Looking for soluble dietary fiber? Oatmeal and oat bran could be the answer. Although these foods are commonly used as spices in sauce and porridge, they can be manipulated to form other products. Health experts encourage regular consumption of oats because they contain a variety of health benefits.

Satiety and improving bowel movements

Dr Rachna Pande, a specialist in Internal Medicine at Ruhengeri Hospital, says oat meal holds the stomach for many hours.

"Besides offering satisfaction, oatmeal contains health fibers that aid digestion and cure constipation,” Pande says.

Dr Joseph Kamugisha, a doctor at Rwanda Military Hospital Kanombe, adds that due to the high content of soluble and insoluble fibers, oatmeal enables stool in the large intestines to get heavier hence facilitating both bowel contractions and movements.

"The patient is able to eliminate stool as soon as it is formed. This is also the basis for use of oats in protection against constipation,” Kamugisha says.

Immunity and cancer prevention

Pande also adds that plenty of vitamins can be gained when one consumes oat meal.

"Among the vitamins are those of the group B complex which are very useful in strengthening nerves and catalyzing various metabolic activities within the body. The vitamin E in the foods is cardio protective since it lowers the bad cholesterol,” Pande explains.

These vitamins have antioxidant properties and according to Pande, the antioxidants improve resistance of the body towards infections. A diet rich in antioxidants helps in preventing and curing cancers.

Stanley Ngarukiye, a lecturer of Public health at Mountain Kenya University and member of the Anti Hepatitis group in Rwanda, also adds that oats are some of the foods that are important during the management of hepatitis.

"Although they are not medicine, good nutrition during managing hepatitis is very important and if the oats are combined with foods such as avocado, pawpaws, the patients are likely to experience a better life,” Ngarukiye says.

He, however, warns that even though taking such a very nutritious diet is important, follow up on treatment and regular exercise still remain crucial.

Preparing oats

For flexibility in preparing a meal of oats, several ways such as roasting, grounding or processing could facilitate long time storage.

"Since it is usually taken as porridge, when milk is added to whole oats in breakfast cereal, the nutritional value is raised as benefits of milk like calcium are added,” she adds.

Research on Oats

Research on oats presented by top scientists last year on physicochemical properties and biological functionality of Oats at an Annual Conference of the American Chemical Society in Dallas emphasized the growing evidence that oats contain a type of phenolic compound avenanthramide (AVE) that is very important in maintaining heart health.

Also new studies now show that oat AVEs may be partly responsible for the positive association between oats and heart health.

However, USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, presented mechanistic data that demonstrated the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of AVEs likely to contribute to the atheroprotection (Protection against atherosclerosis or clogging of arteries by high density lipoproteins) of oats.

And in an article published by The Telegraph, it was revealed through previous studies that the fibre contained in oat porridge can reduce cholesterol levels by as much as 23 per cent.

The studies on children also suggested that the traditional Scots breakfast dish can also help children to keep obesity at bay. One study of 10,000 children found that youngsters who eat oats regularly are 50 per cent less likely to be overweight.

Oats can also reduce blood pressure which is closely linked to stroke and heart disease. They are a source of folic acid which is essential for healthy foetal development.

The beginning of oats

The history of oats dates back with evidence of the cultivated grain found in caves of Switzerland dating back to the Bronze Age. The wet cool weather provided the ideal climate for their growth and later the grain became popular in Europe especially in Scotland. Thereafter around the 1602, oats were seen in America before being transported to Africa by traders.