Why Overnight Oats Are The Cool Thing

Sure, oatmeal is hot. Oatmeal will always be hot. Oatmeal is a bonafide superfood breakfast, rich in antioxidants and soluble fibre, filling and warming on a winter morning like a hug for your stomach. But you know what's really cool? Overnight oats.

Overnight oats are essentially oatmeal's chilled out little brother - the oats are soaked in liquid overnight in the fridge instead of having their temperature raised and cooked. So essentially, it's not unlike eating your oats raw... except way more delicious.

Here are 5 reasons why overnight oats are so cool:

1. They're easier to digest
   As oats soak in liquid (milk, water or non-dairy milk), their ability to be digested is greatly improved. As they soak, the starch breaks down which makes it easier for humans (and our one-chamber stomachs) to digest. Essentially, soaking over many hours is like cooking them long and slow unlike what you do when you zap them in the microwave.
2. They taste different to cooked oatmeal
   We're not sure why but letting oats soak overnight changes the taste into a much sweeter, more dessert-like flavour. Waking up to overnight oats is like waking up to cake for breakfast, especially if combined with super sweet fruits, syrups, jams and nut butters.
3. They're easier to prepare
   When you're tight for time in the morning, the last thing you want to do is be messing around in the kitchen cooking up a bowl of oatmeal. But it takes five minutes the night before to pour some oats, liquid and any additions in the a jar then place it in the fridge overnight to let it do its thing.
4. They're better for your heart
   Oats already have a reputation as being heart-healthy - 3g of oat fiber called beta-glucan has been shown to reduce cholesterol levels by 5 to 10 percent. But you’ll need to eat two servings of regular oatmeal daily to enjoy these benefits unlike overnight oats which will have the same effect in one bowl. How? To make traditional overnight oats, you'll need to add a squeeze of lemon juice and lemon juice can boost oatmeal's ability to lower cholesterol by nearly 60 percent!
5. There are so many ways to prepare them
   Peanut butter and jelly oats? Salted caramel mocha oats? Carrot cake oats? Apple pie oats? Pick your favorite dessert and we bet there's a overnight oat recipe for it.