Choosing the Right Oatmeal for a Morning Pick-Me-Up

Is Oatmeal a Good Breakfast?

Oatmeal has been billed as a health food because it’s rich in fiber and can lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, according to Harvard Health Publishing. Some companies take this healthy whole grain and add sugar to enhance flavor or process it in ways that remove fiber and make it cook faster. This is the kind of oatmeal you should avoid if you want to be productive in the morning — the ones that say “quick” or “instant” on the package. For the least processed oats with the most fiber, stick to steel-cut oats or rolled oats, the Mayo Clinic reports.

It might seem like oatmeal is the perfect breakfast food if you want energy for the day. It’s full of carbohydrates, which are an important energy source —MedlinePlus notes that they should make up 45 to 65 percent of your daily calories. A ¼-cup serving of uncooked steel-cut oats contains 150 calories, 30 grams (g) of carbs, including 3 g of dietary fiber; 2 g of fat; and 5 g of protein, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Fiber, the carbohydrate that lowers cholesterol, also lowers blood sugar, and it reduces the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. What’s more, it increases healthy gut bacteria and improves intestinal health.

How Carbs Affect Energy Level

During digestion, your body breaks down carbohydrates into simple sugars that are released into the bloodstream, the American Heart Association reports. Once your blood sugar levels begin to rise, your body releases a hormone called insulin to move sugar to cells, where it’s used as energy. Extra sugar beyond what the body needs right away for energy is converted to glycogen, a storage form of energy, or it’s converted to fat and stored in fat cells, according to the Oklahoma State University Extension.

If you eat a meal lower in fiber, it’s more easily digested and your blood sugar rises quickly. High-fiber foods, like steel-cut oatmeal, are harder to digest and make your blood sugar rise more slowly.

Calculate Oatmeal’s Glycemic Index to Avoid Tiredness

The glycemic index measures how quickly foods with carbs will increase your blood sugar levels, the Cleveland Clinic reports. It’s the most popular method used for determining how a certain food affects blood sugar. The higher the glycemic index value, the bigger the spike in blood sugar, followed by a rapid fall, which can make you feel tired, according to the University of Utah Health.

The glycemic index is measured on a scale of 0 to 100. A range of 1 to 55 is considered low; 56 to 69 is considered medium; and foods above 70 are considered high. Some instant oatmeal has been found to have a high glycemic index of 79, while steel-cut oats have a low glycemic index of 55.

After you eat a high-glycemic-index food, your body produces enough insulin to bring the blood sugar levels down, which can cause a “crash,” according to the California Center for Functional Medicine in Oakland. Such fluctuations in blood sugar are known to make you feel tired and low energy. This is why you might feel sleepy after eating oatmeal with added sugars or oatmeal that has been processed to remove fiber.

Pick the Right Oatmeal

To avoid the spike in blood sugar that can make you tired, you have to carefully select your oatmeal. Some brands of instant oatmeal add sugars and remove fiber, which gives them a much higher glycemic index rating. Try to avoid oats that have sugar added.

Taking it a step further, the size of the oats can affect the impact on blood sugar. Research has shown that coarsely ground and whole oats raised blood sugar levels less than oats that were more finely ground.

If you often feel sleepy after eating oatmeal, opt for larger, sturdier oats like steel-cut or rolled oats to lower the blood sugar spike of your morning oatmeal. You can add your own flavoring, like cinnamon or a bit of flavorful brown sugar. Small amounts of fruit, like blueberries or chopped apples, add flavor without significantly boosting the carb count of the meal.

Other Causes of Fatigue

If you're feeling unusually tired in the morning, or if it becomes a consistent problem, you should see a doctor. While it helps to avoid sleep-inducing foods, many of the medical conditions that can cause fatigue — a common symptom of too many illnesses to list — require medical treatment. Medical reasons for fatigue range from extremely mild to life-threatening, which is why it’s important to determine the cause of chronic sleepiness.

Insulin resistance, which happens when your cells don’t respond to insulin properly, can cause your blood sugar to spike when you eat carbohydrates like oatmeal, the Cleveland Clinic reports. Your doctor can give you a glucose test to see if you’re developing insulin resistance, which can be a sign of type 2 diabetes, among other conditions.