native to Sri Lanka and it also called true cinnamon. A fun fact regarding Sri Lanka and true cinnamon is that prior to it's independence it was called Ceylon by Portuguese explorers. Hence the origin of the name Ceylon, which grew exclusively in present day Sri Lanka. Enough about the origin, let's talk about the health benefits.

While cassia does have many health benefits, I'm going to be discussing the benefits of Ceylon cinnamon only. Even if you've never had a chance to look at Ceylon cinnamon, at first glance you won't notice much of a difference from cassia. In fact you'll recognize it's deep brown color and fragrant smell, which are largely in thanks to the powerful polyphenols found within. When Ceylon cinnamon is compared to other "powerhouses" such as garlic, Ceylon is a clear winner (4). Additionally, coumarin is nonexistent in Ceylon which means you can "dash little more" without risking any side effects (5). While there are additional benefits such as, possible protection against neurological diseases (6,7) and cancer (8) The most researched and best understood health benefit is it's ability to reduce insulin insensitivity (9,10). While, it may sound counterintuitive to want a reduction in insulin insensitivity, this is actually a good thing. By reducing, it means to increase the sensitivity of insulin - which in turn allows for better management of blood sugar. This is good news for those who have insulin resistant. Well, that's enough about Ceylon cinnamon - time to talk about the other toppings we use.

Other Toppings

Since we have covered the three main components of the bowl, it's now onto the other toppings we commonly use. Walnuts, pecans, wild blueberries, dates (our favorite dates are from 7 hot dates an organic date company out of Mecca, CA), peanut butter, honey, banana and organic brown sugar. While all of these are possible toppings, I'd like to point out that we usually only have 1 sweeter per bowl and typically opt for very little of that topping. When it comes to the "fat and protein" toppings feel free to top off with as much as you'd like. Let us know your favorite combinations, I'd love to learn more.

Ingredients

Now that we've made it through the nutritional science, it's time to talk about the ingredients you'll need to gather. When it comes to making oatmeal, you don't need to be an experienced chef. At bare minimum all you will need is water or milk and oats. Since simple isn't exactly my idea of a morning breakfast you'll need a few extra food items, but again the complexity will be very minimal.

Serves 2

1 can of coconut milk (or 14 oz of water)

180 grams of rolled oats (approximately 1 level cup)

Ceylon cinnamon

Cocoa

Other toppings (remember the more toppings you add the more dense the meal will be)

Instructions

1) Open can of coconut milk and add to a large saucepan

2) Heat coconut milk over high heat until boiling (stir occasionally) *if coconut milk smells like it's burning turn to medium-high heat*

3) Once coconut milk is boiling add rolled oats into large saucepan

4) Cook rolled oats over medium heat until thickened (approximately 4-8 minutes)

5) Remove from heat and add toppings (save a few for the top once plated)

6) Plate oatmeal and add saved toppings

This recipe can't be missed - gather up your ingredients and enjoy this heart healthy, nutritionally dense oatmeal bowl. Please let us know if you have any toppings that are a must have for you. If you make the recipe, let us know how you enjoyed it! Bon appetit!

About Our Acupuncture Clinic:

North Shore Acupuncture and Natural Medicine is an acupuncture clinic in Beverly, MA. We utilize acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine and natural medicine to restore optimal health and wellness. Employing traditional and modern approaches to enhance your health and longevity.

Notes:

Calorie information not available at this time.

References:

1) Jenkins D., Wolever T., Barker H., Fielden H., Baldwin J., Bowling A., Newman H., Jenkins A., Goff D. Glycemic index of foods: A physiological basis for carbohydrate exchange. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 1981;34:362–366. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/34.3.362. 

2) Abraham K, Wöhrlin F, Lindtner O, Heinemeyer G, Lampen A. Toxicology and risk assessment of coumarin: focus on human data. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2010 Feb;54(2):228-39. doi: 10.1002/mnfr.200900281. PMID: 20024932.

3) National Center for Biotechnology Information (2020). PubChem Compound Summary for CID 323, Coumarin.

4) Shan B, Cai YZ, Sun M, Corke H. Antioxidant capacity of 26 spice extracts and characterization of their phenolic constituents. J Agric Food Chem. 2005 Oct 5;53(20):7749-59. doi: 10.1021/jf051513y. PMID: 16190627.

5) Blahová J, Svobodová Z. Assessment of coumarin levels in ground cinnamon available in the Czech retail market. ScientificWorldJournal. 2012;2012:263851. doi:10.1100/2012/263851

6) Peterson DW, George RC, Scaramozzino F, LaPointe NE, Anderson RA, Graves DJ, Lew J. Cinnamon extract inhibits tau aggregation associated with Alzheimer's disease in vitro. J Alzheimers Dis. 2009;17(3):585-97. doi: 10.3233/JAD-2009-1083. PMID: 19433898.

7) George RC, Lew J, Graves DJ. Interaction of cinnamaldehyde and epicatechin with tau: implications of beneficial effects in modulating Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis. J Alzheimers Dis. 2013;36(1):21-40. doi: 10.3233/JAD-122113. PMID: 23531502.

8) Bhattacharjee S, Rana T, Sengupta A. Inhibition of lipid peroxidation and enhancement of GST activity by cardamom and cinnamon during chemically induced colon carcinogenesis in Swiss albino mice. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2007 Oct-Dec;8(4):578-82. PMID: 18260732.

9) Qin B, Panickar KS, Anderson RA. Cinnamon: potential role in the prevention of insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes. J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2010;4(3):685-693. Published 2010 May 1. doi:10.1177/193229681000400324

10) Abeysekera WPKM, Arachchige SPG, Abeysekera WKSM, Ratnasooriya WD, Medawatta HMUI. Antioxidant and Glycemic Regulatory Properties Potential of Different Maturity Stages of Leaf of Ceylon Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume) In Vitro. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2019;2019:2693795.