WE'VE all heard that oatmeal is a “superfood”. It's packed with fibre, it's good for your heart, it'll help you lose weight and the list goes on and on about how great oatmeal is. But does this rosy picture actually have a dark side?
Is it true that oatmeal can actually cause constipation?
Verdict:
TRUE
Firstly, this is not a hit piece trying to take oatmeal down. It is an excellent carbohydrate to add to your diet as it's jam-packed with positive effects.
As mentioned earlier, oatmeal is good for your heart, will help you with your cholesterol levels, and some studies do in fact indicate that it will help you lose weight.
Having said that, there are some side effects from eating oatmeal that are not entirely pleasant.
Taken the wrong way, your bowl of overnight oats might make it significantly harder for you to “go”.
You see, there are two types of food fibre veggies can provide: soluble and insoluble.
Insoluble fibre comes from the parts of a plant that do not dissolve in water and your body cannot digest them, so they go straight through.
This type of fibre can help the transit of food through the digestive tract and prevent constipation.
Oatmeal does have quite a bit of insoluble fibre as it has 5.8g in every 100g, so there's no problems there.
It does however have quite a bit of soluble fibre as well: 4.2g in every 100g.
Unlike the latter, soluble fibre is not a remedy for constipation.
Soluble fibre is hydrophilic, so it will dissolve in water. It adds bulk to your stool and can help slow things down in your digestive tract so it's very good and helps with conditions like diarrhoea; it's the opposite effect of what you want if you are suffering from constipation.
Not only that, the type of soluble fibre oatmeal has is mostly wheat dextrin, which is a fermentable fibre.
Wheat dextrin can ferment in your gut, creating a lot of gas which causes some to feel bloated if they eat too much oatmeal.
Not only that, it can dehydrate your stool, making it difficult to pass and thereby causing constipation.
So how can you solve this problem?
It's simple, just drink more water.
The reason why not everyone gets constipated from eating oatmeal usually boils down to how much liquids they drink.
If you were dehydrated to begin with, you would already be borderline constipated as there would not be enough liquids in your body to flush out the waste. Therefore, adding oatmeal into the mix would just exacerbate the problem.
So the next time you enjoy a big bowl of hot oatmeal for breakfast, don't forget a glass of orange juice. Perhaps make that two.
References:
1. https://www.researchgate.net/
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
3. https://healthnews.com/health-
