Oat Meal Question?!
Answers: Can Oat Meal be eaten dry?
Often oats (and other grains and cereals) can get weevils that lay eggs in them depending on how they are bought and/or stored. These weevils can potentially transmit E. coli and other diseases. I'm all for raw foods, but here I'd cook or at least toast it first.
yes
if you wanted too, can you say granola bar
you can, but why would you?
Well, yes, but it might swell up in your stomach.
Rolled oats are oat groats that have been rolled into flat flakes under heavy rollers. The oat, like some other cereals, has a hard, inedible outer hull that must be removed before the grain can be eaten. After the hulls have been removed from the bran-covered oat grains, the remainder is called oat groats. Oat groats can be used as cereal, but since the bran layer makes the grains tough to chew and contains an enzyme that can cause the oats to go rancid, oat groats are usually steam-treated to soften them and denature the enzymes. These enzymes include phytase. Being absent, the high-phytate content of commercial oats inhibit the absorption of iron by the human body. Steel-cut oats are oat groats that have been chopped into smaller pieces and retain bits of the bran layer.
Rolled oats that are sold as oatmeal usually, but not always, have had the tough bran removed. They have often been lightly baked or pressure-cooked. Thick-rolled oats are large whole flakes, and thin-rolled oats are smaller, fragmented flakes. Oat flakes that have simply had the bran removed can be cooked and eaten as "old-fashioned" oatmeal, but more highly fragmented rolled oats absorb water much more easily and therefore cook faster, so they are sometimes called "quick" or "instant" oatmeal. Oatmeal can be further processed into coarse powder, which, when cooked, becomes a thick broth. Finer oatmeal powder is often used as baby food.
Oats are an excellent source of thiamine, iron, and dietary fiber. Fiber is helpful in reducing cholesterol levels in the bloodstream. Oats are also the only source of antioxidant compounds known as avenanthramides; these are believed to have properties which help to protect the circulatory system from arteriosclerosis. Oat products also contain beta-glucan, which may help Type 2 diabetics control their blood sugar level, and might also help stimulate the immune system to fight off bacterial infections.[1]