Cycling UK Forum

Porridge is often recommend as ideal, due to its low GL index. However, I recall reading many years ago in a book by a leading rider of that time, that it was more beneficial to eat the porridge oats uncooked with milk added than to prepare the porridge by cooking in the traditional way. Your thoughts/advice please.

In a nutshell yes! In Scotland this was known as brose and oatmeal (not oat flakes) were mixed with water or milk, possibly hot water/milk but the mixture was never cooked. This means that the oats were largely unswollen and thus have a higher energy density as well as being slower to adsorb. Basically, because the oats are not swollen with fluid, you can get more oats down your gob for a given volume eaten.

I had a student flat mate from NE Scotland who seemed to live off oatmeal with hot water seasoned with salt and pepper. It worked for him and it tastes not as bad you you might think. But it must be oatmeal, medium grind for best.

Cyril wrote:Porridge is often recommend as ideal, due to its low GL index. However, I recall reading many years ago in a book by a leading rider of that time, that it was more beneficial to eat the porridge oats uncooked with milk added than to prepare the porridge by cooking in the traditional way. Your thoughts/advice please.

I think they at least need to be soaked for a while.

Oats contain phytates, which can prevent you from being to use some of the minerals in oats. Cooking or soaking breaks down the phytates, so you can better use the nutrition in the oats.

Before the preparation of both oatmeal and oatflakes, the whole grain is steamed, so already partially cooked.

eat the porridge oats uncooked with milk added

This has been my pre-ride meal for over 60 years.

Cyril wrote:Porridge is often recommend as ideal, due to its low GL index. However, I recall reading many years ago in a book by a leading rider of that time, that it was more beneficial to eat the porridge oats uncooked with milk added than to prepare the porridge by cooking in the traditional way. Your thoughts/advice please.

what a horrible idea why not just eat them dry? shovel them in your gob

mercalia wrote:

Cyril wrote:Porridge is often recommend as ideal, due to its low GL index. However, I recall reading many years ago in a book by a leading rider of that time, that it was more beneficial to eat the porridge oats uncooked with milk added than to prepare the porridge by cooking in the traditional way. Your thoughts/advice please.

what a horrible idea :? why not just eat them dry? shovel them in your gob :oops: :?

Delicious. I love "raw" rolled oats. Don't eat them often as they are just too easy to keep "picking" at (i.e. take and eat more and more and more).

Ian

Mammals cant by themselves digest cellulose. Ruminants, pigs and rabbits have found a way of getting their intestinal bacteria to do it for them.
I think I read somewhere that the prehistoric "discovery" of cooking was important because cooking breaks down the plant cell walls, so the contents (starch, in this case) are available to our digestion, and because it was easier to gather and eat sufficient food, this freed up lots of time to make flint tools and stuff like that.
On the other hand, I might have made it all up!

Eating dry oats sounds to me like a recipe for constipation. Particularly if you then go out on your bike and start sweating. I would be sure to drink plenty of fluids, far more than you normally would.

geomannie wrote:In a nutshell yes! In Scotland this was known as brose and oatmeal (not oat flakes) were mixed with water or milk, possibly hot water/milk but the mixture was never cooked. This means that the oats were largely unswollen and thus have a higher energy density as well as being slower to adsorb. Basically, because the oats are not swollen with fluid, you can get more oats down your gob for a given volume eaten.

I had a student flat mate from NE Scotland who seemed to live off oatmeal with hot water seasoned with salt and pepper. It worked for him and it tastes not as bad you you might think. But it must be oatmeal, medium grind for best.

Thanks for the advice. Tried pre-ride this morning, even including salt and pepper, consuming twice the quantity of oats I would normally have in the cooked form. Certainly had no adverse effects on performance and may have been beneficial in that respect.

As a matter of interest, if you are still in contact with your former flat mate how is his general health now?

Cyril

mercalia wrote:

Cyril wrote:However, I recall reading many years ago in a book by a leading rider of that time, that it was more beneficial to eat the porridge oats uncooked with milk added than to prepare the porridge by cooking in the traditional way. Your thoughts/advice please.

what a horrible idea why not just eat them dry? shovel them in your gob

It's just like muesli. I often have oatflakes and cold milk with a handful of raisins or currants for breakfast. When we camped we used to make up a bag of oatflakes, raisins and dried milk mixed together - just add some water for a delicious instant breakfast. As I said in an earlier post the oatflakes or oatmeal are not actually raw by the time we buy them.

recent studies show that eggs, bacon and sausages will keep you fuller for longer than cereals, yoghurt and fruit. Depending on your ride intensity/length of ride that should dictate what you're putting in the night before or in the morning.

I would say porridge (cooked) with either a decent sausage or a couple of rashers of bacon (or both if you're planning an intense/longer ride)
DO NOT EAT RAW OATS!
All grains contain phytic acid in the outer layer/bran. Untreated phytic acid can combine with calcium, magnesium, copper, iron especially zinc in the intestinal track and block their absorption. There you go, malabsorbtion is enough reason not to eat raw oats ok. That's scientific fact not anecdotal, everything is normal with uncooked.

Tonyf33 wrote:recent studies show that eggs, bacon and sausages will keep you fuller for longer than cereals, yoghurt and fruit. Depending on your ride intensity/length of ride that should dictate what you're putting in the night before or in the morning.

I would say porridge (cooked) with either a decent sausage or a couple of rashers of bacon (or both if you're planning an intense/longer ride)
DO NOT EAT RAW OATS!
All grains contain phytic acid in the outer layer/bran. Untreated phytic acid can combine with calcium, magnesium, copper, iron especially zinc in the intestinal track and block their absorption. There you go, malabsorbtion is enough reason not to eat raw oats ok. That's scientific fact not anecdotal, everything is normal with uncooked.

Soaking breaks down the phytates. Brose is almost as good in that regard as cooked oats.

The oats that you buy in the shops have already been partially cooked as part of the processing - they are not raw. Raw oat groats start to go rancid within days.