Cooked Oat Bran

Yes, ideally oat bran should be cooked to make digestion easier on your stomach. Cooked oat bran has 88 calories, 24.81 g carbs, 5.7 g fiber, 6.81 g protein, 1.87 g fat, 0 mg cholesterol, and 0.31 mg sodium, which is softer and easier to digest than uncooked oat bran. 

Yes, cooked oat bran is better for lowering triglycerides. 1 cup cooked oat bran has 5.7 g fiber, 0 mg cholesterol, only 0.38 g saturated fat, and almost no sodium, and oat beta glucan has been found to lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. However, cooked oat bran should not be used as a triglyceride lowering treatment instead of prescribed medication.

Cooked oat bran is ok for some people with IBS, depending on their own personal level of tolerance. In a cup of cooked oat bran, there is about 5.7g of fiber, which can be quite a lot depending on your level of tolerance. If you are concerned about the amount of fiber impacting your digestive system, it would be safer to cut down on the amount of fiber consumed and slowly build up to 5g, rather than eating it all at once. 

Depending on the portion, oat bran may be okay for diabetes. At 24.81 g carbs, 18.91 g net carbs, 5.7 g fiber, 6.81 g protein, and only 0.46 g sugar, cooked oat bran might increase the dietary fiber and improve levels of fasting glucose and insulin.

For cholesterol, cooked oat bran might be more beneficial due to the existing layer of beta glucan that exists in the bran layer of the oats. Cooked oat bran has 7 g fiber per cup, 0 mg cholesterol, and only 0.38 g saturated fat, which makes it very friendly for those struggling with cholesterol. Additionally, at least 3 g of oat beta glucan per day lowered LDL cholesterol by 0.25 mmol/L and total cholesterol by 0.30 mmol/L, without significantly changing HDL cholesterol or triglycerides.