Oat Flour

How Oat Flour is Made

The oat seed is harvested and the grains are roasted. The hulls are then removed, but the germ and bran remains; this gives oats their high fiber content.

The roasted grains are then rolled for oatmeal or milled into a fine powder for flour.

Uses of Oat Flour in Food

Oat flour is found in many cereals and breads. It is desirable over the bleached wheat flour that is found in many food products. Wheat flour is highly processed and bleached, which removes nutrients and may add chemicals.

Breads that use whole grains such as oat flour are brown in color. White bread is made from bleached wheat flour and has little nutritional value except for the vitamins and minerals that are added to the flour to enrich it.

Oat flour can also be used in place of bleached flour when baking. Recipes using oat flour instead of bleached flour might need to have more liquids added to maintain the proper consistency.

Oat flour dough also should not be kneaded as much as dough made from bleached flour.

Oat Flour and Fiber

Oat flour is a good source of dietary fiber. The fiber in oat fiber is soluble fiber; it creates a gel-like substance when dissolved in water.

The Mayo Clinic asserts that a diet high in fiber can assist with normal bowel movements and promote bowel health, and help to lower cholesterol levels. Oat flour can aid in weight loss by providing fewer calories and a feel of “fullness” when eating.

Oat flour can slow the absorption of sugar to regulate blood glucose levels.

Oat Flour and Your Heart

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) states that oats may be labeled as a food that may reduce the risk of heart disease when eaten as part of a diet that is low in cholesterol and saturated fats.

The gel-like substance that is created by soluble fiber grabs cholesterol and saturated fats in the stomach. It keeps these substances from being digested and absorbed into the body. In this way, oat flour reduces overall cholesterol and fat content absorbed by the body.

One gram of soluble fiber has been shown to decrease total cholesterol by 1.42 mg/dL and LDL, or bad cholesterol by 1.23 mg/dL, according to Web MD. The effectiveness continues up to 10 grams of soluble fiber per day.

The Nutritional Value of Oat Flour

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Nutritional Database lists the nutritional values for 100 grams of oat flour. It contains 404 calories, 14.66 g protein, 65.7 carbohydrates and 6.5 g of fiber.

Vitamins and minerals found in oat flour include calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, niacin, folate, choline and lutein.

Celiac Disease and Oat Flour

Oat flour is especially valued by those with celiac disease. Celiac disease is an allergy to the protein gluten.

Symptoms include diarrhea, stomach pain and the inability to absorb vitamins and nutrients. Gluten is found in foods containing wheat, rye and barley.

Those with celiac disease use oat flour as a replacement for wheat flour. Oat flour contains no gluten, so those with gluten allergies do not need to give up a wide array of foods.

Side Effects and Medical Conditions

Web MD states that there are few side effects from eating oat flour. Some people experience uncomfortable gas and bloating from oat flour; this will likely go away when the body adjusts.

Make sure that the oat flour you use specifically states “gluten free” as some are processed near wheat and other gluten-containing grains. Cross contamination can cause some oat flour to contain gluten.

Those with digestive disorders should discuss the use of oat flour with a medical professional; it it can block up the intestines when digestion is slow or irregular.

How to Use Oat Flour

Oat flour is sold in health food stores and most grocery stores. It can be substituted in recipes that call for bleached wheat flour with additional liquids added. There are many recipes that call for oat flour that do not need to be adjusted.

Use the free supplement finder to find nutritional products that contain oat flour today!