Undoubtedly, everyone agrees that breakfast is the most important meal among all in a day. A satisfying and nutritious breakfast would definitely provide us great mood and boosts our energy level for the whole day to embrace all challenges! Nevertheless, how many of us have actually prepared our meal or eat according to the food nutritional pyramid especially in a sleepy morning or when you are chasing time to set off to universities or workplaces? It is just too much to do due to our hectic lifestyles nowadays. As a solution to that, some of us have been making a smart decision - that is, to start the day off with food that requires simple way of preparation while able to supply us enormous nutritional benefits -
OATS
Oat plants, with a scientific name of Avena sativa.
Rolled Oats
Watching TV is one of my favourite pastimes :), if the same goes to you, I am sure that you have seen some advertisements of oats products, do you agree that oats' advertisements will always have something to do with CHOLESTEROL? We've been told that oats is effective in lowering cholesterol levels. Have you ever wondered if it is true and curious about what chemical components do oats contain and how do they work to enable oats to have this great effects?
Ø What is CHoLesTeRoL...
Molecular Formula: C27H46O / C27H45OH
Cholesterol molecule consists of a polar hydroxyl group, while a hydocarbon tail and 4 hydrocarbon rings make up the non-polar region. Cholesterol is said to be amphipathic because of its water soluble hydroxyl group and the fat-soluble hydrocarbon tail and rings structures. The -OH group makes cholesterol an alcohol, together with the ring structure, cholesterol is classified as an animal "sterol". However, cholesterol is not soluble enough to dissolve into the bloodstream, it is thus being travel by a special carrier known as lipoprotein in the blood plasma in two forms - High Density Lipoprotein(HDL) and Low Density Lipoprotein(LDL).
HDL Cholesterol is the good cholesterol while LDL is not.
3D Structure of cholesterol :
Cholesterol is a waxy, lipidic and soft substance found in the plasma membranes and being transported in our bloodstream. Cholesterol plays extremely important roles in the human body to maintain permeablity and fluidity of plasma membrane, stabilizing cells against temperature changes, as well as being building block for plasma membrane, bile acids, steroid hormone and several fat soluble vitamins. Nevertheless, hypercholesterolaemia, having higher level of cholesterol in the blood than the body needs can threaten our health as we'll have higher risk to associate with various kinds of coronary heart diseases and cardiovascular diseases!
Surprisingly, consuming adequate amount of oats daily can be a solution to hypercholesterolaemia!
This is because Oats are very rich in two components which has great effects in lowering and controlling Cholesterol level. They are ~BETA - D - GLUCAN~, a form of roughage or Dietary Fibers, and Avenanthramides, a type of antioxidants.
Ø Understanding Dietary Fibers
Hmm~ let me guess, when talk about fiber, the first term appears in your mind must be "constipation", am i right? In fact, besides preventing constipation, fiber has many other functions!
Dietary fibers fall into two categories, that is the soluble and insoluble types. Oats are an excellent source of both types of fibers after all! Beta-D-glucan which has just been mentioned is a member of the few essential soluble fibers which needed by our bodies.
*BETA-D- GLUCAN*?
Beta-D-glucan is also known as beta glucan.
It is an unique non-starch and non-digestible vicous polysaccharides which can be found in bran or endosperm cell wall of natural sources such as oats, barley, yeast, mushrooms and other cereal grains.
O_0 Wow~ isn't this amazing? Such a long structural formula...
This is because beta-glucan consists of linear unbranched polysaccharides of β-D-Glucose like cellulose, have -CH2OH groups oriented up and down the plane of beta-glucan molecules alternately. Within the structure, each monomer, that is the glucose unit, is linked by a structure known as Glycosidic bond. There are 3 common types of Glycosidic bond - which are ß-1, 3 linkage, ß-1, 4 linkage and ß-1, 6 linkage.
Structural formula of the linkages:
Top : ß-1, 3 linkage, Middle: ß-1, 6 linkage, Bottom: ß-1, 3,ß-1, 6 linkage
In oats, every three or four ß-1,4 linkages will be linked with one ß-1,3 linkage. For this reason, beta glucan is sometime being known as mixed-linkage (1›3), (1›4)-beta-D-glucan. With unit links to unit connecting by glycosidic bonds, beta-glucan forms molecules consist of about 250000 glucose units in long cylindrical form! What you are looking at is actually a small part of it!
With the presence of the both types of linkages, oats are thus an excellent source of both soluble and insoluble fibers. This is because the one ß-1,3 linkages can break up the uniform structure of the molecule of beta-glucan making it to be soluble whereas the hull or cellulose part of oats are made up of only ß-1,4 linkages which is rigid and so causing it to be insoluble and indigestible by our bodies!
Percentages of Beta glucan content in some oat products:
Beta glucan has a number of health benefits.
Study after study have proven that Beta-glucan, can effectively lower one's total blood cholesterol level by lowering the LDL Cholesterol without lowering our good cholesterol, the HDL Cholesterol!
Soluble fiber traps cholesterol molecules!
Next, Beta Glucan has high santiety level, meaning it can transform into a gel when passing through our digestive tract making us feel full for a longer duration of time as the gel like substance can slow down the rate of digestion by increasing the viscosity of the stomach contents.
Furthermore the gel can trap bile-acid which is Cholesterol-rich to reduce the amount of cholesterol intake into our bloodstream and also prolong the conversion and absorption of sugar to stabilize blodd glucose level. Moreover, beta glucan is also believed to have great beneficial effects on boosting Immunity!
Evidence? Here you are!
