Oats
About Oats
Porridge oats, unfortified. Values shown are for the raw grain as sold (per 100g dry weight). The same oats made up into porridge with water or milk will have very different per-100g numbers because of the water added during cooking; check the cooked figures separately when relevant.
Oats are a useful UK source of:
- Soluble fibre (beta-glucan): the dietary fibre with the strongest evidence for lowering blood cholesterol.
- Manganese: a meaningful portion of daily needs in one bowl of oats.
- Magnesium, thiamin (B1), zinc, and selenium.
UK breakfast cereals are often fortified with iron and B vitamins; plain porridge oats are not. Check the pack for fortified versions if breakfast cereal is the main morning meal.
Oats in more detail
Oats carry one of the very small number of health claims that UK and EU regulators have actually authorised on the basis of the evidence, rather than allowed as marketing. Beta-glucan, the soluble fibre in oats, is permitted to be described as contributing to the maintenance of normal blood cholesterol at an intake of 3 g a day.
That threshold is the useful number, because it is reachable: roughly 70 g of oats, a decent bowl of porridge. Beta-glucan works by forming a viscous gel in the gut that interferes with bile acid reabsorption, so the liver has to draw on circulating cholesterol to make more. The mechanism depends on viscosity, which is why heavily processed instant oats deliver less benefit than the same weight of rolled or steel-cut oats — the beta-glucan is the same but the gel it forms is weaker.
The cut is the other thing worth understanding. Steel-cut (pinhead) oats are the whole groat chopped, and cook in 20–30 minutes to a chewy porridge with the lowest glycaemic response. Rolled oats are steamed and flattened, cooking in about five minutes. Instant oats are rolled thinner and pre-cooked, and produce the fastest blood glucose rise of the three from the same grain.
On gluten: oats do not contain gluten, but they are very commonly contaminated with wheat, barley and rye in the field and the mill. Coeliac UK advises that only oats labelled gluten-free are suitable, and that a minority of people with coeliac disease also react to avenin, the oat protein itself.
Nutrients worth knowing about
Per 100 g of unfortified porridge oats, this page's panel shows Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) at 1.05 mg (about 105% of the adult reference intake), Manganese at 3.66 mg (261%), Phosphorus at 387 mg (70%), Magnesium at 114 mg (38%), Copper at 0.37 mg (31%), Iron at 3.64 mg (25%), Zinc at 2.3 mg (24%), Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) at 0.34 mg (24%) and Vitamin B3 (Niacin) at 3.5 mg (21%).
The macronutrients are 381 kcal, 10.9 g protein, 70.7 g carbohydrate, 7.2 g fibre and only 0.3 g sugars per 100 g. Iron in oats is non-haem and its absorption is reduced by phytate, so pairing porridge with a vitamin C source helps — and note that dry weight is not eating weight, since oats roughly triple in mass with water.
Other grains
Micronutrients (per 100g, raw)
| Nutrient | Amount | % adult reference intake |
|---|---|---|
| Minerals | ||
| Iron | 3.64 mg | 25% |
| Calcium | 50 mg | 7% |
| Magnesium | 114 mg | 38% |
| Potassium | 372 mg | 11% |
| Sodium | 1 mg | 0% |
| Chloride | 87 mg | 3% |
| Phosphorus | 387 mg | 70% |
| Zinc | 2.3 mg | 24% |
| Copper | 0.37 mg | 31% |
| Manganese | 3.66 mg | 261% |
| Iodine | Tr (trace) | . |
| Selenium | 3 ug | 4% |
| Vitamins | ||
| Vitamin A | 0 ug | 0% |
| Vitamin C | 0 mg | 0% |
| Vitamin D | 0 ug | 0% |
| Vitamin E | 0.59 mg | 15% |
| Vitamin K | not measured | . |
| Vitamin B1 (thiamin) | 1.05 mg | 105% |
| Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) | 0.05 mg | 4% |
| Vitamin B3 (niacin) | 3.5 mg | 21% |
| Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid) | 0.75 mg | 11% |
| Vitamin B6 | 0.34 mg | 24% |
| Vitamin B7 (biotin) | 19 ug | 10% |
| Vitamin B9 (folate) | 32 ug | 16% |
| Vitamin B12 | 0 ug | 0% |
Source: CoFID 2021 (McCance and Widdowson, UK), code 11-788 (matched record: "Porridge oats, unfortified"). N = present but not quantified; Tr = trace; not measured = no value in the source.
What this food is a source of
High in by content (per 100g): Manganese (261%), Vitamin B1 (thiamin) (105%), Phosphorus (70%), Magnesium (38%), Copper (31%).
A source of by content (per 100g): Iron (25%), Vitamin B6 (24%), Zinc (24%), Vitamin B3 (niacin) (21%), Vitamin B9 (folate) (16%).
These figures are the amount in the food. How much the body absorbs can vary, see each nutrient's entry for detail.