What is the difference between Hercules and oatmeal? Which one is healthier?

Oatmeal, hercules are the names of useful breakfast foods known to everyone since childhood. Oatmeal porridge and flakes are introduced in children's complementary feeding from 9 months of age and are included in the diet of those who wish to get rid of excess weight and supporters of healthy eating. To understand what is different between herkules and oats, you need to give a definition of each product, consider their properties, the technology of cooking.

What is herkules?

Hercules is one of the three types of cereal, made, like petals, from oat groats of the highest grade. Product manufacturers use technology that maximally preserves the chemical composition, the useful properties of raw materials.

To avoid crushing, crumbling during flattening, the sorted groats are steamed, achieving 12 percent humidity. Grains are rolled on rotating rolls of rolling machines. Next, the flaked flakes are sent to an aspiration column, through which the herkules lose husks and dry out.

In quick-cooking herkules, to reduce cooking time after flattening, surface incisions are made.

What is oatmeal

Oatmeal or oat groats are whole grains of cereal, similar in shape to rice. They are cleaned of impurities with a separator, sorted according to size, washed and steamed for a few minutes to make it easier to separate the kernels. Then the groats are dried and husks are removed. The final stage in the processing of whole grains is grinding.

Crushed oat groats are made by crushing whole roasted kernels. Dishes made of this product turn out lush and airy.

Oatmeal porridge is recommended for athletes and thinners. A dietary dish remains if cooked in water without seasoning or other additives.

Cooking time

The less processed oats, the more uncomfortable in cooking, as it takes a long time to boil.

Oatmeal

Oatmeal from crushed grains is cooked for up to 40 minutes, from whole grains because of the rough structure - from 40 minutes to an hour. To reduce cooking time and preserve more useful properties, whole oats are soaked for a couple of hours or overnight.

If oatmeal is eaten for weight loss, the addition of 0.5 tsp. honey is allowed. Sports nutrition includes porridge with milk, with high-calorie nuts, butter, boiled eggs.

Hercules

Hercules is cooked for a quarter of an hour. Nutritious, hearty breakfast dish is cooked on the stove, in the microwave or multicooker. To improve the neutral flavor of oats, add sugar, honey, nuts, berries, fresh and dried fruit.

The main differences between oat groats and herkules flakes

Oatmeal and hercules are distinguished by the following characteristics, methods of manufacture:

1. Oatmeal is a cereal, hercules is a semi-finished product with a commercial name. The first product undergoes minimal heat treatment, the second - in addition to double steaming undergoes mechanical processing. It is separated from the germ and outer shells, rolled and dried.
2. Whole oats take 3 times longer to cook than flakes. Grains with minimal processing retain more useful nutrients.
3. Nutritionists do not recommend including herkules in the daily diet; whole oat porridge can be served for breakfast every morning, excluding children under three years of age.
4. Because of the fiber content, the flavor of cereal dishes is rougher than that of delicate flakes.

Which is healthier: oatmeal or herbs?

It is believed that oat groats are healthier than herkules, as it goes through fewer processing steps, retains a greater concentration of useful substances, compounds. Manufacturers of these products claim that the difference between them is insignificant. The energy value of whole oat grains is 342 kcal, while that of real herkules is 350 kcal. The BCA of cereals and semi-finished products differs only in the higher content of carbohydrates in the herkules. The amount of fats and proteins in the cereal is the same as in the raw material.

But still there are differences. Hercules has a higher glycemic index, more starchy substances and less fiber. The porridge from the half-finished product is more quickly digested by the body and followed by a feeling of hunger. Simple carbohydrates turn into sugar, sharply raising blood glucose levels.

Whole-grain meals keep you full for a long time. Vegetable fibers in oatmeal reduce calories, normalize intestinal microflora, reduce inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract, remove decay products.

What porridge is better for children

Oatmeal is not a gluten-free product, so pediatricians recommend introducing oatmeal porridge into complementary feeding not earlier than 9 months of age and alternating with other cereals.

Not fully formed digestive system in children under three years old is not able to cope with whole grain porridge, and children eat it reluctantly because of the rough structure.

If you have to choose from ecstera, petal flakes and herbs, the latter product is preferable. It will take longer to cook it than its quickly boiled counterparts, but it will be more useful.

When choosing food for children, do not be seduced by the colorful boxes, inscriptions about the environmental purity of raw materials and the health benefits of cereal in every spoon. These tricks are used by manufacturers to attract customers. It is worth to pay attention to the following points:

1. The type of cereal. Choose herbs that are cooked for at least 15 minutes. Quick-cooked cereals are empty calories.
2. Additives. Refuse to buy oatmeal with sugar, flavorings and other fillers of unknown origin.
3. Shelf life. The shorter it is, the better. With prolonged storage, the fats of cereal oxidize, go rancid.
4. Absence of insects. Discard herkules infested with the larvae of food moths, mealworms, red fly.

The integrity of the packaging is important. If the box is not hermetically closed, the product will quickly become saturated with moisture, and will fall into disrepair. Before you cook baby porridge, you should make sure there is no moldy, musty smell of the semi-finished product.

Where to buy and what do cereals cost?

Oat groats, cereals are sold in the grocery departments of grocery stores. Find real herbs that take at least 15 minutes to boil and whole oat grains are harder to find than instant oat flakes. They can be purchased in large supermarkets or online selling sites at the following prices:

• whole oat groats - 110-200 p. per 1 kg;
• whole oats - 300-400 rubles per 1 kg;
• Russian herkules - 50-70 rubles per 400 grams.

Oatmeal cooked for breakfast keeps the stomach and intestines healthy, prevents neuroses, the development of anemia and colon cancer. To get the most useful dish, cereal is preferred to a whole or crushed cereal.