The
bran of the
oat, a
wheat-like
grain which is best known in
America in the form of
rolled oats, made into
oatmeal. A piece of oat bran is a flat, rough-edged tan fleck, about half the size of a rolled oat.
Oat Bran is commonly added to
muffins,
hot cereals, and certain artificial
fat replacers.
Health-conscious people prize it for its apparent ability to lower
LDL cholesterol. This is due to its high levels of
soluble fiber, specifically a chemical known as
beta-glucan.
When boiled in water or put into baked goods, oat bran becomes soft and gummy, and tastes approximately like oatmeal, perhaps slightly less
sweet. It is a good
thickening agent when some texture is still desired. Oat bran is sometimes used as a
symbol for the overly health-conscious or the unreasonably
crunchy. This is partially due to the fact that many people learn how to make
healthy food before they learn to make
good food, even though the two groups are rarely completely
disjunct. In other words, oat bran suffers from the same misunderstanding as
brussels sprouts,
cottage cheese, and
carob.