February marks National Heart Health Month, and as you may be aware, maintaining the health of your ticker is of utmost importance to avoid heart disease and related complications for every member of the family.

The good news is that simply eating more oats is one effective way to boost your heart health.

Oats and oatmeal (as well as barley) have a soluble fiber called beta-glucan, which helps reduce cholesterol as a daily part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol.

Aim for three grams of soluble fiber from oats each day.

Achieving a healthy level total cholesterol is an important step to reducing your risk for heart disease.

Many people these days have gluten sensitivity. As a result, they stray away from heart-healthy whole grains that contain gluten.

While oats are naturally gluten free, stray grains that contain gluten can mix in with oats at the farm or during transportation to a milling facility. Choose oats that have been carefully sorted and tested to remove gluten, like Quaker’s new gluten free oatmeal.

Those oats are tested throughout milling process to meet FDA gluten free standards, so that the whole family can enjoy the benefits — and great taste — of oatmeal.

Look for their instant and Quick 1-Minute varieties, and remember to check for “Gluten Free” on the label.

The bonus is that oatmeal has been shown to help people feel fuller longer. According to recent research published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, eating instant oatmeal for breakfast, versus a popular oat-based cold cereal, can not only keep you fuller through the morning, but can also help curb your appetite at lunch, even when each bowl provides the same number of calories.