Dukan Diet Oat Bran: Where to Get it, How to Prepare it

The Dukan Diet is getting a huge amount of press in the United States this week with the release of Dr. Dukan’s book. And one big question that keeps coming up is this: what is the deal with the oat bran? Where do you get it? How do you eat it?

Personally I use Hodgson Mill’s variety as seen here:

Hodgson Mill Oat Bran Hot Cereal

I am able to buy it in the Oatmeal section of the local Harris-Teeter. I have eaten 2 tablespoons or so a day for the last year.

So how do you eat it? Here are some ideas:

1) You can prepare it as a hot cereal according to the directions on the box.
2) You can eat it plain, right out of the box, with a spoon
3) You can mix it into yogurt or cottage cheese
4) You can add it to an omelet – this is probably my favorite way
5) You make a little pancake out of it, known as a Dukan galette. Here is a recipe.
6) You can bread meat with it
7) You can sprinkle it on salad
8 ) I use “taco filling” (lean hamburger mixed with spices) sometimes, for example on a salad. Oat bran mixes in great with that.
9) You can mix it in a soup or stew
10) And so on…

What if you cannot find oat bran? Consider ordering it online from the link above or a similar online supplier (e.g. Amazon). Or… I might be considered a heretic for saying this, but I have been known to use regular oat meal in a pinch. Here’s why: Oat meal has more carbs and less fiber than official oat bran, but it really is pretty close when you look at it. I compared the label on the box of oat bran I have to the nutrition information for oatmeal:

Oatmeal nutrition information

40 grams of oat bran contains 120 calories, 23 grams of carbs and 6 grams of fiber. 40 grams of oatmeal contains 150 calories, 28 grams of carbs, 4 grams of fiber. So it really isn’t that different. If you cannot find oat bran, then oat meal would be better than nothing.

For more information and a complete daily diary of my experiences with the Dukan diet see: How the Dukan Diet Works