Feeling Your Oats

A fiber from this popular grain can help improve your circulation.

Who hasn't enjoyed tucking into a warm bowl of oatmeal on a cold winter's day? Whether consumed as a hot breakfast, in baked goods, or as part of such healthy goodies as granola, this ancient grain boasts a long history of providing nutritious sustenance for man and beast alike.

One reason the oat is so beneficial is a fiber found in its outer covering, or bran -- a hearthealthy substance known as oat beta-glucan. Now this valuable fiber is available in a supplemental form that can bring the benefits of oat bran to a wide variety of beverages, bars, and other foods.

Circulation Hazard

One of the most common causes of cardiac trouble is atherosclerosis. In this process, fatty deposits called plaque accumulate within the arteries, including the coronary arteries that feed the heart muscle. Many factors cause plaque development, but one significant issue is the presence of excess cholesterol in the blood.

Your body makes its own cholesterol, which serves a variety of uses. But cholesterol’s fatty consistency means that it needs a partner, called a lipoprotein, to carry it through the watery bloodstream. There are two main types, low and high density (LDL and HDL). Of the two, LDL can become problematic if it’s affected by oxidation, a process similar to the rusting of a car. Oxidized LDL is prone to becoming trapped in plaque. HDL, the “good” kind to LDL's "bad," actually appears to help carry cholesterol away from the artery walls and back to the liver for processing.

Cutting the Cholesterol

Oat beta-glucan helps reduce cholesterol because its soluble fiber absorbs water, forming a thick gel in the digestive system. Not only does this gel provide a more lasting feeling of fullness, which helps curb overall calorie intake, it also traps the cholesterol found in food and carries such dietary cholesterol out of the body. In the same way, oat beta-glucan helps mop up some of the bile that your body pours into the intestines to digest fat. The liver uses cholesterol taken from the bloodstream to create bile, so this action also helps to reduce cholesterol levels.

Oat beta-glucan has proven its cholesterol-fighting worth in clinical research. In one study at the University of Minnesota, 75 people with high cholesterol received either 6 grams of oat beta-glucan or 6 grams of a look-alike placebo. In the oat supplement group levels of both total and LDL cholesterol fell after six weeks, with reductions significantly greater than those in the placebo group. And while lowering LDL is certainly a good thing, raising HDL at the same time is even better -- something oat beta-glucan has been able to do.

Excess blood sugar, or glucose, is just as bad for the circulatory system as too much cholesterol. In several studies oat beta-glucan has moderated post-meal glucose increases, a key consideration for people with diabetes.

When looking for an oat beta-glucan supplement, check to see how it is made. Only products that are processed mechanically, without using chemical solvents, from such whole-food products as rolled oats or oat bran can carry a government-approved claim that they help lower cholesterol.

Concerned about controlling your cholesterol levels naturally? Oat beta-glucan may provide the solution you’ve been looking for.

Reprinted with permission from Energy Times.