Cholesterol-lowering effects of certain grains and of oat fractions in the chick.

Abstract

SummaryThe plasma cholesterol-lowering activity of whole ground oats and its components was studied in chicks fed hypercholesterolemic diets. Oat hulls were most effective whereas oat starch and oat oil had no cholesterol-lowering activity. Liver lipids and cholesterol were also significantly reduced by whole oats and oat hulls, and, to a lesser extent, by dehulled oats. In contrast to observations made with pectin or scleroglucan, fecal lipids and sterols were not increased by the feeding of whole oats or oat hulls.