A Report on Oatmeal Nutrition for Women and Soluble Fiber
by Michelle Jones

Having no intention of spending the extra money for an over-priced item, the big *sale* was really the dealmaker for me, I’d also seen several advertisements for the product and wanted to investigate further. I’m happy to report, the purchase was a good one. Just having an opportunity to read the entire box has proved to be very educational.

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Finding a sale I couldn’t pass by, I recently purchased a box of the new Quaker Instant Oatmeal Nutrition for Women. But I have to admit, I was intrigued by the added calcium, soy protein, iron, folic acid and B vitamins, as well as the purple box. You have to admit, making the box pretty was smart marketing.

However, having no intention of spending the extra money for an over-priced item, the big sale was the dealmaker for me. I’d also seen several advertisements for the product and wanted to investigate further. I’m happy to report the purchase was a good one, just having an opportunity to read the entire box has proved to be educational, and yes, it tastes good too.

Although one serving of the Golden Brown Sugar flavor contains 13 g. of sugar, and 170 calories (yikes!), it also contains 5 g. of protein, which actually turns out to be the same as regular oatmeal. I guess you have to concentrate on all those other added nutrients that are indeed good for women’s health concerns. It’s just not quite as healthy as I had hoped.

Due to all the information on the box about the added nutrients, I found myself studying every word. The additional information I thought was the most interesting, was that a person needs only 3g. of soluble fiber a day to improve and maintain better health. I thought to myself, “When you put it that way, just 3 g., makes it sound easy.”

The information on the back of the new box reads… “The soluble fiber from oats, a proven cholesterol reducer*, along with soy protein, Vitamin E, folic acid and B vitamins actively promote heart health. Also, emerging science indicates that soluble fiber, calcium and magnesium may help maintain healthy blood pressure levels. (* Three grams of soluble fiber daily from oatmeal in a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease. This cereal has 1 gram per serving.)”

This was also educational for another reason, while comparing the instant oatmeal to our regular oats, I found the regular has 2 g. of soluble fiber per serving (and of course it costs less per serving). I wouldn’t say to forget the Oatmeal Nutrition for Women though; it does seem to have additional nutritional value that is worthy of eating, just know that when switching from regular oatmeal to the instant, you’ll have to replace that extra gram of soluble fiber with something else.

Here’s a list of foods containing SOLUBLE fiber, taken from the 8 Week Cholesterol Cure Cookbook, by Robert E. Kowalski… counts are based per 100-gram serving (3 ½ ounces).

Grains
Barley, pearled - 2.8
Cornmeal, whole-grain - 9.0
Oat bran, uncooked – 7.2
Oatmeal, uncooked – 4.9 (1 serving of oatmeal is considered ½ c. of dry oats, equaling 40 grams.)
Rice, brown, dry - 0.7
Rice bran – 33.0

Fruits
Apple, raw – 0.6
Apple, fiber – 11.1
Prunes, dried – 4.6
Raisins – 1.7

Dried Beans and Peas
Beans, kidney, canned – 2.7
Beans, kidney, raw – 8.5
Beans, pinto, raw – 7.0
Lentils, raw - 3.8
Peas, black-eyed, raw - 11.0
Peas, chick, raw - 7.6
Peas, split, raw – 4.0

Keep in mind, we’re only talking about soluble fiber here. Andrew Weil, M.D., in Eating Well for Optimum Health, wrote, “The optimum diet should provide 40 grams of fiber a day. You can achieve this by increasing consumption of fruits (especially berries), vegetables (especially beans), and whole grains.” The complete content of fiber in the oatmeal we’ve been talking about is 3 g. for the instant, and 4 g. for the regular. (And don’t forget, both the regular oatmeal and the new Nutrition for Women have 5g. of protein per serving, which is great!)

One of the best guides I’ve seen for nutritional information is The Complete Book of Food Counts, by Corinne T. Netzer. I flipped through my worn copy to find some foods high in total fiber and here are just a few of them…

Almonds, dried, 1oz. – 8.6 (167 cal.)
Apple, raw with peel – 3.0 (81 ca.)
Banana, 1 medium – 1.8 (105 cal.)
Broccoli, raw, 1 spear, 8.7 oz. – 4.2 (42 cal.)
Broccoli, boiled, 1 spear, 6.3 oz. – 4.7 (51 cal.)
Broccoli, boiled, chopped, 1/2 c. – 2.0 (22 cal.)
Lettuce, 1 leaf, iceberg - .2 (3 cal.)
Lima beans, ½ c. boiled and drained – 3.6 (104 cal.)
Prunes, ½ c. stewed w/pits, unsweetened – 7.0 (113 cal.)
Soy beans, ½ c. dried – 11.6 (387 cal.)

You could get more than half your daily intake of fiber with a pound of Pistachio nuts, it contains 24.5 g. of fiber, but you’d also have to take the 1,309 calories with it. Nuts are good for you, just try to eat them by the ounce and not the pound. If you’d like to learn more about food counts, you might want to invest in a copy of this Food Count book for yourself, it contains more listings than any other book, including brand names and fast food items!

The Complete Book of Food Counts on sale at Amazon for $7.50!

Copyright 2001 by Michelle Jones, editor of CookingLow-fat.com and founder of Blessings for Life.