What Two Days Of Oats Will Do To Your Lipids

Oats are great for the health, as a general rule of thumb. They have a great nutritional profile in general, for example:

• Brown Rice vs Oats – Which is Healthier?
• Oats vs Rye – Which is Healthier?
• Buckwheat vs Oats – Which is Healthier?
• Oats vs Pearl Barley – Which is Healthier?
• Red Lentils vs Oats – Which is Healthier?

…but its benefits go beyond mere nutrients:

More oats, less cholesterol

The fact that oats lower cholesterol is not new news. Simply, the fiber content of oats, most notably β-glucan, helps the body to remove LDL (“bad”) cholesterol (which binds to certain kinds of fibers, and that’s one of them, then it gets passed through with that fiber, instead of staying in the body).

You can read more about the other benefits of β-glucan, here: The Best Kind Of Fiber For Overall Health?

Researchers (Dr. Linda Klümpen et al.) found, in few words, that just 48 hours of a high-dose oat diet reduced LDL (“bad”) cholesterol by 10% in people with metabolic syndrome—and the effect was still measurable six weeks later.

What they did and how they did it:

• 32 adults with metabolic syndrome completed a two-day oat phase, during which…
• They ate 100 grams of oatmeal 3x per day (that’s equivalent to a medium-sized portion of oatmeal porridge)
  • In fact, that is how they took it; as a porridge made with water
• Calories were controlled in an equal manner in both the intervention and control groups

What they found:

• LDL cholesterol dropped by 10% in the oat group.
• Those in the oat group lost an average of 2 kilograms (about 5 lbs) each
• Blood pressure also fell slightly in the oat group.

Why it worked, beyond just the already-known fiber effect: enjoying that quantity of oats per day increased the levels of certain beneficial bacteria, which produce phenolic compounds, including ferulic acid and dihydroferulic acid, which are linked to improved cholesterol metabolism. Other increased-by-oats bacteria also reduced histidine-related pathways connected to insulin resistance.

You may be thinking: shouldn’t I skip the oats and just take probiotics, then?

And the answer is: no, they will just die, they need the specific kinds of fiber from the oats in order to live

Learn more: Stop Sabotaging Your Gut

As for this study (and also to learn about the more modest benefits from less generous oat-substitution options, you can read the paper in full, here:

Cholesterol-lowering effects of oats induced by microbially produced phenolic metabolites in metabolic syndrome: a randomized controlled trial

Don’t find oats exciting?

You might want to spice it up with:

Spiced Pear & Pecan Polyphenol Porridge

…or even try:

Anti-Cholesterol Cardamom & Pistachio Porridge

Enjoy!