
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 22, 1990                   TAG: 9003222593
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/3   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS                                 LENGTH: Medium

STUDIES CITE OAT BRAN BENEFITS

Experts are still unsure whether oatmeal will make you live longer, but a new study suggests that to do much good, you'll have to eat an awful lot of it.

In theory, at least, the watersoluble fiber in oatmeal, oat bran, psyllium and some other foods will lower the body's cholesterol levels.

This idea catapulted oat bran into one of the hottest food crazes of the 1980s as bakers and brewers offered oat bran doughnuts, oat bran potato chips, even oat bran beer.

But a new study suggests that the often minuscule amount of oat bran in many of these products is probably worthless.

The latest study found that to noticeably lower their cholesterol, people had to eat two bowls of oat bran or three bowls of oatmeal each day.

And although their cholesterol levels dropped while eating this much cereal, the study left open the possibility that they might have benefited simply because they were too full to eat bacon, sausages and other high-fat foods.

"Whether it's fat substitution or not, oat bran or oatmeal appears to lower cholesterol," said Dr. Michael Davidson of Rush Medical College in Chicago.

In the latest study, conducted on 140 people, the Chicago researchers directed by Davidson found that those who eat two bowls of oat bran lower their cholesterol levels more than 9 percent; three bowls of oatmeal seem to reduce it 7 percent.

However, it was unclear how much the volunteers changed other parts of their diet to offset their high daily consumption of cereal.

Davidson's study was presented Wednesday at a meeting of the American College of Cardiology, along with a study of psyllium conducted by Dr. Eleanor Levin of Kaiser Permanente Medical Group in Santa Clara, Calif.

She found that the psyllium-rich laxative Metamucil, taken twice a day, seems to modestly lower cholesterol, even if people are already eating low-fat food. Levin, a cardiologist, conducted the work while at George Washington University Medical Center in Washington.

In her study, 58 volunteers were randomly chosen to use either Metamucil or identical-looking packets of unsoluble fiber. But before they started, they went on the American Heart Association diet and lowered their fat consumption to 25 percent of their daily calories. This alone dropped their cholesterol levels 40 to 50 points.

When they began using the powders, which are dissolved in water, their cholesterol levels were still above 200, the amount considered to be safe. Over 16 weeks, the cholesterol levels of those using Metamucil dropped almost 6 percent, while those of the comparison group were unchanged.

One drawback of using Metamucil and other kinds of fiber is their effects on the digestive tract. In Levin's study, participants complained of flatulence and loose stools.

"It takes getting used to," she said.

by CNB