An article written by Dr Paul Clayton, a former Senior Scientific Advisor to the UK government's Committee on the Safety of Medicines and a member of The Royal Society of Medicine. He says that beta-glucans are a great breakthrough in immune protecting functions against inflection, cancers, allergies as well as in anti-aging aspects.
Consume oats daily and you might be as strong as him!! :-)
Last but not Least....
~*Avenanthramides*~
Besides soluble fiber like beta glucan, oats also rich in the component of Avenanthramides, a type of phenolic antioxidants. This type of antioxidant is very effective in preventing Low Desinty Lipoprotein (LDL) Cholesterol from turning into the oxidised form. This is because cholesterol oxidation can cause plaque formation, that is the accumulation or deposition of hard and thick form of cholesterol in the arterial wall which will eventually lead to high blood pressure, blood clots, stroke and heart diseases.
The major types of the total soluble antioxidants present in oats are Avenanthramides A, Avenanthramides B, and Avenanthramides C.
Many studies show that patient with high cholesterol, that is a
bove 220mg/dl, can lower total cholesterol by 8 to 23% by just consuming only 3 grams of this soluble fibre daily, which can be found in a bowl of oatmeal! For further information, there will be 2% decrease of risk in getting heart diseases with only 1% dropping of serum cholesterol. Consuming more high fiber foods like OATS can surely minimize our risks of developing coronary heart diseases and cardiovascular diseases to a lower percentage!
AND So, what will you be having for breakfast tomorrow? ;-)
Oats, Always the Smarter choice !^_^!
After the second posting of my blog, i was out of idea for themes or topics to be written as the third posting. What i did was took out all my "properties" and "observed" their ingredients listed behind. I found that there are a few chemical compounds present in almost all personal care products from the head to the toe such as shampoo, hair conditioners and treatment masks, shower foams, nail polish removers, moushwash, toothpastes, body lotions, facial creams and many others skin care products.
GLYCERIN is one of the chemical compounds which present in majority of my personal care products! What about yours?
CHECK IT OUT! ^o^
Understanding GLYCERIN...
Glycerin is a colorless, odorless and viscous liquid. The word "Glycerin" is in fact derived from the Greek word "Glykys" which means "sweet". This is because Glycerin is sweet, syrupy tasting and of low toxicity. This chemical compound is also commonly known as :
v Glycerol
v Glycerine
v propane-1,2,3-triol
v 1,2,3-propanetriol
v 1,2,3-trihydroxypropane
v glyceritol
v glycyl alcohol
Structural Formula:
Molecular Formula : C3H5(OH)
3D Structural Formula :
Glycerin molecules have three hydrophilic or polar hydroxyl groups which contributes to its solubility in water and hygroscopic characteristic. The substructure of glycerin is a central unit of many lipids as glycerin makes up the backbone of a triglyceride. Glycerin has a melting point of 20°C and boiling point of 290°C. The low melting point simply explains why glycerin is always in the form of liquid at room temperature :)
Backbone of a triglyceride
Glycerin is discovered through hydrolysate of olive oil by K.W. Shele, a Swedish scientist in 1779. Nowadays, Production of glycerin is through either saponification or transesterification processes. There are two types of Glycerin :
Ø Natural glycerin - derived from oils and fats of plants or animals.
Ø Synthetic glycerin - made from petroleum
Saponification is actually the process of soap making by reacting a strong basic or alkaline solution with common fats or oils. Vegetable oils and animal fats are normally fatty esters in triglycerides form. In this process, the fats will be hydrolyzed by the alkali producing an alkali salt of the fatty acid and Glycerin
Transesterification is another process in which an ester group is exchanged with that of another, higher alcohol to produce a new ester. This process often requires a catalyst of either acid or base, Sodium Hydroxide NaOH, is a common example..
Let's look at the general formula of this process :
In the chemical equation, we see that the organic group R" Of an ester is interchanging with the group R' of the alcohol.
The transesterification process of triglycerides from animal fats or vegetable oils :
This process is the production of biodiesel.
Usages
With three polar hydroxyl groups, glycerin plays an important role as a type of humectant with its potent hygroscopic nature. Meaning, it has great ability in attracting water molecules! Therefore, glycerin can be found in many personal care products where moisturization is desired. Our skins need moistures to stay in supple condition, glycerin can act as a "water magnet" to bind with water molecules and effectively locks them in our skin cells! :) That's why Glycerin is always one of the "a must" component in majority of hair or skin care products of mine and yours!
~ O.o No Wonder~~~
A type of humectants!
Some products of glycerin :
Cute piggy glycerin soap :)
Some other lovely soaps !^_^!
Glycerin Hand soap
Lotion
Being a humaectant, glycerin is also a good "helper" in presevating of foods and manufacturing cigarettes and tobbaco products. When it is being used as a food additive, it can help in keeping some foods moist for excellent condition as it seals the moistures in the products..
Cigarette : "Hey, Do you know? Glycerin is one of my organs!"
In pharmaceutical products, glycerin can be found in cough medications, mucolytic agent and many more. Mucolytic agent is medication that helps to relieve breathing difficulities, for example, nose blocking - a problem which i've always been facing :)
Glycerin Sore throat medicine
In addition, glycerin is used as a type of sweeteners due to its lower glycemic index, that is, slower rate of sugar absorption although having the same caloric density as table sugar.
Besides, glycerin is used in the production of Nitroglycerin, a dominant ingredient for manufacturing explosive material as well as gunpowder used during wars.
Apart from all stated above, glycerin has many more usages and benefits, tell you more about it some day later by chance perhaps? !^_^! : p
