Oat bran response

[sw600]

Hi all, does anyone know what the insulin response of oat bran is like? Background - my previously sticky 42-44 range is now down to steady 36-37 with low carb (plus a couple of months of CGM wearing to test stuff), so great. I only eat yoghurt and nuts/seeds for breakfast (this seems to be better in fact than eating nothing). I guess I meet the thin/fit profile (so don't need to lose weight).

I do need to think about cholesterol now though, LDL is ~5 and total is ~7 (which to be fair hasn't changed much over the last couple of years with low carb). I have started having 40g oat bran (made into a porridge with just water) with my yoghurt as this is supposed to help. It's also claimed to be good for blood sugar, but is it still better than just not having it at all? i.e. what's the insulin response with oat bran porridge? I don't want to start giving myself a spike in the morning again. I can always get a CGM for another few weeks I guess to test this out, just hoping someone might know what might be expected. Oat bran does have other carbs in but I'm not sure whether they are digestible or not.

 

[lovinglife]

The best advice it to test it and see, we are all individual and will have different responses to different foods, so what one person experiences isn’t necessarily what you will experience.

If you have a meter then I wouldn’t say there was a need for a CGM, I’ve never used one but if I eat a new food especially ones with more carbs than I would normally have I test at first bite & at 2 & 3 hrs, I do the 3 hr test because some foods for me have a slower response, I can have a good number at 2hrs but can have an unacceptable (for me) rise at 3hrs

 

[KennyA]

Oat bran is around 50g carb per 100g, some say 60-65 but I suspect those are taken from US sources that have not subtracted indigestible fibre. Oat bran is not something I would eat, but then I aim for around 20-25g carb/day max.

This website (Diet Doctor) might help:

Ingredients to avoid on a low carb or keto diet - Diet Doctor

Ingredients to avoid on a low carb or keto diet If you can focus on healthy, whole foods and keep high-carb and potentially unhealthy ingredients out of your cart, you set yourself up for low carb or keto success. But do we need to completely avoid certain ingredients? Or can we limit them and...

www.dietdoctor.com

Your insulin response to oat bran - well, you'd have to test to see. There's no way of measuring your insulin production yourself, but if you're measuring your blood glucose you would be able to see the impact of the porridge on that. As the bran is digested to glucose, your body will (or should) produce as much insulin as needed to manage the additional glucose load. Too much insulin can be a problem in itself and provoke insulin resistance.

Around 80% of your cholesterol is made by your own body. Cholesterol from food is therefore relatively insignificant, as what you eat won't interfere with the body making its own. My cholesterol has been stable for at least thirty years without changing and has gone from being described as "good" to "OK" to "too high". It doesn't cause me any concern, so I have no experience in attempting to reduce it.

 

[Melgar]

@sw600 your blood sugars are great.
I'm a lean and very fit individual. I also have to be careful as I lose weight very easily. Like you I certainly do not wish to lose weight. I am fat intolerant, I had a spell when I could not eat any fat at all (meat, dairy or vegetable) without suffering. I have, thankfully, reverted back to being able to eat small quantities of fat, but my intake is very limited. I have been this way for decades. I can tell you I have very low Triglycerides and good HDL cholesterol , but high LDL . Eating very small quantities of fat for most of my life made no difference what-so-ever to my LDL Cholesterol levels. Unlike @KennyA I was very unhappy with my LDL cholesterol levels and went onto statins. They work well for me, but some people do suffer side effects. My LDL has dropped right back into the normal range.

If I ate oat bran it would put my blood sugars up for sure, but everyone is different so I agree with @lovinglife and @KennyA , the only way to know is to test.

 

[sw600]

thanks all, I'll probably just avoid it. I can't imagine it's going to make a deal of difference to the cholesterol in any case, may have to give in and go for statins. Alas it's likely hereditary (FH).