Why oats reduce cholesterol

Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. A morning bowl of oatmeal can give you benefits towards heart health, including lowering your cholesterol. Oatmeal is made of ground oats that can be made into a variety of foods, including porridges, cookies, and snacks.

Studies also have shown that oatmeal has some heart-healthy benefits. This is mainly due to the rich source of water-soluble dietary fibers , particularly beta-glucan, that are found in oatmeal. Over the years, there have been many research studies that have proven the benefits of oatmeal in lowering cholesterol levels. Top tip: Start your day with a bowl of delicious, warming porridge in winter, or homemade Bircher muesli in summer. Top with fresh fruits such as apples, banana and strawberries which are also rich in soluble fibre.

Add oatmeal to your homemade baked treats such as muffins and biscuits. You can even add oatmeal to your favourite smoothies! Eating oily and omega 3 rich fish such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, sardines and herring at least three times per week can help to increase your protective HDL, or good cholesterol.

Replace saturated fat laden meat with fish a few times each week to help naturally lower your cholesterol. Top tip: Use tinned salmon, mackerel, tuna and sardines as a quick and cost-effective way to include fish in your weekly diet.

When eating out, choose grilled fish from the menu instead of red meat. A handful of walnuts, almonds or cashews daily could help to lower your LDL and total cholesterol. Choose nuts that are raw and natural, not roasted, salted or candied. Top tip: Munch on nuts with an apple as a heart protective afternoon snack to help banish sugar cravings and lift flagging energy levels. Sprinkle them on your breakfast oats or add to your salad at lunch time. Nuts are high in calories so moderation is the key.

Like oats and oatmeal, beans and legumes help to lower cholesterol thanks to their high fibre content. Degree of processing and functionality 3. Effect of processing on oat grain structure and constituents Despite being necessary for food safety, conservation, convenience, palatability and digestibility, processing can generate foods whose regular consumption has been associated with the development of chronic lifestyle related diseases i.

Effect of processing on oat functionality As we had previously underlined, processing can influence the oat matrix qualitative effect and its composition quantitative effect. Synergistic action of oat constituents In their article published in , Jacobs and co-workers clearly presented the concept of food synergy 24 and later, in , Fardet and co-workers showed the necessity for nutrition research to move towards a holistic, integrative approach.

Oat cholesterol-reducing agents Oat groat is rich in a wide range of bioactive compounds, some of them present in small quantities. Food matrix effect and synergy As discussed in section 3, the degree of complexity of the food matrix and its structural organisation can have an impact on health by acting on two levels, the macro- and micro-scales. Conclusion One of the main challenges faced today by the industry is to find the right balance between none or little food processing and high levels of food transformation.

Conflicts of interest The authors are not aware of any affiliations, memberships, funding, or financial holdings that might be perceived as affecting the objectivity of this review. References Stewart D. Food Agric. Feed Sci. Food Carbohydr. LWT - Food Sci. Food Chem. Food Sci. Food Hydrocolloids. Webster and P. Cereal Chem. Food Struct. Cahill A. Inglett G. Vasanthan T. Morgan K. Bhatty R. Gangopadhyay N. Cereal Sci.

Food Nutr. JPEN, J. Enteral Nutr. Diabetes Metab. Current Biotica. Public Health. Cereal Foods World. Colloid Interface Sci. PLoS One. Saude Publica. Public Health Nutr. Nishinari, Elsevier, London, , pp.

Mariotti, , p. Food Eng. Korean Med. Schweizer and C. Edwards, Springer-Verlag, London, , ch. Trends Food Sci. AOAC Int. Lipids Health Dis. Free Radicals Biol. Genes Nutr. Lipid Res. Food Res. Expert Opin. Support Center Support Center.

External link. Please review our privacy policy. Yeast-leavened oat bran breads containing BG of low or high average molecular weight. Rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, walnuts may also help keep blood vessels more healthy and elastic. When walnuts represent 20 percent of the calories in a cholesterol-lowering diet, they reduce LDL cholesterol by 12 percent.

Almonds appear to have a similar effect. All nuts are high in calories, so use them as replacements for high-calorie foods with high levels of saturated fats.

Omega-3 fatty acids in fish are noted for lowering triglycerides, another form of fat in your blood. They also benefit the heart in other ways. The highest levels of omega-3 fatty acids are in mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna and salmon. Other good sources of omega-3 fatty acids include flaxseed, walnuts, canola oil and soybean oil.