Granola is a food made from cereals, which serves to provide energy and fibers to our body, so it benefits physical activity and proper digestion. It is widely used in healthy lifestyles to combat excess weight.
This food originates from the United States and has been very popular to be consumed during breakfast with nuts or pieces, its sweetness is often due to honey.
Index
What is Granola and what is it for?
Granola is a food that is traditionally consumed as breakfast and as a healthy snack, since it is made up of oats, nuts, a mixture of sesame or sesame cereals, sweetened with honey, in some cases it has pieces of dried fruit such as raisins, pineapples and for those with a sweet tooth, it sometimes has chocolate.
Currently it exists in many brands and varied presentations, it comes in the form of bars used as an energy supply that is very practical for use and transfer, which makes it very popular consumption.
What are the benefits of eating Granola?
With regard to granola there are many favorable aspects to mention, one of its greatest advantages or properties is linked to the ability it has to provide us with fiber, since it contains it in large quantities.
Benefits of granola for digestion
The fiber content of granola highly favors the process of our digestion, in the same way it helps the elimination of toxins.
It has fibers, these are very favorable to prevent constipation, it helps us to naturally eliminate toxins accumulated in our body. This amount of fiber can help reduce the risk of colon cancer.
Benefit of granola for hypertensive
Granola helps regulate the cholesterol levels present in our body, reducing the risks of suffering from heart disease, circulatory problems and stroke. Additionally, Granola benefits us to control blood pressure.
Granola helps prevent overweight
Due to its characteristics, granola helps satisfy hunger and anxiety, which is an advantage when we start processes or regimes to control our weight.
Benefits of granola for athletes
If you are an athlete or you are about to start your training in the gym or in any other sports discipline, we indicate the benefits you get by consuming this food:
- Consuming granola before exercising gives us a combination of carbohydrates and proteins that will give us energy.
- Our performance will be higher.
- The recovery process of our body will be faster and less painful.
- Its protein intake helps repair muscle tissue.
- Its carbohydrates will help our muscles by providing them with glycogen.
Granola properties
This food contributes with the contribution of favorable fats to our organism, gives us energy and improves brain functions. Its iron content is very useful to prevent and control anemia. In addition to this and the multiple benefits mentioned above, the properties of granola are:
Metabolic properties of granola
Granola has a large amount of minerals, nutrients, vitamins, amino acids that our body requires for its operation, among the elements it provides we can mention magnesium, zinc, phosphorus and selenium, all of them are part of metabolic processes that our body performs for proper health.
These minerals regulate and promote balance in different processes necessary for tissue formation, as well as cell development and metabolism.
Immunological properties of granola
In this sense, it helps to strengthen our immune system and the correct state of health of the heart and circulatory system.
Antioxidant properties of granola
By having a good digestion its effect will also be noticed on our skin. In addition to the presence of the minerals that it provides, its rich mixture of ingredients favors our body in the production of antioxidants, helps our cells against the aging process.
How can we consume the Granola?
Here are some ideas:
Consume Granola with milk
Granola is used as part of delicious breakfasts, in which it can be consumed mixed with milk, this helps us to start our day with a very favorable energy supply, in addition to providing us with fibers, vitamins and proteins.
Its health benefits will be countless, it provides its carbohydrates and fats in a healthy way for the body, thus filling us with life and energy that we need to start our days with vitality and good spirits.
Benefits of yogurt with granola during breakfast
It is also often mixed with yogurt as it is ideal to combine its textures and flavors.
The yogurt will give us a contribution of calcium, which favors our bones and our teeth, with a cup of yogurt we obtain half of the daily requirement of this mineral, if in addition the Granola is fortified we will have additional contributions of this element.
- All the properties of granola together with the proteins that yogurt gives us, help in an important way for the repair processes of muscle tissues.
- Another additional benefit of this mixture is that it will help us to stay satiated for longer, thus helping us to avoid hunger and to consume food between meals.
