Ahh oatmeal, you probably hated it as a kid and love or at least like it as an adult. I love oatmeal. So versatile and it’s extremely inexpensive to eat or always have on hand. Here are 10 fun facts about oatmeal.
10 Fun Facts About Oatmeal
1. Oats are used primarily as food for livestock, with only about 5% of the world’s crop being consumed by humans.
2. Oatmeal cookies are the number one non-cereal usage for oatmeal, followed by meatloaf. I would not have guessed meatloaf.
3. Seventy-five percent of U.S. households have oatmeal in their pantry. Totally believable. I don’t think I’ve ever seen oatmeal not in someone’s home.
4. Oatmeal is a bargain at less than 15 cents a serving. It’s one of the cheapest think you can eat to keep you alive. You just have to get creative with it with toppings and or sweeteners if that’s what you like.
5. Oatmeal is heart and body healthy. Many scientific studies show that eating oatmeal daily as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may help reduce the risk of heart disease.
6. You can put it on your face!
It moisturizes, protects, exfoliates, and cleanses your skin. Oatmeal also improves your complexion and reduces skin inflammation. You can use it in your bath, use it to make a paste for a face mask, or use it as a gentle cleanser. It’s a miracle grain.
7. Oat groats are the healthiest form of oatmeal to eat. Groats are the purest form of oatmeal. They are made from hulled grains, which are then toasted to make them more edible. Groats are considered the healthiest oatmeal because they go through very little processing. Because the grains are still whole and the nutrients stay intact.
8. If the groats are cut into small pieces, they are called steel-cut oats. When groats are steamed and flattened, they are called rolled oats.
9. Vermont is the biggest consumer of oatmeal in the United States. Denmark is tops in world consumption of oats followed by Belarus, Norway, The U.K. and Finland.
10. Though oatmeal is a common breakfast dish today, it has been served for thousands of years. Oats were cultivated in ancient China as far back as 7000 B.C., but the ancient Greeks were the first to eat oatmeal as the porridge-type cereal we know today.
Have you heard any of those fun facts before? Do you have any of your own to add? Is there a particular food items you’re just dying to know more about? I take requests!
~Mavis
Brianna says
I have used normal rolled oats as oatmeal in my meatloaf recipe for years. It makes it gluten-free, but also is an old-fashioned recipe. I always have a moist meatloaf with fiber. My house always has four varieties of oatmeal…steel cut, rolled oats, Scottish oatmeal, and quick cooking oats. I do not buy the sugar laden packets. I have never been one to enjoy a savory bowl of oatmeal and I am not willing to try those recipes, I usually like just blueberries and nothing else. My husband eats a big bowl of oatmeal and he is starving and hour later and I eat a bowl of oatmeal and I am full for hours, I find that interesting.
Aja in Iowa says
We have always used oatmeal as a binder in meatloaf in my family- I just thought we were odd! I have periodically tried other things but always come back to oatmeal.
I buy whole oats and flake my own. Use in breads, my great-grandmother’oat flake cake recipe and oatmeal cookies. And my better half LOVES my oatmeal for breakfast (flaked oats, milk, spices, varied dried fruit and nut combos).
Wendy says
I am like your husband.It doesn’t stick to my ribs like most people and I feel hungry right away too. Strange!
Mrs. M says
My family, also, uses oats in our meatloaf! Delicious!
Also, I’m hungry shortly after eating oats for breakfast. Maybe I need to add berries!
Mona McGinnis says
Oat “milk” can be made as a dairy substitute although I hesitate to call a liquid that doesn’t come from a mammary gland milk.
Susie says
I believe the newflangled term is oat (or almond or coconut or whatever) “beverage.” Which makes much more sense!
Stacey says
I’m fine with calling plant products milk. No one seems to mind coconut milk, and that’s a plant source.
Paula says
Oatmeal is my go to breakfast! I love it! However, I must admit I fancy it up. I add a small square of dark chocolate (it melts and is so yummy), then I top with toasted pecans and toasted coconut. My husband calls it an oatmeal sundae.
I also use oat milk in my coffee. I can’t do dairy.
Stacey says
I oatmeal almost every morning. My daughter even bought me a food flask so I can let oat groats cook overnight. I’m going to try your chocolate version! Thank you for sharing it.
Ramona says
When I make chocolate chip cookies I always make them Oatmeal Chocolate Chip.
I grew up with my Mom using oatmeal in meatloaf, she also added green bell peppers. I don’t really care for meatloaf with breadcrumbs, crackers, or a different filler. I will eat it if it is served that way.
Homemade granola is another use for oatmeal. Years ago I tried a recipe that was in one of the Seattle newspapers called Christmas granola. I’ve been using that recipe for 20 years. I make it year round but will send some off as Christmas gifts also.
Gail Nowakowsky says
Could you share your recipe?
Mary says
Ditto. Would love the recipe!
