Post Time: 2025-07-29

EP64: Overnight Oats & My Blood Sugar! | Breakfast Series

The quest for a healthy and convenient breakfast option is a common one, and overnight oats have emerged as a popular choice. But, like any food, their impact on our bodies – specifically, our blood sugar levels – is crucial. This episode of our Breakfast Series delves into the details, examining how overnight oats affect blood sugar and offering tips for optimizing your recipe for better glycemic control. We’re going to break down not just if overnight oats are good, but how to make them a truly healthy part of your diet.

What Are Overnight Oats, Anyway?

Before we dive into the blood sugar discussion, let's recap what overnight oats actually are. Unlike traditional oatmeal cooked on the stovetop or in the microwave, overnight oats are prepared by soaking rolled oats in liquid overnight, typically milk or a dairy alternative. This process allows the oats to soften and absorb the liquid, creating a creamy and ready-to-eat breakfast that requires no cooking. It's incredibly convenient for those busy mornings and allows for a wealth of customization with various toppings, flavors and additions.

This no-cook method offers a lot of practical advantages:

• Time-Saving: Prep them the night before, grab-and-go in the morning.
• Customizable: You control the ingredients and additions.
• Versatile: Works with almost any dietary need or preference.

But how does this seemingly innocent breakfast choice affect our blood sugar levels? Let's break that down further.

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The Impact of Overnight Oats on Blood Sugar: Glycemic Load vs. Glycemic Index

Understanding how food impacts our blood sugar involves navigating concepts like glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL). The GI measures how quickly a carbohydrate-containing food raises blood glucose levels, while GL considers both the GI and the quantity of carbohydrates in a typical serving.

• Glycemic Index (GI): This is a ranking from 0 to 100 of how quickly foods raise blood sugar. High-GI foods (70 or more) cause rapid spikes, while low-GI foods (55 or less) lead to slower, more gradual changes in blood sugar.
• Glycemic Load (GL): This is a more practical measure as it also accounts for serving size. It's calculated by multiplying the food's GI by the grams of carbohydrates in the serving, then dividing by 100. GL less than 10 is considered low, 10-20 is medium and over 20 is high.

While oats have a relatively moderate GI, their overall effect on blood sugar—the GL—can vary widely depending on how they're prepared and what you add. Unprocessed rolled oats themselves aren't terribly high on the GI scale. However, the additional sugars, toppings and amount of liquid used will directly impact that.

Analyzing Oats Specifically:

Type of Oats	Glycemic Index (GI -approx)	Considerations
Steel-Cut Oats	42	Lowest GI among oat types due to their less processed nature. Take longer to digest.
Rolled Oats	55	Moderate GI; common for overnight oats; absorbs liquid well.
Instant Oats	79	Highest GI due to processing which breaks down the starch and results in quicker glucose absorption

Why does processing matter? The more processed an oat is, the faster the body breaks down the carbohydrates into sugar. This causes blood sugar to spike faster.

How Overnight Oats Change Things:

The soaking process affects how our bodies digest the oats. Soaking softens the oats and makes them easier to digest; while beneficial, this can mean some are absorbed and processed quicker than a less processed food like steel cut oats. But the benefits of soaking also improve digestibility and allow for the absorption of nutrients, which is great!

Key Takeaway: It’s not just about the oats themselves, but the overall glycemic load of your overnight oats creation. Let's now explore ways to prepare overnight oats to help stabilize your blood sugar.

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Optimizing Your Overnight Oats for Balanced Blood Sugar

Now that we understand the nuances of GI and GL, let's get into the practicalities of making blood sugar-friendly overnight oats. Here are several strategies you can use:

1. Choose the Right Type of Oats:

As you can see from the table above, choosing less processed oats, like steel cut, is a great option if you want to lower the GI of your meal. However, for ease, rolled oats are still a great option. Try to avoid using instant oats because they break down the fastest, leading to quicker glucose absorption into the blood stream.

2. Add Fiber and Healthy Fats:

• Fiber slows down carbohydrate digestion, reducing glucose spikes.
  • Good options include: chia seeds, flax seeds, berries, and chopped nuts or seeds.
    • Healthy Fats further promote satiety and a more gradual release of sugars into the bloodstream
  • Good options include: nut butters, avocado, a sprinkle of hemp or pumpkin seeds.

3. Manage Your Added Sugars:

• Limit Sweeteners Avoid adding table sugar, honey, maple syrup or agave if possible. The sugar spikes glucose and will counteract many of the good properties of the oats.
• Opt for Natural Sweeteners in Small Amounts: Use small amounts of stevia, erythritol or monkfruit. Or better yet, add a few drops of flavored, no sugar sweetener drops to add a touch of sweetness without added sugars.
• Prioritize Fruits: Instead of added sugar, use fruits like berries, bananas or a chopped apple. Fruit also has fiber, so the sugar it contains will break down more slowly and therefore have less of an impact on your blood sugar level.

4. Protein Is Your Friend:

• Add a Source of Protein: Protein helps increase satiety and decreases the overall GI of a meal. Consider adding protein powder or collagen powder to your mixture, or choose a high protein dairy alternative.
  • Examples: Dairy products (Greek yogurt, cottage cheese or skyr); dairy alternatives (soy or pea milk/yogurt); protein powder; nuts, seeds or nut butter.

Example Recipe: Balanced Blood Sugar Overnight Oats

Let's make this practical with a concrete example:

• Ingredients:

  • ½ cup rolled oats
  • 1 cup unsweetened almond milk or other milk alternative
  • 1 tbsp chia seeds or flax seeds
  • 1 tbsp almond butter
  • ¼ cup mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries)
  • A dash of cinnamon for flavor
  • Optional: 1 scoop of plant-based protein powder

• Instructions:

  1. Combine all ingredients in a jar or container.
  2. Stir well to ensure all oats are submerged in the milk.
  3. Refrigerate overnight.
  4. In the morning, stir and enjoy cold.

This recipe provides a balance of fiber, healthy fats, protein, and limited added sugar, making it a great choice for maintaining stable blood sugar.

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Monitoring Your Individual Response

While these guidelines are great, it’s important to recognize that individual responses to foods can vary. What works well for one person might not work perfectly for another. Here's a breakdown of how you can get an individual, real-time understanding of how different additions to your overnight oats affects your blood sugar.

• Blood Glucose Monitoring: Using a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) can provide real-time data on how different overnight oats recipes impact your blood sugar levels. You can then make informed adjustments to find your perfect mix. While a CGM is a more expensive option, it can provide more in-depth information that allows you to better manage your health. However, traditional glucose meters are just as good and provide crucial data to track your health journey.
• Food Journaling: Keeping a detailed food diary can also help track how different meals affect your energy levels and overall well-being. Pay close attention to how you feel about two hours after eating, especially after consuming different types of overnight oats, or overnight oats with different additions. Track how you feel and correlate that information to what you ate. If you feel overly tired, and have a hard time concentrating after a meal, there is a chance your glucose may be too high and your mixture needs to be modified to be less sugar forward.

The Bottom Line

Overnight oats can absolutely be a healthy and blood sugar-friendly breakfast option. However, it’s not just the base ingredient that matters. By focusing on low GI oat varieties, adding fiber, healthy fats, lean protein and being mindful of added sugar, you can make a delicious breakfast that also supports stable glucose levels. Remember to experiment, monitor how you respond, and personalize your approach. Enjoy the journey to finding your ideal, delicious and healthful overnight oats recipe!

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