Unlike a slice of white bread or a sugary bowl of cereal for example, the complex carbs in oats help balance blood sugar levels and leave you feeling full up for longer - an excellent way to refuel and curb hunger pangs.

Rich in fibre and protein, their nutritional benefits are also a huge plus. Studies have shown that oats can lower cholesterol, reduce high blood pressure and even improve libido. If further evidence was needed of their super-food status, Britain’s longest-living man, David Henderson from Montrose, survived to the ripe old age of 109 and put his long life and good health down to his daily bowl of porridge.

In an age when we are more aware than ever that we are what we eat, it was not long before the rather plain little oat underwent a glamorous makeover. Witness the Scotts Porridge Oats advert featuring a young lady ogling up a ruggedly handsome porridge-eating Scotsman’s kilt. Soon after this, oatcakes appeared in deliberately more modern flavours - Nairns brought out cracked black pepper oatcakes, closely followed by stem ginger, mixed berry and fruit and spice varieties. Word spread of their appeal as a versatile, healthy snack and before long, oats were flying off shelves in all their forms. Sainsbury reported a 60 per cent increase in oat sales in the last six months, and according to reports by market researchers TNS last year, oats are now Britain’s second favourite breakfast cereal, with the oat industry bringing in £79 million per year.

Scots have long appreciated the benefits of oats. Native to Eurasia, they are the seeds of cereals belonging to the Avena genus and have been grown in Scotland for centuries. They have a lower summer heat requirement and greater tolerance of rain than cereals such as wheat, rye or barley, so are well suited to the Scottish climate. Our forefathers mixed them with a little fat to create oatcakes, one of the first convenience foods, a handy-sized and portable alternative to bread, but with the huge advantage that once baked they kept for long periods.

Scottish chieftains carried around small sacks of oatmeal when travelling by horseback and baked oatcakes on the back of their iron shields for sustenance. Today a pack of emergency oatcakes in the pocket does the same job for the you-are-what-you-eat generation, proving that a good thing will stand the test of time.

Now Anthony Stone, of Stoats Porridge Bars is taking things a step further by turning porridge into the latest takeaway food.

Aware of the nutritional appeal of oats, Stone was determined to drag them away from their dry and dreary image and create a slightly hipper look. Earlier this summer Stone, 25, opened up his own mobile Porridge Bar, selling steaming bowls of porridge to the public accompanied by a range of funky toppings. Think outside the traditional splash of cream and sugar, or the die-hard sprinkle of salt.

Stone serves his personal blend of natural Scottish porridge oats with a choice of toppings including pear, peach and crushed almonds, Scotch whisky and honey, Cranachan with cream and raspberries, and white chocolate and roasted hazelnut - a best-seller with female customers.

When it comes to stirring, Stone pays little heed to old wives’ tales which recommend using only wooden spurtles - the traditional long, thin stick used for making porridge - and the clockwise versus anti-clockwise techniques.

Stone hit on his idea for a mobile porridge bar after he became fed up with the lack of healthy snacks available when he travelled around the country in his former job as hotel manager. Dull sandwiches and greasy burgers were always available, but not always appealing.

“I was looking for something convenient and healthy that would fill me up,” says Stone, who was raised in Broomyknowe, Edinburgh. “I was pretty disappointed by the lack of choice.”

Spotting bowls of porridge on sale at a soup bar in London’s Victoria Station, he thought it made perfect sense.

“A lot of people don’t have time for three meals a day and need to refuel on the move. Porridge seemed like a really tasty and nutritious alternative to fast food.”

Stone was already a fan of porridge at breakfast time and realising that a small bowl of hot oats kept him going for hours, he began to snack on porridge throughout the day.

Stone then decided it was time to pack in his job in Wales and return to Scotland to launch his own mobile porridge bar business.

He won over the Scottish Executive, who provided him with start-up advice and a business grant, believing his idea to be an innovative and fun initiative which could encourage healthier eating habits among Scots.

Together with funding from the Princes Trust, Stone bought a hip-looking stainless steel trailer, several sackfuls of organic oats, and took his Porridge Bar to the streets. He began trading in June at Leith Market, and sold 200 bowls-to-go on his first day.

“The whole idea is proving very popular,” he says. “Customers seem pleased to try something different. I was slightly worried at first that people might not want porridge outwith breakfast time, but we’ve found we often get a rush on about four o’clock when people get peckish but don’t want to stop off at the burger van or chippy.”

Stone sells his porridge in small (8oz) medium (10oz) or large (12oz) bowls, with a pot of basic salted porridge starting at £1.40, and a bowl of porridge with Scotch Whisky and honey topping the price list at £2.80. Not the cheapest snack, some might say, but what price a healthy heart?

He believes his product also has a ready made summer market, thanks to tourists are keen to explore this part of Scots heritage, even in hot weather. “A lot of Americans are fans of porridge as it’s a low GI food too,” he says.

“I’m just chuffed to see people moving on from the idea of porridge as prison food or something old-fashioned. They are realising that it is very Scottish, very tasty, very healthy and nowadays, very cool.”

Stoats Porridge Bar is at Leith Market, Commercial Quay, most Saturdays and Sundays. It will also be at Get Active Loch Lomond, Loch Lomond Shores, on 20-21 August and 27-28 August and Scotland’s Countryside Festival 3-4 September 2005 at Glamis Castle, Angus.

For more details, visit www.stoatsporridgebars.co.uk