- Granola favors digestion, in addition the bacteria present in yogurt are very favorable to our health, its probiotic effect provides benefits to our immune system, we will also have extra benefits thanks to this super combination as constipation will be alleviated.
- The consumption of Granola improves the processes and insomnia, its consumption with yogurt a few hours before going to bed will help us to have a well-deserved rest.
- When we consume granola for dinner it can help us wake up with more energy, which is always flattering, especially if you want to start your exercise routines.
Disadvantages of Excessive Granola Consumption
Some of the recommendations suggest that we do not ingest it in doses greater than 50 grams per day. As we already mentioned, if we consume it in high amounts or at inappropriate times, it can make us fat.
On the other hand, if it is consumed without accompanying it with water, it can slow down the evacuation process.
How to eat granola to lose weight?
The amount of nutrients that granola provides and its fiber content helps in weight loss processes, since consuming small portions helps us to keep our appetite sensation controlled, influences that we consume fewer calories, which is favorable in our diet .
The information on the properties of granola on our weight is very contrary, because in other cases we hear that its consumption is fattening.
Its effect on our weight will depend on some factors, which you can consult more extensively with your nutritionist and with your advisor for exercise routines.
One of these factors is the composition or ingredients that make it up, to thin the germ, wheat and dried fruits are very favorable.
Granola, due to its effect on satiating hunger, can help us avoid consuming sweets or flours that are not favorable for us in the weight loss process. It is certainly a healthy snack.
Does the Granola at night make you fat?
To take full advantage of its extensive benefits, it is not recommended to consume granola in the final hours of the night, because it can make us gain weight, because it is necessary to burn the energy that it will provide us.
It should also be considered if it is naturally sweetened using honey, or if its ingredients are sweetened with less beneficial ways for our body, which will also provide us with some extra calories.
By controlling the portions of this food that we are going to eat, we channel the effect on our weight, since if its consumption is high, the proteins it provides can be transformed into fat, which is why the most advisable thing to lose weight is its morning consumption.
When buying our Granola it is important that we verify the additives it may contain, this will favor the intention of reducing weight.
Checking if its composition is coconut and olive oil, we guarantee that the incorporated fats are those that are favorable to our body.
How can we prepare a rich granola for breakfast?
Granola is prepared by basically mixing different cereals, seeds and nuts. By sweetening it with honey, we also provide it with the properties it has in controlling bacteria and viruses.
To prepare a delicious granola for our breakfast and snacks, we will mix oats, almonds, walnuts, honey, flaxseed, sesame, coconut or olive oil, raisins or the dried fruits of your choice.
The amounts will vary according to your taste, although they are normally used in similar proportions, except for the oats that are usually incorporated in an amount up to four times greater than the other ingredients.
For the preparation of the granola, we will place the dry ingredients in a container, we will stir them, and we will heat the honey and oil a little, it can even be in the microwave for about 20 seconds depending on the intensity or power of the same.
We will add this mixture on top of our dry ingredients, we will mix and unite them.
This preparation will take to the oven, it will be placed on a suitable container around 20 minutes, we can stir it after approximately 10 minutes. When removing it from the oven, we will add the nuts and sesame seeds. When it is cold we will pack it and have it ready to eat for our breakfasts, mixed with milk or yogurt.
conclusion
In summary, granola is a very healthy food, its influence on our weight will depend on the amounts ingested, the way it is prepared and the hours chosen for its consumption.
If you are about to start a special diet or just want to improve your health by incorporating healthy habits, it is the ideal time to try Granola and take advantage of its wonderful benefits. It is always good to accompany a healthy diet with frequent exercise and plenty of water.
Dr. Samantha Robson ( CRN: 0510146-5) is a nutritionist and website content reviewer related to her area of expertise. With a postgraduate degree in Nutrition from The University of Arizona, she is a specialist in Sports Nutrition from Oxford University and is also a member of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.