Eating a healthy diet is not just about losing weight. In fact, there are many other reasons why you should focus on incorporating healthier foods into your meals – such as how food plays a major role in your overall bodily functions, your heart health and even your body’s inflammation. What you eat has a direct effect on your body’s inflammatory response, and if you constantly eat foods that increase inflammation, your body will be awake to fight the “foreign” substances. This is also known as chronic inflammation, which may increase the risk of diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and more. So while enjoying a bowl of sugar cereal in the morning may sound like the easiest option, the best breakfast you can eat regularly to reduce inflammation is actually a bowl of oatmeal.
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According to a double-blind control study published by Nutrition Journal during 2014, a polyphenol in oats called avenantramide (AVA) has been shown to slow down the inflammatory response and increase the antioxidant defense. Two groups of women between the ages of 50 and 80 were given two cakes (either made from oatmeal with a high AVA value or not) and asked to go down on a treadmill before and after supplementation. After eight weeks, the blood samples could show reduced inflammation and increased blood-borne antioxidant defense for the women who had the oatmeal cookies with high AVA.
Although one of the study author’s Li Li Ji, doctoral student and leading researcher from University of Minnesota Laboratory of Physiological Hygiene and Exercise Science says that more research is justified for such a statement, the data show a strong correlation between oatmeal consumption and reduced inflammation in connection with exercise as well as aging and chronic disease.
This study was then followed by another 2019 study in Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition which again shows a link between oatmeal consumption and reduced inflammatory markers – as well as oxidative stress, which is also responsible for the development of diseases – for people who experience high cholesterol in the blood. In their conclusion, researchers recommended for people with high blood pressure to consume 70 grams of oatmeal daily for four weeks to reduce inflammation.
So should you eat 3/4 cup of oatmeal a day? We’ll get it – you’ll probably get tired of it after a while. But incorporating oatmeal into your weekly meal plan is an easy way to help reduce inflammation, especially when there are so many delicious ways to prepare oatmeal for breakfast – as with these 11 healthy oatmeal toppings or these 51 healthy oatmeal recipes for one night. You can even sneak oatmeal for other meals by trying our tasty options!
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