The popular oat porridge, which originally comes from Great Britain, is becoming increasingly popular at breakfast tables worldwide. The reason for this? Porridge as a healthy breakfast is very successfully used for weight loss.
What porridge lovers appreciate most about it is the variety of ingredients, which makes porridge a real power breakfast.
When losing weight with porridge, the motto is: healthy doesn't always have to be boring.
That's why we want to give you a guide and recipe in the following article on how you too can effectively incorporate porridge into your diet and use it to help you lose weight.
Porridge as a healthy breakfast
Porridge for weight loss – how it works
Because of the complex carbohydrates contained in oat flakes, the body needs a longer time to digest them completely. The stomach is busy with the high-quality carbohydrates and does not initially require any further food intake.
Thus, the long feeling of satiety of porridge is the most important component that can help you lose weight. The popular snacking will be a thing of the past, as you won't feel hungry until lunch.
If you also want to incorporate healthy fats into your porridge, then chia seeds or flax seeds are an excellent choice.
Depending on the ingredients you use, your finished porridge meal will contain about 250-500 calories. This will help you to comfortably get back into your favourite trousers.
Oat beta glucan has a positive effect on satiety. According to a study by PubMed.gov National Center for Biotechnology Information – Dietary Fibre and Satiety: The Effects of Oats on Satiety. 2
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Why is porridge so healthy?
Most people love to indulge in delicious dishes, but the feeling of hunger quickly returns, especially with ready meals. The bill for this shows up at the latest when you weigh yourself weekly.
But if you reach for porridge instead, you will be spared the consequences of food cravings. The delicious oatmeal satisfies you for a long time and supports the immune system with valuable nutrients.
The proteins, vitamins, fibre and minerals contained in the nutritious porridge made from oat flakes are not only essential for athletes. They ensure a functioning digestion and a consistent blood sugar level, or rather, they allow your insulin level to rise only slightly.
Due to these ingredients, breakfast porridge is clearly the healthy breakfast alternative to bread rolls and the like.
- Magnesium for strong nerves and muscle building
- Iron for energy metabolism and oxygen transport
- Silicon and biotin for beautiful skin and hair
- Beta-glucan for constant blood sugar levels.
Oat beta glucan lowers cholesterol and helps prevent cardiovascular diseases. 1
Avoid these mistakes when following the oat porridge diet
Although porridge is good for you and your health, you need to make sure you have the right amount in your bowl. You should not deviate from the recommended 50 grams of oats per serving if you want to lose weight on the porridge diet.
In particular, the various additives you use to sweeten your porridge meal can turn your slimming porridge into a calorie bomb.
As an alternative to sugar and honey, you can also use berries and fresh fruit such as bananas and apples, as well as vanilla, cocoa powder and cinnamon, to enhance your oat breakfast.
You should also be careful when buying ready-made porridge mixes, because some of them contain large amounts of harmful industrial sugar.
At Verival, for example, we have a selection of sugar-free porridges that you can easily fall back on.
You can also easily make your own porridge. This way you can control the consistency of your oatmeal and choose the toppings yourself.
Interesting facts about porridge
Porridge in its original form actually comes from Scotland. This inexpensive and filling meal was particularly popular with working-class families and rightly became a British national dish.
Meanwhile, porridge, which is known as oatmeal in America and as Haferschleim in German-speaking countries, has attracted the attention of health-conscious people.
Whether as breakfast, lunch or a snack – the healthy porridge is at the top of the popularity scale when it comes to breakfast.
It is considered an important source of energy for athletes and, thanks to its healthy fibre, can help to alleviate digestive problems.
Nowadays, other foods have been added to the oatmeal for making porridge. Millet, buckwheat, rice or soy flakes and quinoa, for example, are equally good.
Find out everything there is to know about healthy porridge
Porridge & variety: new flavours for breakfast
The flexibility of using different ingredients for your porridge means you can also create different flavours every day.
With just a few ingredients, your porridge can be prepared quickly, even in the microwave. You can also prepare the oats in the evening and enjoy them in the morning as delicious overnight oats.
With a few additions, you can transform the somewhat bland taste of a classic oatmeal into a culinary delight. Fresh fruit provides you with important vitamins and minerals, while cocoa, honey and spices provide a suitable aroma.
Peanut or almond butter and vanilla also go perfectly with the nutty porridge. Here you can be creative, try things out and let your ideas run free.
Are you using the right liquid for your porridge?
Water or milk are recommended as the liquid component for your porridge. If you use water, your porridge will have fewer calories. However, milk makes the porridge creamier and gives it a more intense flavour.
Even vegans don't have to go without this delicious meal. Plant-based drinks such as rice-coconut drink or almond milk are equally good and give the porridge a nutty flavour.
If you want to save even more calories on your way to getting leaner, you can simply add water to your porridge. This will make the oatmeal less sweet.
The important thing is the right toppings
The last step in preparing your oat meal is to choose the right toppings. Since we eat with our eyes first, these should be used sparingly, but they should definitely be part of your porridge.
Popular choices include chia seeds, nuts and seeds, which not only look good but also provide additional nutrients. Delicious granola crunchies also go wonderfully with oatmeal.
These versatile preparation options show you that porridge doesn't have to be boring while helping you lose weight.
To stick to your oat porridge diet, however, it is important that you choose ingredients that you really like the taste of and that don't contain too many extra calories. This is the only way to lose weight permanently and keep your slim figure.
Oat porridge – find out more now!
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- Dietetic Products N EFSA Panel on, Allergies (NDA). Scientific Opinion on the substantiation of a health claim related to oat beta glucan and lowering blood cholesterol and reduced risk of (coronary) heart disease pursuant to Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. EFSA Journal . 2010;8:1885. doi: 10.2903/j.efsa.2010.1885
- Rebello CJ, O'Neil CE, Greenway FL. Dietary fiber and satiety: the effects of oats on satiety. Nutr Rev . Published online January 2, 2016:131-147. doi: 10.1093/nutrit/nuv063
