Oatmeal vs Oats
The simple way to say the difference between oatmeal and oats is to say that oats is the grain while oatmeal is a dish that is prepared using this grain. Oats is prepared in different ways for the humans to consume as oats is considered to be very good for the health. Oatmeal is one such dish that is prepared using oats. Oats are available in the market in different forms such as rolled oats, quick oats, oat flour, etc.
What is Oats?
Oats are the gains obtained from a cereal grain plant. When oats are harvested, they have to be milled. As we all know, grains have a higher nutrient value. So, in order to preserve those nutrient values, when oats are milled only the outer shell which is known as the hull is removed. Even this is removed because no one can eat that part. After this hull is removed, oats are steamed. Then, oats are heated and again cooled in a furnace. All this is done to bring out the flavor of the oats. Then, only oats go through various processes to produce different oat food types
Some oats are steamed and rolled into flakes to make rolled oats. Some are steamed for a longer time than rolled oats and even rolled into smaller pieces to make quick oats. Since quick oats have been steamed for a longer period and have smaller flakes, only a little time is taken to prepare quick oats. As a result, most people use this as a breakfast item. Or the oats can be ground and sieved to make oat flour. This oat flour is used to make bread and cakes.
It is really surprising that when oat first became known to human beings, they were considered fit for animals, and there is a famous story which goes like this. An English man was talking to a man from Scotland taunting him on eating oatmeal. He said that oat is fed to horses in England, while Scottish men themselves eat it. To this, the Scottish man replied that this is precisely why there are such fine English horses, and there are such fine Scottish men.
What is Oatmeal?
Oatmeal is a type of porridge made of oats. The traditional porridge was always oatmeal as the grain used always was oats. To make oatmeal, oats are boiled first and then milk or water or both are added to the boiled grain. This is considered a very nutritious meal. Most people around the world take oatmeal as breakfast because of the nutritional value.
What is the difference between Oatmeal and Oats?
• Definition of Oatmeal and Oats:
• Oats are the grains from a cereal plant.
• Oatmeal is a type of porridge made using oats.
• Connection between Oatmeal and Oats:
• Oats is a grain. This grain is used to prepare the dish called oatmeal.
• Types:
• Different types of oats are available in the market such as rolled oats, quick oats, oat flour, etc.
• A variety of oatmeal can be prepared by adding different ingredients, depending on your taste, to the oatmeal.
• Nutritional Value:
• Calories:
• Oats have 311 calories in one cup.1
• Oatmeal has 145 calories in one cup.2
• Fat:
• Oats have 5.1 g fat in one cup.
• Oatmeal has 2.39 g in one cup.
• Protein:
• Oats have 12.96 g protein in one cup.
• Oatmeal has 6.06 g protein in one cup.
• Sodium:
• Oats have 3 mg sodium in one cup.
• Oatmeal has 278 mg sodium in one cup.
As you can see the main difference between oatmeal and oats is that oats is the grain that is used to make oatmeal. In other words, oatmeal is just one dish that is prepared using the grain called oats.
Sources:
Images Courtesy:
- Oats by Agronom (CC BY-SA 3.0)
- Oatmeal via Pixabay (Public Domain)
