PORRIDGE has been targeted as part of the Government’s plans to restrict sales of unhealthy products – but experts say it is not junk food, it is actually a super food.
Scots have been eating the brekkie staple as part of their diet for more than 5,500 years.
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Scientists discovered porridge pots were used in Neolithic times in the Outer Hebrides. Meanwhile, Prof Karen Scott, who has researched the health properties of the breakfast staple, says they stave off everything from heart disease and colon cancer to diabetes.
The professor of gut microbiology at Aberdeen’s Rowett Institute said: “Porridge is certainly more superfood than junk food.”
And she explains that even if you are having a ready-made option, like a porridge pot or oat bar, you are better eating some version of fibre-packed oats than none at all.
Prof Scott said: “If you are having a porridge pot that’s laced with golden syrup and see how much that contains compared to, for example, a bowl of crunchy nut cornflakes, and they both contain the same about of sugar then the porridge is much better because it has fibre.
“Then there’s the high energy porridge bars, which do contain a lot of salt and sugar, but it depends what you are eating them instead of. If you are having a flapjack bar instead of a Mars bar it’s still better because it contains fibre.”
In 2022 researchers discovered that cereals — like wheat — were cooked in well-preserved pots found in the Outer Hebrides as far back as 3600 BC. They were mixed with milk and meat, to create early forms of porridge, the team from the University of Bristol found.
Meanwhile, oats were introduced to Scotland in about 600 AD, when a lack of sun meant only the hardiest of grains could grow and soon oats became a key part of people’s diets.
While it could be regarded as old-fashioned, it is still hugely popular in modern Scotland.
Tony Stone, managing director of porridge producers Stoats, which has a bakery just outside of Edinburgh, says they sell three tonnes of porridge oats a week and 150,000 oat bars every single day.
He said: “We started 20 years ago. We could see sales of porridge oats were on the increase. It had always been an at-home thing not a take-away thing, then 20 years ago it became more of a takeaway option.
“We have evolved from doing fresh porridge to being a retail brand, selling in supermarkets from southern England right to the north of Scotland.”
Tony reckons there’s been a resurgence in porridge popularity over the last five to ten years as people become more aware of their health and diet.
He added: “It’s important to separate the porridge oats, which you can have with fruit and nuts, from the convenient porridge pots. But even that with sugar in it is better than having no porridge.”
And it is no wonder people are still nuts about oats — they have many health benefits. Oats are a slow-release food which means they keep energy levels up and help stave off diabetes.
Prof Scott said: “Because the sugar content is bound up within the fibre, the sugar is less available so it is released more slowly into our bodies over a longer period of time. It has been shown to actually help with the glycemic index and insulin release in pre-diabetics.”
She added: “Porridge oats contain a huge amount of fibre, both soluble and insoluble. Insoluble fibres are really important as a bulking agent which basically means when it passes through your body, it can’t digest it and it reaches your colon as a really intact, fibrous material. It is also quite hard for colonic acid to digest insoluble fibre so it really helps increase transit rate through the colon.
“That’s really important because if there are any toxic substances you’ve consumed in your food, the quicker they pass through your colon and are excreted the better.”
Meanwhile, insoluble fibre is also important for gut bacteria. One of the by-products, called butyrate, is key for protecting against colon cancer.
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The professor added: “The soluble fibre component of oats is called beta glucan. Oats contain about 3g per 100g of beta glucan. And there’s a genuine approved health claim associated with the assumption that it can lower cholesterol and therefore reduces heart disease.
“One part of the oats is helping reduce cholesterol levels and heart disease and one part is helping reduce colon cancer — both of which are really important diseases to tackle in Scotland.”