How To: Painlessly Add the Powerful Nutrition of Oat Bran to Your Diet

Oat bran has the ability to lower cholesterol plus it contains fiber, iron, calcium, and trace minerals, vitamins A, E, & K and several of the B vitamins. Here's the nutritional lowdown. But really, how many bowls of oat bran can you eat every day? Luckily it can be added to lots of the foods you already eat without changing flavor or even texture. Here's how:

Step 1 Buy a box of plain oat bran.

Step 2 Buy or recycle a shaker large enough to hold some or all of the bran.

The large spice shakers from the food warehouse work great and will hold the entire box. If you don't have one of those handy you can purchase a small parmesan cheese shaker from your supermarket. The key is to have holes large enough for the bran to shake out easily. If your shaker is too small to hold the whole  box, freeze the remainder to keep it fresh.

Step 3 Find a visible spot in the fridge.

Don't bury the shaker in the back of the fridge or you'll never use it. The idea is to make it easy to use.

Step 4 Shake a bit into and onto everything you can think of.

Here's a list to get you started:

1. Taco meat
2. Marinara sauce
3. Guacomole
4. Chicken & Tuna Salad
5. Tossed salad
6. On the top of toast, muffins, toast, biscuits, or dinner rolls
7. Casseroles
8. Pancake batter
9. Pesto
10. Fruit smoothies
11. Fruit Salad
12. Meat loaf
13. Soup or stew (even canned)
14. Steamed veggies
15. Oh, and in your bowl of oatmeal!