oat milk

DaveGrohl

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Cumbria

The Sugar
Oatly’s main ingredient is their oat base, which they make through a process of breaking down raw oats into their loose fibers to mix them with water and create a watery oat-based liquid that “contains macronutrients from the oats, in other words, protein, fat, and carbohydrates.” (source).

The problem with this process is that it creates quite a bit of a sugar called maltose, which is why Oatly packaging shows 7g added sugar per serving. Of all the different kinds of sugars you can eat, maltose has the highest glycemic index, with a rating of 105 out of 100. For comparison, table sugar has a rating of 65, and the high-fructose corn syrup you get in a Coca-Cola has a GI around 65-75. There’s less of it, but the sugar in Oatly has a higher gram-for-gram impact on your blood sugar than the HFCS in Coca-Cola.

Putting 12oz of Oatly into your latte and adjusting for the higher GI of maltose means adding almost a tablespoon of table sugar to your drink. Put a tablespoon of sugar next to your coffee next time you have a chance and seriously consider if that’s a decision that’s “made for humans.”
So basically it is the starch you're talking about. Humans break starch down into maltose, maltotriose and a dextrins, and also a small amount of glucose, according to fao.org. I remember being taught at school that starch was broken down to maltose hence my question.

So Oatly have basically cut out the human from this process? Do we know if this is in fact any worse than eating the same amount of starch?
 

holwellcourtfarm

Member
Livestock Farmer
So basically it is the starch you're talking about. Humans break starch down into maltose, maltotriose and a dextrins, and also a small amount of glucose, according to fao.org. I remember being taught at school that starch was broken down to maltose hence my question.

So Oatly have basically cut out the human from this process? Do we know if this is in fact any worse than eating the same amount of starch?
The point is that it's already in that form so sends your blood sugar rocketing whereas digesting whole oats, even if rolled, is a slow release process leading to much lower blood sugar peaks.

High blood sugar peaks leads, I believe, to more inflammation damage and a greater risk of type 2 diabetes.

That's how breakfast oats can be a healthy option but processed oat "milk" could be a very unhealthy one.
 

DaveGrohl

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Cumbria
I'm not having a go at you btw Clive I'm just bewildered at how Westerners are being encouraged to eat more and more starch by the money-making machine when most of us eat far too much starch and sugar in the first place. And then they dress it up as being healthy and good for the environment when the exact opposite is true.

I really do feel sorry for people being told to eat less fat and they'll be more healthy as a result. I watched the latest Michael Mosley series this week, 21 day challenge. It wasn't great tbh. He seemed loath to call starch starch, instead calling it sugar. There was a lad who was pre-diabetic and looked puzzled when Mosley told him the pizza he was eating was full of sugar. I was as puzzled as him, pizza didn't look like it was made of anything sugary at all. Mosley explained that the pizza was broken down into sugar "so it's sugar" quoth Mosley. No Michael, it's starch. THEN it's the perfect opportunity to explain to the viewers about starch, because a lot of them have no idea.

You can imagine other people who aren't particularly well-informed being confused by things like this. And for those who think vegans are all emaciated, there was a vegan lass who was seriously obese. She was eating all sorts of processed vegan crap as long as it had vegan on the packet. I feel for these people who are being led into ill-health by the unscrupulous fekkers producing and advertising this garbage. (I'm not particularly talking about Oatly btw in that, but they're a prime example).
 
Last edited:

DaveGrohl

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Cumbria
The point is that it's already in that form so sends your blood sugar rocketing whereas digesting whole oats, even if rolled, is a slow release process leading to much lower blood sugar peaks.

High blood sugar peaks leads, I believe, to more inflammation damage and a greater risk of type 2 diabetes.

That's how breakfast oats can be a healthy option but processed oat "milk" could be a very unhealthy one.
I get that, and why that could be a serious issue for diabetics, but is it any worse for non-diabetics? A higher faster peak will give a corresponding higher faster insulin response but is that more dangerous than a prolonged response when it comes to inflammation? I'm talking about the same amount of sugar/starch btw. Obv type 1 and 2 are different things. I'm under the impression that insulin resistance (and therefore type 2) builds up due to the sheer amount of glucose in the diet and thus blood over time and the insulin response needed to "deal" with it. And that GI is important for diabetics but not for non-diabetics?
 

holwellcourtfarm

Member
Livestock Farmer
I get that, and why that could be a serious issue for diabetics, but is it any worse for non-diabetics? A higher faster peak will give a corresponding higher faster insulin response but is that more dangerous than a prolonged response when it comes to inflammation? I'm talking about the same amount of sugar/starch btw. Obv type 1 and 2 are different things. I'm under the impression that insulin resistance (and therefore type 2) builds up due to the sheer amount of glucose in the diet and thus blood over time and the insulin response needed to "deal" with it. And that GI is important for diabetics but not for non-diabetics?
Straight answer: I'm not sure.

It's interesting that Tim Specter in his book "Spoon Fed" talks about his blood sugar response being double that of his wife to the same jam on toast breakfast. He categorises his response as dangerously high and hers as not.
 

DaveGrohl

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Cumbria
Straight answer: I'm not sure.

It's interesting that Tim Specter in his book "Spoon Fed" talks about his blood sugar response being double that of his wife to the same jam on toast breakfast. He categorises his response as dangerously high and hers as not.
I don't think there's any doubt that there's a genetic factor to all this, inc various aspects of diet, as illustrated by Tim Specter.
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
Doesnt really matter if its good for you or not really, if people want to buy it and pay a decent ammount for what is essentially oat flavoured water then im happy to take their money!

agree 100% business is business. Just not something I would have in my own diet
 

crazy_bull

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Huntingdon
I can’t see Oatly have a leg to stand on!
The blue is a different colour, the design is different as is the font.
In fact, I can’t really see any similarities?




 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 78 43.3%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 62 34.4%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.7%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.7%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.7%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 4 2.2%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,286
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
Top