Overnight oats, benefits and how to make it (with different alternatives)

Cereals are a good and quick alternative for breakfast, and oats can make you fill fuller and energetic for longer which can help avoid snacking or just to reduce calories on your next meal at lunch time.

As the name suggests Overnight oats are not cooked, they are left to soak in liquid maintaining all the nutrients and fibre, with slow-release carbs.
This could be a quick and easy alternative for your breakfast, it's all about planning the night before so will be ready to eat in the morning. 

How to make overnight oats:

First of all we need to choose the right oats some brands add sugars or are too high in calories, but in this case 
we just need some old fashioned plain oats and that should be
 less than 400 kcal per 100 gr so less than 50 gr for serving, 
checking and comparing different labels is important to avoid any added sugar, usually in the plain oats there are carbs but mostly fibres and the sugar amount should be really low if is not added.

The night before or 7/8 hours before, just fill a container 
(could be even a glass depending on the portion you would like to obtain)

Follow the 2:1 ratio so for any amount of oats put the double of liquids, could be water or any reduced-fat milk, after that, you can put that in the refrigerator.

During this time the flavours will get mixed, and you can just eat it like that without doing anything else, Fresh alternative during summer time, but if you prefer a hot meal in the morning you can put that in the microwave


Extra tip: If you didn't have time to eat it on that day, you can still use it for the next day, just keep that in the refrigerator to maintain the product safely and avoid bacterial proliferation.

Here some ideas and the number of calories per serving (less than a half cup of oats and the double in water or reduced fa milk):

• Chia seeds and fresh fig 240 kcal
• Mango and Pomegranate: around 260 kcal 
• Blueberry and seeds (flax and chia) 270 kcal
• Persimmon, pumpkin, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves 270 kcal
• Chia seeds, fresh fg and nuts

Some brands add sugars or are too high in calories so again reading labels is very important.
Here some low calories and sugar brands:

• Symington's Plain Oats less than 100 kcal per 100 gr
• Nature's path Organic Oats
• Quaker Weight Control oats 160 calories per packet 
• MOMA plain porridge to use no more than 50 gr 160 kcal