Oat milk is having a bit of a moment right now—especially for those who drink lattes from coffee shops. But did you know that there are some pretty incredible oat milk health benefits?
From being rich in fiber to boosting your mood and cognitive performance, drinking oat milk is a great way to support your body’s overall health status. So, let’s dive in and discuss some of the top benefits of drinking oat milk!
Oat milk is a dairy-free milk made from oats. The process involves blending pre-soaked rolled or steel-cut oats and then straining them to separate the milk.
Perhaps one of the best oat milk health benefits is that it’s dairy-free, meaning it’s free of the inflammatory proteins contained in dairy. (You can read more about that here.)
So, not only it is a great alternative for those with dairy allergies, but it’s also a great way to avoid adding excess inflammation, which has been linked to a myriad of diseases, from diabetes to heart disease to obesity.
Additionally, because oat milk is made from nutritious oats, it’s a great source of dietary and soluble fiber along with many nutrients, such as vitamin D, vitamin A, calcium, potassium, vitamin B12, riboflavin, phosphorus, and more! [1]
Keep reading to learn how these nutrients provide the many oat milk health benefits you need to know about.
Here are five of the top oat milk health benefits worth knowing.
Oat milk is rich in B vitamins, especially vitamin B12. And you may be surprised to learn that B vitamins are necessary to support your body’s stress response. In fact, when you’re experiencing more stress, your body burns through more B vitamins.
Specifically, vitamin B12 helps to reset your circadian rhythm, helps improve your sleep, and normalize you levels of cortisol (the stress hormone).
And studies have shown that supplementing with vitamin B helps to fight stress!
According to a 2010 study on 215 healthy men, supplementing with a B-complex vitamin decreased their levels of stress. [2]
Moreover, a 2014 study showed that workers who supplemented with B vitamins reported an incredible 20 percent reduction in workplace stress. [3]
Personally, I love to add oat milk to my coffee in the mornings. But you can also choose to eat it in healthy cereal or oatmeal to give yourself an extra boost of B vitamins in the morning that will help support your body’s stress response throughout the day.
Amazingly, oat milk health benefits also include boosting cognitive performance and mood due to the very same nutritional element: B vitamins.
First, it’s worth noting that several studies have shown that a deficiency in vitamin B12 is associated with cognitive impairment. [4]
But the study also found that supplementing with a B-complex vitamin improved the men’s cognitive performance.
In fact, the men taking the supplements had “significantly more” correct answers and performed cognitive tests longer than a group taking a placebo.
Additionally, drinking oat milk can help to boost your mood. According to a 2015 study, when 58 adults supplemented with a multivitamin containing high amounts of vitamin B for four weeks, they displayed lower levels of homocysteine (high levels are commonly associated with depressed mood) and significantly improved mood. [5]
Oat milk health benefits also extend to supporting bone health due to the fact that it’s rich in vitamin D.
You may be surprised to learn that vitamin D3 actually boosts your gut’s absorption of calcium, thereby supporting bone health. In fact, if you have a vitamin D deficiency, your body only absorbs about 10 to 15 percent of the calcium you consume versus up to 40 percent when you’re sufficient in vitamin D.
Vitamin D and calcium work together to support bone integrity and help to prevent osteoporosis, a disease that involves bone thinning and leads to fractures and problems with the spine. [6]
While supplementation is recommended for those with low vitamin D levels, drinking vitamin D-rich oat milk is a great way to support your levels.
We discussed above how oat milk is preferable to cow’s milk not only due to its rich nutritional profile but also because it’s free of inflammatory proteins. But did you also know that oat milk contains more fiber than cow’s milk?
Every eight ounces of oat milk contains 2 grams of fiber and 1 gram of soluble fiber. Meanwhile, the same amount of cow’s milk contains 0 grams of fiber. That’s right—zero!
Because fiber is known to promote satiety and overall gut health, there really is no comparison here. Consider substituting cow’s milk with oat milk in many dishes and beverages.
Finally, oat milk health benefits include supporting healthy cholesterol and blood sugar levels. And this is mainly attributed to the fiber content in the oat milk.
Plus, the B vitamins in oat milk have also been shown to support healthy cholesterol production by raising your HDL. [7]
