Effect of oat bran supplemented diet on hypercholesterolaemia

Abstract

Objective - To examine the effect of oat bran supplemented diet on serum cholesterol in hypercholesterolaemic males who had failed to comply with a conventional lipid lowering diet. Design - Run-in period with a conventional lipid lowering diet followed by supplements of oat bran (70 g per day) for six weeks. Wash-out period without oat bran ended the survey. Setting - the workplace of Pyhäsalmi Mine, Finland. Subjects - 59 volunteer male miners whose serum cholesterol was over 6.1 mmol/l in spite of a conventional lipid lowering diet. Main outcome measures - Differences between means for serum cholesterol concentrations at different phases of the survey. Results - During the oat bran supplemented diet serum total cholesterol decreased by 6.2% from 6.93 to 6.50 mmol/l (p=0.000) and LDL cholesterol by 9.5% from 4.64 to 4.20 mmol/l (p=0.000). During the wash-out phase serum total cholesterol increased by 23% to 6.65 mmol/l (p=0.084) and LDL cholesterol by 5.0% to 4.41 mmol/l (p=0.021). the reduction in cholesterol levels on oat bran supplement correlated positively with the pre-treatment values. Conclusions - Oat bran seems to offer an additional dietary means of coping with hypercholesterolaemia. © 1995 Informa UK Ltd All rights reserved: reproduction in whole or part not permitted.