Nancy says
I googled Christmas Granola Seattle Recipe and it came right up. I printed and will try!
suzanne says
Let’s not forget it’s a fairly common ingredient for beer brewing. I wonder if that fact has anything to do with the “consumption” of ingredient per capita. We don’t eat a lot of pie but we do eat crisps when the fruit starts rolling in.
Diana says
I make a large batch of steel cut oats in the Insta Pot with add ins such as pumpkin, or bananas, and seasoning. Then I freeze it in portions in microwave safe containers. Makes for a really quick breakfast in the morning. I will top it with fun things like blueberries, pomegranates, or cacao nibs.
Linda Samd says
Don’t look in my pantry; there is no oatmeal. 🙂
Kim Reynolds says
Only for cookies!
Richelle says
Not in mine either!
Dianne says
There is no Rolled or other Oats in my pantry either. Maybe I should try it again. I think the key is sweetener and anything else that can mask the taste of the grain.
Sue D says
I have steel cut oats for breakfast almost every weekday. Make a batch Sunday morning and portion it into containers. I’ve always put rolled oats in meatloaf, as did my mother. Occasionally I’ll make granola. My son loves to take a couple of the oatmeal cookies I’ve baked, spreads smooth peanut butter on the bottoms and makes a sandwich of them.
Daria says
I was allergic to everything as a kid, and used oatmeal soap by Aveeno – back then the soap had chunks of oats in it. Now their products are less earthy and a lot smoother.
My husband makes the best oatmeal in the world, he magically manages to keep every oat separate, it’s wonderful.
Dianne says
I put my daughters in Aveno baths when they had chicken pox. I used it myself to soak in for dry skin.
Mary says
I have always made my meatloaf with oatmeal.
Cathy says
My favorite meatloaf recipe uses oatmeal:)
Wendy L says
We make oatmeal as my mother in law taught us. We use half milk and half water with quick oats. It turns out creamy and delicious.
Cathy says
Oats are a very healthy bird food! I foolishly bought 10 pounds of oats at Costco, thinking my husband and I would eat all of it. Umm,,,nope! We maybe ate 1 pound before it started tasting “off.” I did a quick search online to see what to do with 9 pounds of expired oatmeal, and discovered that it’s also good for a bird’s diet. I mixed the oats with my other bird seed, and now I have happy and healthy wild birds outside my window 🙂
Veronica says
Grain weevils love oats, but you can bake or freeze the lot and sift out the dead bodies. Spent waaaaayyy too long learning and dealing with this fact last Fall.
tia in boise says
Help! What kind of oatmeal is in the bowl in the photo???
I have occasionally been served super-thick and “big bumpy” oatmeal at restaurants. I’ve never been able to pinpoint what kind it is. I thought recently that I’d discovered it’s steel-cut oats–nope–that seems to make smaller lumps.
Ideas?
Christina says
I think it’s likely old fashioned oats you’re looking for. They’re bigger and chunkier than quick oats. 🙂
Mavis Butterfield says
Old fashioned oats. 🙂
tia in boise says
I like my oatmeal with a few walnuts, sliced bananas, some brown sugar, and a splash of milk. I’ve also put dried cranberries on when available.
Ca says
I have oats almost everyday. I don’t care for sweets so savory is my choice. I cook a serving and then add cheese, chopped up tomatoes, onions, roasted peppers (actually most any vegetables I have on hand) and top it off with hot sauce/salsa. Oatmeal eaten this way will really keep you going until lunch! Give it a try.
Nanci Fitschen says
I too use oatmeal in meatloaf. Who wants to have to crush crackers and have that mess. I like my oatmeal with cinnamon and brown sugar on it. Yum!!!
Sue says
Love oatmeal in any form but mostly the whole grain kind you cook on the stove top. I buy Bob’s Red Mill. I mix in cut up dates and a little cream on top. Yummm. My other favorite way is to put some dry oats in a container, top with yogurt and then homemade Cranberry sauce.
By the time lunchtime comes around, I have a healthy lunch at work.
Stephanie says
We love oatmeal in our house. A few years ago we switched to only organic oatmeal. Most oats in the US are “chemically dried” in the field – same with a lot of wheat. They are directly sprayed with glyphosate.
Check out the EWGs report at ewg.org. on roundup for breakfast. Results may surprise you if you weren’t already aware.
Linda Practical Parsimony says
I love rolled oats, microwaved because it is easy. I would eat them every day, but I also love butter and sugar in my oats.
I love oats in meatloaf along with bell pepper. It is not meatloaf if it is lacking in those two things.
Rancid oatmeal is harmful for birds! Toss it.
Weevil eggs can some in the oatmeal. Freeze to kill the eggs before they hatch.
When my son had chicken pox, the doctor told me to bathe him colloidal oatmeal. He hated it so much that he would promise not to scratch. If I saw him start to scratch, I would ask him if wanted the colloidal oatmeal bath. This was in 1971 and he was three.
Judy says
I’ve always added oatmeal to my meatloaf, I like the flavor it adds. I loved oatmeal as a kid, still do. Although my family ate it with butter and salt, I think that’s a Ukrainian thing.