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Eating a bowl of oatmeal each morning is the perfect way to start your day off right. This article will explain the six benefits of eating oatmeal and ways to make it taste delicious.

First off, the oatmeal discussed here is not the instant kind that comes in the different flavors- these are full of sugar. The real stuff is the plain oat flakes from Quaker Oats or a similar brand.

The benefits of oatmeal are due to the fact that it’s made from oats and oats are a good source of both soluble and insoluble fiber.

According to the American Cancer Society:

1. Insoluble fiber’s cancer-fighting properties are due to the fact that it attacks certain bile acids, reducing their toxicity.

2. Soluble fiber may reduce LDL cholesterol without lowering HDL cholesterol. LDL is bad; HDL is good.

3. Soluble fiber slows down the digestion of starch. This may be beneficial to diabetics because, when you slow down the digestion of starch, you avoid the sharp rises in your blood sugar level that usually occurs following a meal.

4. It has been found that those who eat more oats are less likely to develop heart disease, a disease that is currently widespread in the United States.

5. The phytochemicals in oat may also have cancer-fighting properties.

6. Oats are a good source of many nutrients including vitamin E, zinc, selenium, copper, iron, manganese and magnesium. Oats are also a good source of protein.

The difference between insoluble and soluble fiber, besides the foods that they come from, is what they do in your body.

Insoluble fiber’s main role is that it makes stools heavier and speeds their passage through the gut, relieving constipation. Soluble fiber breaks down as it passes through the digestive tract, forming a gel that traps some substances related to high cholesterol, thus reducing the absorption of cholesterol into the bloodstream.

Oatmeal has a pretty bland taste which makes it hard for the average person to consume every morning. Here are ways you can make it taste better.

1. Make the oatmeal with milk instead of water. This will also add calcium and more protein.

2. Add Stevia powder to the oatmeal. It will naturally sweeten up the taste without adding sugar.

3. Stir in your favorite-flavored protein powder to it after it’s been cooked. This gives the oatmeal a pretty good taste plus it adds protein. Combine this with using milk and you’ll have a meal that is high in fiber, calcium and protein!

4. Add fruit such as blueberries to the oatmeal.

You should aim to eat roughly 1 cooked cup of oatmeal each morning for optimal health benefits. And play around with the above preparation suggestions until you find a taste that you fall in love with.

Your heart and body will thank you for it!

Ryan Cote is the owner of http://www.SimpleHealth123.com, a health and wellness website providing healthy aging products and free resources. Come visit and download his free health and wellness e-mail course, 4 Days to Better Health.

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Contrary to the ads that you may see on television, juices are not more healthful than whole fruits or vegetables. How can an extract from food be more healthful than that food? For some people, they are much less healthful. For example, a glass of orange juice contains about one tenth as much fiber as an orange and twice the calories. Diabetics shouldn’t drink fruit juices because they drive blood sugar levels too high, nor should people who are trying to lose weight drink fruit juices because a rise in sugar calls out extra insulin that makes you hungry.

Don’t be fooled by juices that claim that they supply 100 percent of your daily needs for vitamin C and A. Most drinks that can make that claim have artificial vitamins added to the drink and are no better for you than juices that have only 10 percent of your daily requirements. Adding calcium to fruit juices is reasonable because there are no known harmful effects and some people do not get enough calcium from other foods that they eat.

There is no known advantage or disadvantage to drinking fruit juice that has first had water removed to form a concentrate and then had the water added back in to form the juice. This process does not destroy nutrients, nor does it add any.

It really doesn’t make much difference whether you drink juice that is 100 percent fruit juice or made from 50 percent sugar water and 50 percent juice. Some fruits have higher water and sugar content; others must have water or sugar or both added to make them palatable. All juices contain around 8 to 10 percent sugar because that’s the concentration of sugar that tastes best and that most people prefer. “All fruit” juices often use added sugars extracted from grapes, apples or other fruits rather than from sugar cane. There is no difference between any type of sugar added to a diluted fruit juice and the sugar that was originally in the fruit. Both are lower in fiber than the fruit, so they both cheat you of fiber, and since they both contain the same amount of sugar, they affect diabetics and obese people in the same bad way by driving their blood sugars higher.

Pasteurized means that the fruit juice was heated to kill germs. You are less likely to be infected with E coli from a pasteurized drink and pasteurization does not reduce the amount of nutrients in a drink. Ultraviolet light, freezing, dehydrating and bubbling ozone through a drink get rid of germs and do not reduce nutrients.

The bottom line is to eat whole fruits and vegetables, and drink juices if you can afford the extra calories and sugar. You gain nothing extra from juicing, and diabetics and overweight people should restrict their intake of juices because they are not much more than sugared water

Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine. Read or listen to hundreds of his fitness and health reports at http://www.DrMirkin.com

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