I never did the powders, though I use fiber, ceylon cinnamon (anti-inflammatory, has no cumadin (blood thinner) the way Vietnamese cinnamin does, so you can use it with impunity) and lion's main mushroom powder for acuity, and those would be great in oats. But I used to do overnight oats the same way, in jars, and added various whole grains and seeds (things I put n whole grain bread and are already in the pantry), as well as a few nuts. All in the jars, a week's worth, then individually wetted with Three Trees oat milk and several fresh berries, usually blueberries, added, and in the fridge for at least a day, max 3. Water probably hydrates faster. But that's also for eating cold. One could zap it. I gave it up because I realized I do better with a more protein oriented breakfast, powder not being my thing, and I didn't have magic from the oats. Just a nice thing to eat that needs no prep when you're bleary-eyed.

The powders certainly add to the expense. Blackberry powder is $5/oz in reasonable quantity.

I’m not sure what ”38Tera prebiotic” is. That is another ingredient that seems a bit much. Let’s look it up. It seems to be snackage for my gut microbiome; ”designed to nourish your gut microbes, bolster gut barrier integrity, alleviate gut symptoms, and promote glorious bowel movements.”

Well I may skip the GBMs, don’t want to make everyone else feel second-rate.

But I definitely want the beet powder!

Beet powder is just smashed dehydrated beets. It would probably cost less than making your own, but is it as nutritious as actual beets? I drink commercial beet juice. Pure and organic, but, again costs less ib both time and effort as well as $$ than making one's own. Blackberries are great, but expensive anyway you measure it, and if you have your own brambles, it costs in scratches, sunburn and processing, for not much quantity. The To The Power of 7 Purple juice from TJ's tastes great, but it's really sweet. Of course, for those whose sense of worth isn't governed by it, one could always add water. Perhaps you could try it for wetting your oats. There's also a red one with beets. The blackberry powder, IMHO, is for someone who equates expenditure with goodness. All of these colors are beneficial. Don't forget green! Maybe not good in oats, but when I did the green sludge thing, I hadn't been well and had to have a lot of antibiotics, and it worked to heal the guts. There are plenty of good prebiotic fibers out there. Not really needed if you're getting sufficient quantity of the colors, but can't be bad. Choose one that's clean from a well regarded maker, that's not expensive.

Re fiber, never forget beans. No glamour, and not for in the oats, conventionally, but tasty, cheap, great balance of carb, protein, fat. Black beans, white beans, and several others have top protein, about 15%. Garbanzoes lean toward fat and have lower protein. Good on toast. :)

Too fancy for me. When I have steel cut oats, I soak them overnight for faster cooking the next morning and have (real) plain yogurt on the side. I also make Cream of Wheat (highly processed, I know) but add sunflower seeds and pepitas to the bowl. All the hot cereal I eat is savory--no fruit or sweetener--just butter, salt and pepper.

You are talking to someone who gets excited by Soylent, "astronaut ice cream", and freeze-dried backpacking food.

So, depending on how obsessive you want to go... Oats are grain candy. There are other grains which will help the cholesterol (I'm assuming that's part of the motivation). From what I've read, it's the soluble fiber that clears out the LDL. You can do the grain in a jar thing with all kinds of good stuff, especially whole grains. And all the colors help, too. Think nutrient dense. You'll have to soak longer for ryeberries or sorghum than rolled oats, but there's a lot of benefit to mixed whole foods that you just don't get from the powders. And don't forget beans...

We like overnight oats too. I'll use keifer or a probiotic yougurt+water for my liquid. Sometimes almond milk or regular milk. Sometimes I add sweetener if I'm using plain milk- vanilla sugar, honey ginger powder, or maple syrup powder. Depends on the fruit I add, sometimes that's sweetening enough on it's own. I'll put in dried fruit, nuts, and seeds into them.

I did one using a can of coconut milk recently and that worked nicely- I added in dried pineapple and fresh ginger to that one. Made a dessert batch recently too- chocolate milk, expresso powder, topped with a sprinkle of dark chocolate expresso granola. Todays batch was a raspberry keifer with seeds and I topped it with fresh strawberries and blackberries. And a batch of milk+applesauce to make liquid, with apple pie spices, seeds, and toasted walnuts. Sprinkle of trail mix on top.

I like savory too. Made a really nice one recently of greek yogurt, hummus, curry spices, and shredded carrot with the oats and seeds- extra sesame. Really good, but turned out more of a smear than eat by the spoonful- went nicely with some flatbread and feta.

Why do you think that ordinary food isn't good enough? What's wrong with a bowl of porridge and some fruit?

For me, it's because I dislike hot oatmeal. Grandma terrorized me with that when I was a kid, then my sister tried to get me on her oatmeal kick as adults, blech. I have to make myself eat a cup of hot oatmeal and maybe not finish it. But I'll happily eat a cup of overnight oatmeal- even better if it has some fruit. The texture is different, and it settles in my stomach differently.

As a twist, I do like hot grits and polenta a lot, always savory. I got lunch jars in the fridge of pimento cheese grits topped with tomato salad and BBQ jackfruit.

Islay, call it the Americanized quest for better living through technology . . . maybe I can reduce prep time, reduce eat time, lower LDL and BP, and achieve GBMs, all via a Magic Meal . . . eventually served by my household robot as I go to work in virtual space - or maybe its just fun to mess around with weird grains and powders! Somehow we need to work vacuum packing or blast chilling or other interesting processing into this.

I recently went out to lunch with my mom at a local coffee shop that has become my formerly nyc based mom favorite spot to people watch. We regularly run into a variety of friends.

This particular time an old friend who is a so far miraculous cancer survivor with a remarkably positive attitude. A local doctor’s husband. He had brought his version of Soylent Green for his lunch - a thick creamy beige liquid. He said he can’t taste anymore because of his health or possibly the treatment he has undergone. He worked with a nutritionist to tweak his recipe. He said he was a former foodie but he is enjoying not having to think about meals. I was impressed as always with someone so resolutely thankful and positive.

I do not remember everything in it but I know it had oats, orange including the peel, peanut butter, eggs, (coconut I think) oil, protein powder, kefir…..

I bet Chefsteps have some recipes you can get your teeth stuck into, then! I just want food I can pronounce and recognise!

I was wondering about this. Here's a good list from a good source, some of which is applicable to the oats, or alongside. The least processed the better (I'm still stuck on the blackberry powder). https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/11-foods-that-lower-cholesterol#:~:text=The%20key%20dietary%20components%20are,soy%20protein%3B%20and%20whole%20almonds.

And this: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/heart-healthy-living/healthy-foods

More extreme for faster results: https://www.massgeneralbrigham.org/en/about/newsroom/articles/10-foods-to-lower-cholesterol

West Cosst common sense: https://health.ucdavis.edu/blog/good-food/im-a-cardiovascular-dietitian-here-are-7-things-i-eat-and-avoid-for-heart-health/2023/02

Not to leave out the Midwest: https://www.uchicagomedicineadventhealth.org/blog/five-super-foods-boost-your-heart-health

Scroll down: https://medlineplus.gov/howtolowercholesterolwithdiet.html

Kind of universal is "whole". I started looking for powders for the soylent, but found none, though soy itself was in there.

Specifically lood pressure: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/dash-diet/art-20048456

There was also a lot decrying OTC supplements like fish oil and coq10. Appsrently, you're not really getting anything that helps.