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The Medicinal Breakfast of Centenarians
The Medicinal Breakfast of Centenarians

Sometimes, in our bid to seek out the new and exotic, we end-up devaluing and discounting what grows readily on our own doorstep. It’s a shame, because in the process we often lose something really quite substantial. Not only do we disconnect from successful forms of sustenance, but we also lose sight of their medicinal qualities as well.

Avena sativa is one such richly-endowed food that rarely gets the respect and recognition that it deserves. Of those centenarians (folks that live to be 100 or more) interviewed about their diet, the humble seeds of this plant came up as one of the single most widely consumed foods. But do not be fooled by its common household name – oats or oatmeal – a porridge made from the seeds of Avena sativa secretly packs a number of life-enhancing virtues. Part of the reasons for this lies in the time-honoured craft of porridge making itself. You see, the creation of a creamy porridge operates in many respects as a herbal tea infusion, where herbal properties (in this case – the oat seed) are infused into the water or milk, increasing both medicinal and caloric bioavailability. So whether you make porridge a regular brekky, or an occasional evening comforter or just a day-time snack, here’s 6 reasons that highlight why organic porridge is well and truly champion tucker:

1. Oats are classic stress-reducers. A milky concoction made from oats – think Porridge is a classic nervine tonic. Porridge feeds and strengthens the nervous system, reduces nervousness, alongside the anxiety caused by nervousness, therefore conserving the body’s precious energy for more useful things.

2. Pre-soaked “quick cook” oats simmered carefully with raw milk or nut/seed milk to make a creamy porridge  (and sweetened afterwards as desired) , constitutes an excellent energy-rich fuel that can keep blood sugar stable and energy levels high. Excellent consumed 60-90 minutes before a workout or strenuous mental activity.

3. Oat Porridge is an excellent, well-tolerated nutritive tonic relatively rich in critical fortifying elements of Silica, Calcium and Magnesium. Considering that oats are a staple food that we typically take by cup size and not teaspoon doses, those minerals become all the more significant.

4. A porridge made from “quick cook” oatmeal is an assimilable bulking food for those looking to gain weight and increase body mass. This is especially true when made with a good milk, rather than with just water. For a tropical variant, that might be a tad lighter, and contains bonus electrolytes, be like a modern fusion restaurant and try a tropical porridge. Simply make a milk from the meat/jelly and water of a young green coconut.

5. Oats are known to improve mental, emotional and physical exhaustion. They help calm an overactive mind (which is itself super exhausting), boost mood and vital energy and help treat lethargy and muscle feebleness caused by loss of nerve power. They are the perfect convalescing food.

6. Taken in the evening as a porridge, oats, because of their nervine and brain pacifying properties, combined with the mild sedative qualities of carbohydrates in general, have long been praised for combating insomnia.


Kyle Author