Bran reduces cholesterol saturation of bile

Abstract

More research seems to indicate that Mother was right when she brought bran cereal to the breakfast table. Rod M. McDougall, MD, of the University of Alberta, told the meeting of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in Montreal that he and colleagues first found that a daily 50-g bran cereal supplement desaturated the bile of nine gallstone patients with respect to cholesterol. This led them to speculate that bran acts to increase the daily excretion of bile acids, and perhaps cholesterol, by its ability to speed intestinal transit time. A further study in eight volunteers suggested that the hypothesis is correct. At the same meeting, C. Noel Williams, MD, and colleagues at Dalhousie University, Halifax, reported that a small group of young, healthy, normal-weight, oral contraceptive users showed a significant increase in molar percent cholesterol while eating a diet high in refined carbohydrates. The lithogenic index