Why? Because oat milk could lead to cravings and tiredness—ahead, find out why and what you can do instead.
Ever since I drank oat milk for the first time, I can’t imagine my coffee without it. Not because I can’t tolerate normal milk or have a vegan diet, but simply because it tastes good to me. And I’m not alone in this, as the ever-growing shelves in the supermarket with plant-based milk alternatives prove. There is a wide choice of soy, coconut, almond or hazelnut, but most (and honestly the most popular) drinks are based on oats. Oat milk has also become a permanent fixture on the drinks menu in most cafés and is a must-have in many people’s morning coffee on the way to work.
Oat milk can cause cravings and fatigue
So if you love Oat Milk Latte as much as I do, you need to be strong: you might not be doing yourself any favors. Or rather, your blood sugar. This measurement, which for many years was only considered relevant for diabetics, is currently causing a stir everywhere. And rightly so, because an unbalanced blood sugar level can be the cause of cravings, low energy and fatigue, acne, poor sleep and brain fog. On Instagram, biochemist Jessie Inchauspé presents this very vividly as the “Glucose Goddess” and gives her three million followers daily tips for a stable blood sugar level.
You should avoid oat milk, especially in the morning
Among other things, she also talks about the effects that oat milk has on our bodies. As an oat milk lover, I immediately pricked up my ears and took a closer look. “Oat milk is made from oats, oats are a grain and grain is starch. So when you drink oat milk, you’re basically drinking cereal juice, which contains a lot of glucose. This in turn leads to high peaks in glucose levels,” explains Jessie Inchauspé in a video. Similar to fruit juice, most of the plant fibers in oat milk are filtered out so that it contains little to no fiber and only the plant sugar remains.
These alternatives are better for blood sugar levels than oat milk
However, if you absolutely don’t want to give up your beloved Oat Milk Latte, there are a few things you can do to keep your glucose levels somewhat in check. “Consider drinking oat milk not on an empty stomach, but rather after breakfast, or go for a walk after drinking oat milk,” the biochemist suggests, for example.
I’ve tested my way through a few milk alternatives, and unsweetened soy milk is my favorite – I almost always drink it in my coffee now. I try to pay particular attention to this in the morning and I really feel less hungry until lunchtime. But I still always have an oat cappuccino for brunch or cake in a café – with cheesecake or pancakes, oat milk probably has the smallest effect on blood sugar levels, and I don’t want to forbid myself anything!
