Porridge is a healthy, nutritious way to start the day. However, there is much debate about which oats are the best to use and which cooking method is healthiest. There’s nothing wrong with microwaving porridge, especially if you are in a rush in the morning. Instant porridge is fine if you stay away from flavoured or sweetened versions. Even healthy-sounding flavours such as apple and blueberry generally contain added sugars. Overall, instant porridge can be syn free on the slimming world as long as it is plain porridge and within the 40g allowance. To save syns, you can also make the porridge with milk as your healthy extra A, topping it with berries for sweetness.

For example, the Quakers oats golden syrup porridge pot has a serving size of 57g which is around 10g over the standard 45g portion, it also has up to 16g of sugar in one pot.Whichever porridge you choose, make it with low-fat milk or water to keep the calories down and minimise saturated fat, especially if you are trying to lower your cholesterol levels.

Instant oat porridge, that's ready in 1 minute, and low in fat. Just add boiling water. No artificial colours & suitable for vegetarians. If your looking for a syn-free porridge on the slimming world plan, no porridge is syn-free, but you can use porridge oats up to 45g as your healthy extra B which is your fibre allowance on the plan, anything over this will need to be synned. For example, an instant sachet of Quaker golden syrup porridge has 6.5 syns for 36g and up to 15g of sugar, making them not the healthiest choice. Syn Values Of Instant Porridge If your instant porridge is plain with no add-ins, you can have up to 40g of it as your healthy extra B, which is your fibre allowance for the day. However, if you have already used your healthy extra B for the day, on average, instant porridge will cost you around 7.5 syns for 40g which is quite high in syns. To keep your syns low and use your porridge as your healthy extra B, we've put together a simple oats recipe for you to try out at home below. Ingredients

BHF dietitian Victoria Taylor says:

If you are looking for a porridge pot you can use as your healthy extra B, make sure they are plain oats with no added flavourings or milk, they should also be within 45g or simply add up the excess syns. Low Syn Alternatives To Porridge Pots Well, instant porridge syns can vary according to the brand you choose and any flavourings they might have, for instant porridge however which is plain, you can have them as your syn free healthy extra B porridge as long as they have no extra add-ins. Flavoured instant porridge is instantly higher in syns, due to the added sugar and flavourings, you also have to consider whether or not your make it up with milk, you can use milk as your healthy extra A.