For the past several years, our social media walls have been flooded with posts regarding the health benefits of oats.
And it surely does have presence of certain nutrients that are linked to various health benefits such as managing blood sugar, reducing bad & total cholesterol levels, preventing constipation, increasing the growth of healthy gut bacteria, and promoting satiety etc. (1,2 & 3).
But a variety of oat products are available in market. Broadly speaking, either plain or masala oats.
Plain is 100% Oats & masala, obviously as the name suggests, is the flavored version.
From a cost perspective, 100% Oats is always cheaper. In addition you can make it as per your preference – sweet or salted.
You have to spend sometime in preparing plain oats however, masala oat packets are almost instant – just add water, boil & you’re done.
One thing to watch out for in masala oats is their sodium content, like the one shown below has 2.3g sodium per 100g.
1 pouch is 38 grams, so with each serving of masala oats, you’re consuming about 867 mg of sodium and finishing 43% of your daily recommended sodium with just one product (5).
And, India consumes more than double the amount of sodium than what is recommended by the WHO (6).
The nutritional information shared above is just for one product.
In conclusion, purchase plain oats if you want to save on cost and make your own style of oats and go for masala oats if you are looking for a quick oats option however, make sure you look for the one with least sodium to avoid excessive salt related problems.