Keeping your heart healthy requires a healthy blood cholesterol level. Research has shown that a lower fat diet containing soluble fibre can help reduce blood cholesterol levels! Soluble fibre is found in many great foods such as whole grain oats, fruit and vegetables!
How does Soluble Fibre lower cholesterol?
You may think of fibre as the roughage that "helps keep you regular", yet there are different types of dietary fibre each with different properties and effects on the body.
One type is known as soluble fibre, because it can dissolve when mixed with water and solutions. A good source is whole grain oats. Soluble fibre from whole grain oats has been shown to help lower blood cholesterol levels when eaten as part of a healthy diet.1-5
While scientists are still unraveling the details, this picture shows how the soluble fibre from the foods you eat can help lower the cholesterol in your blood.
So, how do I get Soluble Fibre in My Diet?
To increase soluble fibre in your diet, try to:
- Choose whole grain breakfast cereals that contain soluble fibre, like those made with 100% whole grain oats, as part of every breakfast.
- Enjoy fresh fruit with breakfast and as snacks.
- Switch to whole grain bread made from rye or oats.
- Add more vegetables to sandwiches, pizza, pasta and other entrées.
- Make soup, chili and tacos with barley, kidney beans, black beans or other legumes.
- Toss in a few nuts or seeds instead of croutons on your next salad, such almonds or flaxseed.
About the Clinical Research
A study conducted at the University of Minnesota Heart Disease Prevention Clinic and published as "Cholesterol-Lowering Benefits of a Whole Grain Oat Ready-to-Eat Cereal" in the May issue of the Nutrition in Clinical Care journal in 1998, showed that people can lower their blood cholesterol by an average of 3.8% over six weeks by enjoying 3 cups of cold cereal made with 100% whole grain oats everyday as part of a healthy lower-fat diet.1
The 1998 clinical study indicated that "[a] practical approach to reduce blood cholesterol is to consume oat-based cereal products on a daily basis. Numerous clinical trials and studies in free living populations have shown that the inclusion of foods rich in soluble fiber such as whole grain oats and oat bran reduced blood cholesterol beyond the effect of a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet."
These results were confirmed in a 2005 study examining the effectiveness of consuming cold cereal made with whole grain oats for reducing cholesterol levels among Hispanic Americans.3
1. Johnston L, Reiss Reynolds H, Patz M, et al. Cholesterol- lowering benefits of a whole grain oat ready-to-eat cereal. Nutri Clin Care, 1998; 1:6-12.
2. Jenkins DJA, Kendall CWC, Vuskan V, et al. Soluble fibre intake at a dose approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for a claim of health benefits: serum lipid risk factors for cardiovascular disease assessed in a randomized controlled crossover trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2002 May;75(5):834-9.
3. Karmally W, Montez MG, Palmas W, et.al. Cholesterol-lowering benefits of oat-containing cereal in Hispanic Americans. J Am Diet Assoc. 2005 Jun;105(6):967-70.
4. Van Horn L, Liu K, Gerber J, et.al. Oats and soy in lipid-lowering diets for women with hypercholesterolemia: is there synergy? J Am Diet Assoc. 2001 Nov;101(11):1319-25.
5. Saltzman E, Das SK, Lichtenstein AH, et.al. An oat-containing hypocaloric diet reduces systolic blood pressure and improves lipid profile beyond effects of weight loss in men and women. J Nutr. 2001 May;131(5):1465-70.
