As a kid I never liked porridge, I thought it tasted funny with little lumps amongst a saucy kind of brew. But then I learned how to prepare it slowly so it becomes extremely smooth - I became a convert and have since been eating porridge every day, winter and summer.

When oats are long soaked and cooked slowly (and for a long time), they becomes very digestible - pre-digested really, and readily available to give great energy to your body.

That's important for us humans, and strangely, it has something to do with the amount of stomachs we have... Unlike ruminants like cattle, goats and sheep, who have four stomachs, we only have one.

Cattle, goats and sheep use their stomachs as fermentation tanks, so to speak. They break down their food through fermentation. And chickens use a crop to grind and ferment their grain that way.

We humans lack this ability, so in order to get the optimum value from our grains, we need to pre-digest them through fermentation by soaking and cooking them for a long time.

The other reason why I started preparing my porridge cooked slow and soaked long has to do with the oat (Avena Sativa) itself.

What is an oat before it is de-husked and rolled? It's a seed - a way for the plant to propagate itself. When the seed is ripening on the mother plant it dries and readies itself for its journey into life.

It will need to endure the challenges of winter in order to sprout again in spring (although it can remain dormant for years). This wonderous preservation takes place with the help of so called 'enzyme inhibitors', substances that are contained within the grain.

One day the oat grain will fall in the soil. If the soil is dry it will not sprout - its life-giving energy will only awaken when it is given water. When the oat falls in wet soil, a change happens. The enzyme inhibitors that supported it to remain indefinitely as a dormant seed, reverse, and when they reverse the oat's nucleus comes alive, and with the warmth of the sun it starts its journey into life.