We examined the effect of oatmeal containingβ-glucan on blood lipids and its safety of long-termintake in Japanese men with boundary and hypercholesterolemia. Atotal of 48 men with boundary and mild hypercholesterolemia weredivided into 3 groups. Group A was given four pieces of the placebocookies, group B was given the test oatmeal cookies containingoatmeal at 30 g/4 pieces, and group C was given the same cookiescontaining oatmeal at 45 g/4 pieces, once a day for 12 weeks,respectively. These results were as follows: The serum totalcholesterol level for the group C with boundaryhypercholesterolemia decreased with a significant difference incomparison with the groups of A and C (p<0.05). There were noabnormal hematological changes, no abnormal level of physiochemicalsubstances in blood, and clinical changes which were indicated anyadverse reactions in the groups given test cookies. These resultsindicate that the supplementation of oatmeal at 45g/day (1.6 gβ-glucan/day) decreases the serum total cholesterolconcentration and has no adverse effect in men with boundaryhypercholesterolemia.
Key words: Oatmeal, β-glucan, serum cholesterol,hypercholesterolemia |
