Free Republic

While including oats in a balanced diet has long been recognized as a healthy food choice, thanks to the fiber content, the benefits of oat protein have been understudied—until now. New research suggests there's even more to this grain. Drs. Sijo Joseph and Lovemore Malunga and Dr. Thomas Netticadan recently published two articles that show the nutritional benefits of oat protein are even greater than previously known. In one study, researchers found that an oat protein diet benefitted cardiovascular health, reduced bad cholesterol and improved cardiac function in obese rats. Building on these positive results, the team launched a second...

Don’t you want a president who is going to ensure the food your children eat isn’t filled with chemicals that are going to give them cancer and chronic disease?

Research on the gut microbiome has triggered a 'revolution' in nutritional science, and in the last few years, dietary fiber has become the "new protein" – added to foods in abundance to feed our gut and boost our health. A recent study on mice, however, suggests not all fiber supplements are equally beneficial. A form that is readily found in oats and barley, called beta-glucan, can control blood sugar and assist in weight loss among mice fed a high-fat diet. Researchers at the University of Arizona (UA) and the University of Vienna say it is the only type of fiber...

The Quaker Oats Company announced Wednesday it is permanently closing its factory in Danville, Illinois, with upwards of 500 employees to be impacted. The News-Gazette reports Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. confirmed the news to the wider community, with city officials saying: Today, we learned that after 65 years of production in Danville, Pepsico will close Quaker Oats effective June 8, 2024. The business has already ceased production but will continue to pay their employees through that time. While this shocks and saddens us, we will unite as a community to help those who have lost their employment. Williams said he...

Four out of five Americans are being exposed to a little-known chemical found in popular oat-based foods — including Cheerios and Quaker Oats — that is linked to reduced fertility, altered fetal growth, and delayed puberty. The Environmental Working Group published a study in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology on Thursday that found a staggering 80% of Americans tested positive for a harmful pesticide called chlormequat. The “highly toxic agricultural chemical” is federally allowed to be used on oats and other grains imported to the US, according to the EWG. When applied to oat and grain crops,...

Americans are accustomed to a bowl of cereal as their go-to breakfast meal is about to experience a price increase because of rapid food inflation. This year, a devastating drought in North American oat fields has resulted in the lowest harvest for the cereal grain in years, pushing prices to record highs, a warning sign that breakfast inflation is imminent. Scorching heat waves in Candian oat fields slashed production to an 11-year low. Canada, the world’s biggest exporter, ships most of its oats to the US, its largest consumer. The result so far has been a new record high in...

Oats are incredibly healthy. "Oats are nutritional powerhouses filled with soluble fiber, protein, and essential nutrients like iron and vitamin B-6," says Kelsey Lorencz, RDN, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist at Graciously Nourished. And if you haven't been eating oats, there's a few good reasons you should: "Eating 2-3 servings of whole grains (like oats!) per day is associated with a reduced risk for cardiovascular disease, good levels of LDL 'bad' cholesterol, and even a healthy gut/microbiome. And oatmeal has been scientifically-proven to help you feel full between meals," says Julie Miller Jones, PhD, LN, CNS, an emeritus professor of nutrition at...

Jun. 18, 2006 0:24 | Updated Jun. 18, 2006 10:4511,000-year-old grain shakes up beliefs on beginnings of agriculture By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH Bar-Ilan University researchers have found a cache of 120,000 wild oat and 260,000 wild barley grains at the Gilgal archaeological site near Jericho that date back 11,000 years - providing evidence of cultivation during the Neolithic Period. The research, performed by Drs. Ehud Weiss and Anat Hartmann of BIU's department of Land of Israel studies and Prof. Mordechai Kislev of the faculty of life sciences, appears in the June 16 edition of the prestigious journal Science. It is the...

Researchers report early evidence of flour production by ancient humans. Recent interest in ancient diets has led to the collection of extensive data about the variety of plants eaten by early humans and ancient food processing capabilities. Marta Mariotti Lippi of the University of Florence and colleagues analyzed the residues from an ancient grinding tool to gain further insight into food processing practices of the Early Gravettian culture of ancient Europe. The tool was found in Grotta Paglicci in Southern Italy in 1989 and dates to more than 32,000 years ago. Residue samples from the tool contained a variety of...

Based on the long-time claim by General Mills that its Cheerios cereal can lower cholesterol by 4 percent in just six weeks — when part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, of course — the Food and Drug Administration has admonished the giant breakfast cereal producer and said those claims mean the little round “o’s” of oats are to be considered a drug. Simply by indicating the cereal is intended for use as a cholesterol-lowering product, it now falls under the FDA regulations regarding drugs, and because it’s a “new” drug by definition — never mind that...

Gruel -- the miserable dish slopped out to Oliver Twist in Charles Dickens' 19th century novel -- made a comeback Tuesday, bringing the cuisine of Victorian poverty to credit crunch-hit Britain. The Royal Society of Chemistry consulted the 1838 book "Oliver Twist" and historical sources in order to cook up a version of the dreaded, bland gloop of oats, milk and water. Passers-by in London were invited to sample the gruel -- with some even conceding that it tasted quite good. "It's very good, actually. It tastes like porridge but it's very plain," said Irina Orlova, 30, an administration assistant...

DALLAS (AP) — Whole Foods Market Inc. said Tuesday it has lined up financing to complete its $565 million purchase of rival organic and natural foods grocer Wild Oats Markets Inc., ending a six-month battle against federal regulators who tried to block the deal on antitrust grounds.The company said it took out a five-year, $700 million loan to fund the deal, which also includes the assumption of $137 million in Wild Oats debt."While closing this merger has taken longer than we anticipated, we are very excited to now begin the integration process," Whole Foods Chief Executive John Mackey said....