Study: Whole-Grain Oats Cut Cholesterol

Analysis Gives New Backing To Health Value Of Oatmeal

(WebMD)  Eating a diet rich in whole-grain oats may help lower cholesterol in people at risk for heart disease.

It's not the first time oats have been touted as heart-healthy, but a new review of recent studies on oats and heart disease risk backs up some of those claims.

The studies stopped short of showing a direct effect of eating oatmeal on reducing heart disease risk or heart-related death, but researchers found oatmeal foods did produce an overall cholesterol-lowering effect. People who ate a diet rich in oatmeal and whole-grain oat products experienced a decrease in both total cholesterol and unhealthy low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels.

Elevated overall cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels are major risk factors for heart disease.

Although the overall results were positive, researchers say they should be interpreted with caution because the studies included were small, lasted only four to eight weeks or less, and most were funded by companies that sell whole grains.

Oats Lower Cholesterol

In the study, published in the Cochrane Database of Systemic Reviews, researchers reviewed 10 studies on the effects of giving whole-grain foods to adults. Eight of the studies involved whole-grain oats and included a total of 914 adults at risk for heart disease.

When researchers pooled the results of the studies, they found people who ate whole-grain oatmeal had lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels compared with those who ate refined grain foods. The average reduction in total cholesterol levels was 7.7 mg/dL and the average reduction in LDL cholesterol levels was 7 mg/dL.B

Based on these results, researchers say there is evidence on whole-grain oats to suggest that health care professionals could recommend oats as part of a cholesterol-reduction program. But they say more study is needed.

"Well-designed, adequately powered studies are now needed to evaluate the effects of long-term consumption of oats," says researcher Sarah Kelly of the School of Health and Social Care at the University of Teesside, England, in a news release.

The American Heart Association already recommends whole-grain foods for a heart-healthy diet. According to the group's web site, "The fiber found in unrefined whole-grain foods can help lower your blood cholesterol, which is important in preventing heart disease and stroke."

[oops2u2]

Horse food? (The Scots seem to love oats. I detect a certain bias there. Are you British, "talkingham"? haha) There are plenty of people who eat oats for breakfast and use it in breads. I can imagine that eating oats is a whole lot healthier than plenty of other foods out there. Haven't you heard the old saying, "He is as healthy as a horse"?

[talkingham]

Really awesome article here. I wonder who paid for the study. It's an absurdly low reduction and there is no data that says this would make a difference in anyone's health. If people feel that eating horse food is what they need then more power to 'em.

What databases were used to make the comparisons? It's a useless story that should be deleted from the site. My guess it was paid for by the cereal industry like a commercial.

Somewhat buried in the verbage is that fact that it also reduces "healthy cholesterol."