Benefits of oats
Oatmeal sold in stores is processed just like regular rice and it's nutritional value is low. Gurme Bebek advises using whole grain oats to prepare the oatmeal you will feed your baby. If you are wondering where oats are sold, it is easy to find processed oats in the stores but whole grain oats can only be found in herbalist stores or stores that sell natural foods or can be purchased online.
Keep in mind
Babies need to start eating whole grains after month 6. Processed grains like regular flour and regular rice lose major part of their nutritional value.Click here to learn why you should give whole grains to your baby from the day they start eating solids.
Storage conditions for whole grains is very important. Due to its natural fat content, whole grains become bug-infested much earlier than processed equivalents.
Warning
Fungus may easily grow in oat flour. For this reason, before you give oat flour to your baby check whether it has a bitter taste. Make sure that oat flour is fresh.
In fact oat does not contain gluten. Since it is cultivated and produced at a close location with wheat, cross contamination may occur so it is listed among foods with gluten. Turkish Food Codex includes oat under gluten containing foods list. If your baby has gluten allergy, be careful when feeding him oats.
Nutritional value per one cup of cooked oat flour;
Minerals
Potassium: 84 mg
Phosphor:162 mg
Magnesium:84 mg
Calcium:20 mg
Sodium:10 mg
Iron:.8 mg
Protein: 6.08 g
It contains lower amount of manganese, copper and zinc.
Vitamins
Vitamin A: 0 IU
Vitamin C: 0 mg
Vitamin B1: 18 mg
Vitamin B2: 04 mg
Niacin: 2.9 mg
Folate: 8 mcg