Eight Tablespoons of Oatmeal Is Equal to How Many Grams of Carbohydrates?
Carbohydrates are an essential part of your diet and need to make up the biggest percentage of your calories. Your digestive tract turns carbohydrates into glucose, the smallest type of sugar. Glucose is a major fuel source in your body, powering every single cell. The majority of calories in oatmeal comes from carbs, giving you the carbohydrates you need, as well as some iron, phosphorus, potassium, zinc and even fiber.
Carbohydrates in Oatmeal
Eight tablespoons of oatmeal made with water, weighing about 115 grams, have less than 85 total calories. Slightly more than 55 of those calories come from the 14 grams of carbohydrates -- carbs have 4 calories per gram. Because carbohydrates need to make up 45 to 65 percent of the calories you consume, according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010, you can have somewhere around 225 to 325 grams each day for an average 2,000-calorie diet.
Starches and Sugars
Oatmeal is rich in starch, a complex carbohydrate that takes a while to break down into glucose. As you chew, your mouth secretes saliva that pulls apart starch molecules, turning them into smaller compounds called maltose, a type of sugar. Once maltose molecules reach your intestinal tract, special enzymes quickly convert them into glucose. The long transit time from start to finish provides you with a steady stream of glucose, keeping your energy stable. But oatmeal also has a very small amount of natural sugar -- less than 0.5 gram in 8 tablespoons. Sugars are the first thing to turn into glucose during digestion, which is the reason sugar-rich foods give you that sugar rush feeling.
Oatmeal is also rich in fiber. While fiber is a type of carbohydrate, it doesn’t convert into glucose like sugars and starches do. Fiber is important for nutrient absorption, satiety and waste removal. Oatmeal is particularly rich in soluble fiber, which is a type of fiber that binds with some of the extra cholesterol in your body and helps it go out through waste. As a result, your cholesterol levels can go down over time, lowering your risk of developing heart disease later on in life. Eight tablespoons of oatmeal give you 2 grams of total fiber. Since you need 14 grams for every 1,000 calories in your diet -- 28 grams for a 2,000-calorie diet -- this small serving of oatmeal only provides 7 percent of your fiber recommendation for the day.
If you make your oatmeal with milk instead of water, you’ll add more carbs to your breakfast. Making your oats with just 4 ounces of nonfat milk, for example, sneaks in another 6 grams of carbohydrates. Additionally, if you stir in a teaspoon of honey, you’ll get another 5 grams of carbs. Then if you pop on just two blueberries for each spoonful, you'll tack on another 3 grams of carbs. Your small 8-tablespoon serving of oatmeal quickly goes from 14 grams of carbohydrates, all the way up to 28 grams of carbs if you mix in milk, honey and berries.
- MayoClinic.com: Dietary Fiber: Essential For a Healthy Diet
- USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference: Cereals, Oats, Regular and Quick, Unenriched, Cooked with Water (Includes Boiling and Microwaving), Without Salt
- USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference: Milk, Nonfat, Fluid, with Added Vitamin A and Vitamin D (Fat Free or Skim)
- U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010
- National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse: Your Digestive System and How It Works
- USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference: Honey
- USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference: Blueberries, Raw
Melodie Anne Coffman specializes in overall wellness, with particular interests in women's health and personal defense. She holds a master's degree in food science and human nutrition and is a certified instructor through the NRA. Coffman is pursuing her personal trainer certification in 2015.