Boomers: Is oatmeal our fountain of youth?

Check this out:

http://tinyurl.com/33ufkzx
Oatmeal outranks almost every other breakfast cereal and most whole-grain breakfast products. Oatmeal is also regarded as a super food when it comes to supporting digestive health.

http://tinyurl.com/2v456er
Oatmeal is rich in soluble fiber which reduces LDL (bad cholesterol).

http://tinyurl.com/2ftm9zq
Each year, about 570,000 Americans die of cancer; fully one-third of these deaths are linked to poor diet, physical inactivity, and carrying too much weight. One recommendation: add oatmeal to your diet.

http://tinyurl.com/27su9kp
100 Candles on Her Next Cake: Her usual breakfast: orange juice, oatmeal, a banana and black coffee.

Why am I bringing up oatmeal? Because two oatmeal ‘events’ happened to me this year and I think when something as inane as oatmeal comes into your life in one year, you need to sit up and take notice.

I’ll begin with the second oatmeal event of the year. Our four year old granddaughter spent the weekend with me and my wife. We sat down to breakfast Sunday morning with our granddaughter who started poking and picking her way through a small plate of cut up waffles coated with cinnamon sugar and butter. Me and my wife had our usual; oatmeal. Our granddaughter looked over at my wife’s bowl and asked "Why do you eat  oatmeal?" My wife told her it is because we are getting older and we eat oatmeal because our doctor told us too. Upon hearing that, she looked up from her plate and asked, “If you eat oatmeal, will it make you younger?”  Oh how we wish!

The first oatmeal event occurred in March of this year.  I was in Las Vegas with a fellow boomer. We’ve been to Vegas 5 times together and until this year, we ate and drank as most people do when they travel to Sin City. Breakfast always consisted of the ham and eggs special which included a slice of ham the size of your plate, hash browns, toast, bacon or sausage, eggs, coffee and an occasional Bloody Mary. Or maybe we’d venture over to The Original Pancake House for the signature Apple Pancake breakfast, coffee with a side of bacon.

These times they are a changin’
So what did we do different this year. Well for starters, on our last day, we could easily recall exactly the number of alcoholic drinks we consumed over the four days we spent in Vegas. And our breakfast?
Oatmeal. Each and every morning. With coffee and no Bloody Marys.  We split a bagel and ordered sides of fruit. On the very last morning, my buddy decided we deserved a treat for being so health conscious the whole trip. He called the waitress over and ordered a side of turkey breakfast sausage for us to split.  Delicious.  

Ahh, the aging of the Boomer is best put into perspective by the following quote:
"Once we sowed wild oats, now we cook them in the microwave."  - Anonymous

Oatmeal might not be our fountain of youth, but it might just help us to live longer.