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Cholesterol-Lowering Benefits of Oat-Containing Cereal in Hispanic Americans

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Abstract

This randomized, controlled trial of cholesterol lowering by an oat bran cereal containing beta glucan vs a corn cereal without soluble fiber in Hispanic Americans was conducted for 11 weeks. One-hundred fifty-two men and women, ages 30 to 70 years, with baseline low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels between 120 and 190 mg/dL and triglycerides <400 mg/dL were included. After eating a National Cholesterol Education Program Step 1 diet for 5 weeks, subjects were randomly assigned to the corn or the oat cereal for the next 6 weeks. The daily dose of beta glucan was 3 g. Consumption of oat cereal was associated with a reduction in plasma levels of both total cholesterol (−10.9±21.6 mg/dL; –4.5%) and LDL-C (−9.4±20.3 mg/dL; −5.3%). Consumption of corn cereal did not affect either total cholesterol (+1.2±18.3 mg/dL; 1.1%) or LDL-C (+1.2±17.5 mg/dL; 2.2%). Differences between the effects of the two cereals on total cholesterol and LDL-C were significant, P=.0003 and P=.0007, respectively.

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Methods

The study was conducted with 152 volunteers at Columbia University Medical Center, which recruited mainly Dominicans, and the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, which recruited Mexicans.

Study criteria included average age range of 30 to 70 years old, had screening LDL-C levels between 120 and 190 mg/dL, triglyceride levels <400 mg/dL to exclude people with extreme hypertriglyceridemia, and body mass index (BMI) <38 (calculated as kg/m2). Subjects had no history of heart

Results and Discussion

Age, sex, and baseline plasma lipids were matched in the two cereal groups (Table 1, Table 2). There were no significant differences in baseline lipids or apolipoproteins between the oat and corn cereal groups. Compliance was 100% in the corn cereal group and 99% in the oat cereal group. No serious side effects were reported in either group. One subject left the study due to an allergic reaction. There were six dropouts after randomization. Body weight was stable during the study. In the corn

Conclusions

This study showed that the ready-to-eat oat cereal with beta glucan was acceptable to the Hispanic subjects and was efficacious in lowering cholesterol in mildly to moderately hypercholesterolemic levels when used as an additional therapeutic option together with a recommended cholesterol-lowering diet.

W. Karmally is an associate research scientist and lecturer, The Irving Center for Clinical Research, W. Palmas is an assistant professor of clinical medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, W. Martinez is a registered dietitian, R. Ramakrishnan is a research scientist, Department of Pediatrics, College of Physicians and Surgeons, S. F. Holleran is a staff associate, Department of Pediatrics, and H. N. Ginsberg is a professor of medicine, Columbia University, New York, NY. M. G. Montez is

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W. Karmally is an associate research scientist and lecturer, The Irving Center for Clinical Research, W. Palmas is an assistant professor of clinical medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, W. Martinez is a registered dietitian, R. Ramakrishnan is a research scientist, Department of Pediatrics, College of Physicians and Surgeons, S. F. Holleran is a staff associate, Department of Pediatrics, and H. N. Ginsberg is a professor of medicine, Columbia University, New York, NY. M. G. Montez is a faculty associate, Department of Medicine-Epidemiology and S. M. Haffner is a professor of Medicine-Epidemiology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

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