Modern Homemakers

For Vilma Santos and Luis Manzano, Aging Gracefully is a Matter of Living Healthily

by Roanna Alonzo
May 26, 2022

Not only do good looks and talent run in the family of Vilma Santos and Luis Manzano, but so do a healthy heart and a happy stomach

With so much talk about “bad carbohydrates”, many people have walked away from foods that actually help the body. Oats, for example, have been written off and cut from various types of diets, but not in the family of the “Star for All Seasons” Vilma Santos and TV Host Luis Manzano. The mother-and-son duo emphasizes the importance of prioritizing one’s health as they get older. And for them, this means starting their day strong with a hearty bowl of Quaker Oats.

Vilma shares that she has been powering up her mornings with a classic oatmeal breakfast ever since she was young, and she has passed this healthy eating habit on to her children. Luis, equally enthusiastic about living healthily, admits that Quaker is an oatmeal brand he swears by since it’s an easy, delicious meal he can add to his daily diet in order to avoid constipation or reduced bowel movement.

An early morning energy-giver

Unlike long-grain white rice, oats are healthy complex carbohydrates that our body needs to fuel itself. A bowl of cooked Quaker Oats breaks down into simpler substances in the stomach, and is converted into a balanced source of energy that’s slowly absorbed by the body for prolonged energy release. It’s the kind of energy that can last you through the day.

Additionally, Quaker Oats are a good source of thiamin, phosphorus, and magnesium, all of which are good for restoring muscles after training. So if you have oatmeal for breakfast, you’ll be able to power through a workout like Luis, a known fitness buff, and even have the energy to run errands after.

On days that cooking breakfast can be such a tedious task, Quaker Instant Oats and Quaker Quick Cook Oats are the mother and son’s friend. Luis says that overnight oats are his go-to snack. He makes his perfect baon for the day by soaking Quaker Oats, along with blueberries and a little almonds, in soy milk for a few hours the night before.

A digestion do-gooder

Quaker Oats are also packed with seven times more fiber than white rice. There’s the soluble fiber that slows down how quickly foods are broken down in the stomach, leaving one feeling full. Then, there’s the insoluble fiber that literally sits in the gastrointestinal tract absorbing and sticking to other byproducts of digestion that are ready to be formed into stool, furthering the sensation of being satiated.

So every time you take in a serving of these little digestion helpers called Quaker Oats, your body receives fiber that assists in keeping things moving through your colons and intestines. That’s great because, just like Vilma and Luis, you definitely want to make sure that your digestive system is chugging along nicely, all while keeping the hunger pangs at bay for much longer.

A heart’s natural helper

Not only does Quaker Oats keep you from eating snacks before lunch, but it also aids in lowering blood cholesterol with the power of a soluble fiber largely unique to oats called the beta-glucan. This soluble fiber dissolves in water and gastrointestinal fluids once it enters the stomach. Then, it transforms into a gel-like substance in the gut that stops cholesterol-rich bile acids from ever reaching your bloodstream. To keep it simple, beta-glucan tells your liver to pull the bad cholesterol out of the blood, supporting a healthy heart.

Three grams of this beneficial fiber daily are needed to get this desired effect. Luckily, a bowl of Quaker Oats provides two thirds of those grams that, as Vilma describes it, allow the possibility of ageing gracefully.

At times, she experiments and adds fruits to her oatmeal for additional fiber content, doing away with the classic that she grew up eating. But regardless of the way she and her son Luis prefer to enjoy Quaker Oats, one thing’s for certain. Their breakfasts are not only made with love, but also filled with energy and nutrients that make up for a healthy heart and stomach.