What Happens to Your Blood Sugar When You Drink Oat Milk Every Day

Oat milk is creamy enough for coffee, mild enough for cereal, and easy to blend into smoothies, which makes it one of the most popular plant-based drinks out there. But despite its healthy reputation, oat milk may affect your blood sugar differently from other milk alternatives.

But don’t worry, this doesn’t mean it is a bad choice for you. The effect depends on the type of oat milk you buy, how much you drink, and whether you have diabetes, prediabetes, or insulin resistance.

How Oat Milk Affects Blood Sugar

Oats are packed with carbs, mainly starch. When they make oat milk in factories, they mix oats with water and blend it all up to get a smooth, slightly sweet concoction. Sometimes, during this process, enzymes break down some of the oat starch into simpler sugars like maltose, which is why some oat milks taste sweet even if the label says there’s no “added sugar.” Since liquids are absorbed faster than regular food, oat milk might spike your blood sugar quicker than eating a bowl of oats. Whole oats keep their structure and have a ton of fiber, which helps slow down digestion, while oat milk has almost no fiber, depending on the brand.

There are also lots of sweetened and flavored varieties of oat milk that are more likely to cause a blood sugar spike. Vanilla, chocolate, and barista-style oat milks may contain added sugar or more carbohydrates per serving. But even unsweetened oat milk can affect blood sugar. “Unsweetened” only means that sugar was not added as a separate ingredient. It does not mean the drink is carbohydrate-free.