Whole grains have phytates which preserve the grains but, left unsoaked, can be hard on your digestive tract and inhibit the uptake of vital nutrients into your body. The traditional (age old) way of preparing oats, wheat flour, rice (etc.) is to soak them overnight. This neutralizes the phytic acid and catalyzes a great nutritional benefit for your body. It even starts sprouting the grain in some cases. That's really exciting, because your food is coming alive and therefore giving greater life to you! For oatmeal in any form (rolled oats or steel cut), just put your desired amount in a container covered by about an inch of pure water, cap it, and leave it at room temp. overnight. Strain it the next morning. Then cook it using a little less water than you would have dry. By the way, steel cut oats are so good. For rice, do the same thing. My favorite is Lungren Sweet Brown Rice. For flour, just make your bread dough, pancake mix, cookie dough, or whatever and put it in the frig. overnight. Although it sounds like an extra step, it's really nice to have it all prepared the next day. It's just a new habit for me to think ahead. Ha!
