Losing weight with the oat diet – is that possible?

Oats are healthy – that is undisputed. Due to the long-chain carbohydrates which are contained and the high amount of dietary fibres, oats really make you feel satiated. And that’s exactly why oats are supposed to help you with losing weight. The so-called oat diet consists of mainly eating oat flakes and other oat products. This should help to overcome hunger, and this also helps with not exceeding the number of calories necessary for weight loss. We will now tell you how this diet works and what you need to take into account when making use of the oat diet.

Oats, the miracle cereal

Even though you might not suspect that oats could be a superfood, the small flakes are a real miracle cereal. There are many foods which are already part of our everyday lives but are in no way inferior to hyped superfoods such as chia, goji berries, acai and much more.

It took a while until oats were slowly recognized as a superfood although their history is a very, very long one. Its potential was already seen in its early days. The doctor Maximilian Bircher-Benner invented the Birchermues, which today is known as the Bircher Muesli. The Bircher Muesli was a diet food made from oat flakes. Apparently, Maximilian Bircher-Benner had already known about the health benefits of cereals. However, it took quite a while before oats became a mainstream food. A healthy breakfast without oats has become almost unimaginable today and the flakes can be found on almost every breakfast shelf.

Why are oats so healthy?

We have already answered this question in great detail in our blog post “Why oats are good for you“, so here is just a brief summary:

Oats & its ingredients

Oats contain a lot of fibre and minerals, such as magnesium, phosphorus and zinc. In particular, the dietary fibre beta-glucan ensures better digestion and it is also said that this fibre can reduce the risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart diseases. Oats also contain many vitamins, including vitamins B1 and B6, and plenty of plant-based iron. The protein content of oats is also relatively high, which is rather atypical for a cereal.

Why are oats suitable for losing weight?

The fact that this grain is healthy, as you can see is rather undisputed – but can oats also help with losing weight? Unfortunately, there is no clear answer to this question, because it all depends on how you approach your diet – if you don’t follow certain basic rules, losing weight can not only be difficult, but you can also suffer from nutrient deficiencies. We will explain in a moment how the oatmeal diet can help you to succeed.

Basically, oats are a great food if you want to lose some weight. This is mainly due to the fact that oat flakes make you feel satiated for a long time owing to the fact that they contain a lot of fibre. This effectively prevents cravings and you avoid reaching into your snack box. In addition, oats contain a relatively high amount of protein, which is known to promote muscle build-up, if in addition to a change in diet, you also do sports to further support weight loss.

Losing weight with oats – this is how it works

The idea of the oatmeal diet is as follows: During the day you should eat about 250 grams of oat flakes. These can be combined as you like- the only important thing is that the total calorie intake of 1000 to 1300 kcal per day is not exceeded.

Basically, we recommend as with every diet, to visit a specialist to talk about it. Even if the oat flake diet is not dangerous in principle, it is important that you first talk to an expert who can inform you about potential risks and accompany you along the way.

Oat diet – What can I eat?

There is no precise diet plan for the oat diet. The oat flakes, ideally whole-grain oat flakes, are the basis of your breakfast and lunch – and as already mentioned they are responsible for constantly keeping your blood sugar level low. This way, food cravings can be prevented, and unhealthy snacks in between can be avoided. For dinner you can either have vegetables with some lean meat or raw vegetables, so that the daily requirement of calories is not exceeded. If you do sports or work physically, you should however pay attention to taking in enough calories.

In order to avoid your nutrition plan from becoming monotonous quickly, it is advisable to try out different recipes and preparation methods. For example, oats can be prepared as warm porridge, overnight oats or soup.

It is also important to drink a lot – preferably water or unsweetened tea. Sugar should be avoided in any case, because this will lead to a rise in the blood sugar level and this would ruin the whole purpose of the oat diet.

How much and how fast can I lose weight with oats?

How quickly and how much weight loss can be achieved depends on many factors, for example the persistence, additional exercise, but also genetics. However, it is roughly assumed that you can lose between one and two and a half kilograms per week if – as already mentioned – the daily calorie requirement is not exceeded.

Let me already say this much: it is not easy. Of course, this type of diet requires a high degree of self-control – but this is the case with every diet.

Oat diet with gluten intolerance – is that possible?

Even people with a gluten sensitivity or even a gluten intolerance do not have to renounce oats, because in many cases the grain is well tolerated. There are special oat flakes or other oat products which are produced without contamination with gluten-containing grains and are therefore called gluten-free because they contain less than the limit value of 20 ppm gluten. This also applies, for example, to our gluten-free porridges & mueslis.

However, each body reacts slightly differently, so we strongly recommend that people who are gluten intolerant or sensitive to gluten consult a doctor before starting an oat diet to determine the exact daily intake of oats.

The risks of the oat diet

Even if it may seem at first glance that the oat diet is rather monotonous, we would not call the oat diet a mono diet. The aim of the oat diet is not to only eat oat flakes, but to combine them with (low-fat) milk or milk substitute products, fruit, vegetables, fish and lean meat. This prevents the risk of a nutrient deficiency.

As already mentioned, an oat diet can quickly get a little bit monotonous, so it is important to get inspiration from time to time and try out new recipes. How about this delicious low-carb breakfast pizza, for example?

Print Recipe

5 from 160 votes

Sweet low carb breakfast-pizza

Sweet low carb breakfast pizza with Verival Strawberry-Chia Porridge, Good Morning Organic Seed Mix and Grain Free Sport Muesli.

Ingredients

Dough:

• 30 g Verival Strawberry-Chia Porridge (optional: oat flakes)
• 30 g Verival Seed Mix (optional: 20g linseeds + 10g chia seeds)
• 30 g coconut oil or butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp psyllium

Topping:

• 200 g greek yoghurt (optional: 100g curd + 100g plain oghurt)
• 200 g berries of your choise
• 30 g Verival Sport Muesli

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 250° bottom heat? and put in your pizzastone? Melt the coconut oil or butter in the oven.
• Put the Strawberry Chia Porridge and seed mix in a bowl and put the melted coconut oil or butter over it. Mix it and let it rest for 2-3 minutes.
• Next add the eggs, mix everything and fold in the psyllium.
• Put baking paper on a pizza shovel and grease it/Grease a baking paper. Put the thin layer of dough on it. Bake the pizza crust for 15 minutes at 230° bottom heat, until the dough is golden brown and crispy.
• Let the dough cool completely. Meanwhile wash the berries and cut them in pieces. When the dough is ready, put the yoghurt, berries and muesli on top.

The oat diet: Our conclusion

Our conclusion on the oat flake diet – as with all other diets – is mixed. This is the case as the success of this diet depends on many different factors and there is always a certain risk involved.  However, one thing is clear: we love oats because of their healthy properties and their versatile use – the oat flakes are one of the most important ingredients for us.

Those who follow the specifications and instructions, are aware of the risks and pay attention to a high diversity in the oat diet have a good chance of achieving success with it.

Dominik Wendl

Content Creator

Ich interessiere mich schon seit Jahren für Sport und Ernährung und setze mich intensiv mit den Themen auseinander. Auf diesem Blog teile ich gerne mein Wissen rund um das Thema gesunde Ernährung und die richtige Ernährung beim Sport.

Lerne unsere Experten kennen