Rolled oats, quick cooking, instant: What is the difference?

Until recently, I have been cooking and eating rolled oats for breakfast. I find it helped keep my blood cholesterol level down, even though there seemed to be a genetic tendency toward high cholesterol as seen in my siblings. However, it appeared to me that rolled oats are getting more and more difficult to find. It is much easier to buy quick cooking oats or instant oats.

I have always tried to avoid highly processed food wherever possible. So I took the trouble to contact a market leader oats manufacturer to ask about the difference between rolled oats, quick cooking oats and instant oats. I was told that the only difference is the degree in the size of the oats to which they have been reduced. Instant oats are ground or cut to a much smaller size than quick cooking.

So if that is true, it is only the degree of physical processing that the oats had been subject to. Physical processing like grinding or cutting the oats are not going to change its chemical composition, so it appear pretty harmless to me. With this knowledge, I am now less cautious about buying quick cooking oats or instant oats.

I will check with the other oats manufacturer to see if I get the same answer. If they all tell me the same thing, I will have no hesitation in buying instant cooking oats, for they will be more environmentally friendly as they take less cooking time, thus would be more energy efficient plus they save time.