Eat oats to prevent diabetes

This 2020 rodent study investigated Type 2 diabetics eating oats along with a bad diet:

“Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a metabolic disease which is characterized by a state of chronic low-grade inflammation with abnormal expression and production of multiple inflammatory mediators. Insulin resistance (IR), a condition where higher-than-normal concentration of insulin is needed to maintain a normal glycemia and adequate glucose utilization in insulin target tissues, has been clinically recognized as the best indicator for diagnosis of T2D.

Increased proportion of whole grain foods in daily diet are associated with reduced prevalence of IR, which is mainly attributed to abundant non-digestible carbohydrates.”

Oat species was Avena nuda, analyzed as:

Left to right, diet compositions for basic chow diet, high-fat diet (HFD), and 49% HFD with 51% whole oat flour:

“An inflammation state characterized by high plasma TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β level was induced by HFD in T2D rats. Whole oats had anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting production of proinflammatory cytokines. Our data supports a positive relationship between increased adipose proinflammatory cytokines and increased insulin resistance.

A drop in water and food intake indicated an improvement in typical clinical symptoms of T2D. Results of this study provide information about differences between individual oat products in improving T2D-related symptoms, and the role of gut microbiota.”

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1756464620301638 “Effects of oat β-glucan, oat resistant starch, and the whole oat flour on insulin resistance, inflammation, and gut microbiota in high-fat-diet-induced type 2 diabetic rats”

This study’s design wasn’t influenced by It’s the fiber, not the fat evidence. A more thorough analysis of each diet’s fiber contents may have better explained this study’s results.

100% insoluble fiber (cellulose) in “It’s the fiber” didn’t help subjects’ health. Removing 2-5% soluble fiber from subjects’ diets in that study had negative effects.

Although β-glucan isn’t the sole soluble fiber in Avena nuda oats, let’s use this study’s 51% whole-oat flour diet β-glucan of 2.62% as a proxy for soluble fiber:

Basic chow diet removed 1.73% (2.62 – 0.89) soluble fiber, and HFD removed 2.29% (2.62 – 0.33) soluble fiber.
Using its oat analysis, 51% whole-oat flour diet insoluble fiber due to oats was 4.31% ((13.53 – 5.08) * .51). The diet’s unanalyzed insoluble fiber of 3.31% (7.62 – 4.31) was roughly equivalent to HFD unanalyzed insoluble fiber of 3.44% (3.77 – 0.33).
Because composition of insoluble fiber matters to this study’s measurements – especially to gut microbiota – I won’t calculate estimates to compare basic chow diet’s unanalyzed insoluble fiber with the other diets’ unanalyzed insoluble fiber.

These researchers could have analyzed all this for soluble and insoluble fiber. They could have isolated resistant starch effects since its content was equivalent to β-glucan in the 51% whole-oat flour diet.

I’ve replaced Avena sativa steel-cut oats for breakfast with the Avena nuda cultivar used in Sprouting hulless oats. They’re chewier when prepared the same way – 1/2 cup soaked overnight in 2 cups water, then microwaved 20 minutes in a 1000W microwave at 80% power.

This Avena nuda cultivar is healthier because of oat bran’s contributions. Per Oat species comparisons of the good stuff, up to 25% of Avena sativa oat seeds are removed by dehulling before the steel-cut process.

I prefer 3-day-old oat sprouts of the hulled Avena sativa cultivar used in Sprouting hulled oats because of their 97% germination rate and taste. The Avena nuda cultivar didn’t sprout as well or taste as good.