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Healthy Home Economist / Archives / Whole Grains and Cereals / Why No Granola is Good Granola

Why No Granola is Good Granola

by Sarah Pope / Affiliate Links ✔

Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
  • Why Granola is SO Difficult to Digest 
  • Healthy Alternatives to Granola

granolaSeveral readers have emailed me recently inquiring about how to best go about making homemade granola.

One person carefully soaked oats for 24 hours in water with an acidic medium and then dehydrated before mixing with the other ingredients and toasting in the oven.

Another used sprouted, organic rolled oats and baked in a 200F oven with various other ingredients to make her favorite version of homemade granola.

While both of these approaches to making granola are certainly a huge improvement over any of the granolas to be had at the store, the fact is that even organic granola made with rolled oats that have been sprouted or soaked is not an easily digestible food.

The proteins in grains are extremely difficult to digest. They have the potential to cause health problems over the long term, which is why traditional societies took such great pains to soak, sprout, or sour leaven them before consuming.

Not only did traditional peoples soak, sprout, or sour leaven their grains, they also thoroughly cooked them as the final preparation step before eating.

Why Granola is SO Difficult to Digest 

The dry heat of an oven at the proper toasting temperature is simply not hot enough to complete the breakdown of anti-nutrients in oats or other grains. Thus, even homemade granola is extremely difficult to digest. Eaten often, it can damage the gut over time.

Perhaps if a person has an iron gut, then homemade granola that is soaked or sprouted might work on occasion. The reality is that most people have sensitive guts anymore due to several generations of children raised on antibiotics and processed foods. Most people have some sort of digestive sensitivity to grains even if there are no grain allergy symptoms present.

I know for me, I bloat terribly if I eat homemade granola that has been soaked or sprouted and then toasted. I have no grain allergies and my digestion is in pretty decent shape. Interestingly, thoroughly cooked unsoaked oatmeal digests far better. The lesson at least to me is that the final cooking step is very important!

I have only made granola for my family once or twice. However, I stopped after observing the undigestibility of consuming this non-traditional food even when seemingly prepared in a traditional fashion.

Do your digestion a favor and opt out of any grain based granola entirely. Even homemade, organic, and soaked and/or sprouted versions aren’t good for your long term gut health.

Healthy Alternatives to Granola

Don’t hesitate to use soaked or sprouted grains that are fully cooked for all your other dishes and baked goods!  This article plus video tutorial for a healthy cold breakfast cereal recipe is a very digestible alternative to granola.

Another alternative is to make grain free Paleo granola using the linked recipe.

Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist

 

Sources and More Information

Nourishing Traditions, p. 454

Soaked Oatmeal Benefits Without the Soaking?

How to Properly Cook Oatmeal

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Category: Whole Grains and Cereals
Sarah Pope

Sarah Pope MGA has been a Health and Nutrition Educator since 2002. She is a summa cum laude graduate in Economics from Furman University and holds a Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

She is the author of three books: Amazon #1 bestseller Get Your Fats Straight, Traditional Remedies for Modern Families, and Living Green in an Artificial World.

Her four eBooks Good Diet…Bad Diet, Real Food Fermentation, Ketonomics, and Ancestrally Inspired Dairy-Free Recipes are available for complimentary download via Healthy Home Plus.

Her mission is dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. She is a sought after lecturer around the world for conferences, summits, and podcasts.

Sarah was awarded Activist of the Year in 2010 at the International Wise Traditions Conference, subsequently serving on the Board of Directors of the nutrition nonprofit the Weston A. Price Foundation for seven years.

Her work has been covered by numerous independent and major media including USA Today, ABC, and NBC among many others.

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Reader Interactions

Comments (180)

  1. Fran Shipp via Facebook

    Jan 29, 2012 at 1:34 pm

    It is syncronicity a little too late that I had Cheerios several days this week, including this morning. I thought it a better alternative to the eggs with cheese and turkey bacon and toast I sometimes have.

    Reply
    • Jen

      Jan 30, 2012 at 6:44 pm

      The eggs, cheese, and turkey bacon is a WAY better choice than Cheerios!

  2. Fran Shipp via Facebook

    Jan 29, 2012 at 1:34 pm

    It is syncronicity a little too late that I had Cheerios several days this week, including this morning. I thought it a better alternative to the eggs with cheese and turkey bacon and toast I sometimes have.

    Reply
  3. [email protected]

    Jan 29, 2012 at 1:28 pm

    I have found that every granola recipe, even if using natural sweeteners like Sucanat or honey, is just too sweet tasting for me! I have not made it in many years. Just way too sweet.

    Nickole

    Reply
  4. Elizabeth Mason Moses via Facebook

    Jan 29, 2012 at 1:27 pm

    Oats are pretty intense in the anti-nutrient department, I don’t eat them any way, but I do eat a tablespoon or so of Go Raw granola a day (mixed with sprouted sunflower seed butter, raisins and dried coconut). It is grain-free but uses buckwheat groats (sprouted and dehydrated). I know there are some anti-nutrients in buckwheat, but I don’t know how much nor how well sprouting lowers them. Anyone have a resource for that?

    Reply
  5. Kristine Winniford via Facebook

    Jan 29, 2012 at 1:20 pm

    We love granola and I recently tried making some after first soaking and dehydrating the grains. I have to say, its not that good. The grains are really are hard to chew and the texture has definitely changed. I probably won’t make it again.

    Reply
  6. Kristine Winniford via Facebook

    Jan 29, 2012 at 1:20 pm

    We love granola and I recently tried making some after first soaking and dehydrating the grains. I have to say, its not that good. The grains are really are hard to chew and the texture has definitely changed. I probably won’t make it again.

    Reply
  7. Jessica Bennett Espinoza via Facebook

    Jan 29, 2012 at 1:12 pm

    I still make homemade granola for my hubby. He is not on the same page with me nutritionally, but he willing to settle for homemade granola over store bought cereals, so I take that compromise. I’ve learned to pick my battles.

    While homemade granola might not be perfect nutritionally, it’s better than the junk cereals at the store. He also has no digestive problems from eating it. At least when I make it at home, I control the ingredients. I think we all need to take baby steps and if making homemade granola is a way to wean family members off of cereals, then I say go for it.

    Reply
  8. Jessica Bennett Espinoza via Facebook

    Jan 29, 2012 at 1:12 pm

    I still make homemade granola for my hubby. He is not on the same page with me nutritionally, but he willing to settle for homemade granola over store bought cereals, so I take that compromise. I’ve learned to pick my battles.

    While homemade granola might not be perfect nutritionally, it’s better than the junk cereals at the store. He also has no digestive problems from eating it. At least when I make it at home, I control the ingredients. I think we all need to take baby steps and if making homemade granola is a way to wean family members off of cereals, then I say go for it.

    Reply
  9. Heather Connor via Facebook

    Jan 29, 2012 at 1:10 pm

    I prefer oatmeal too, just once in a while. The only grains I really purchase anymore are rice and quinoa, as I find that when I eat wheat.. I not only feel bloated by also dizzy, achy muscles and blurred vision. Probably signs that it’s not good for me.

    Reply
  10. Heather Connor via Facebook

    Jan 29, 2012 at 1:10 pm

    I prefer oatmeal too, just once in a while. The only grains I really purchase anymore are rice and quinoa, as I find that when I eat wheat.. I not only feel bloated by also dizzy, achy muscles and blurred vision. Probably signs that it’s not good for me.

    Reply
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Since 2002, Sarah has been a Health and Nutrition Educator dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. Read More

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