Cardiac Risk Factor
Dietary oat fiber reduces need for antihypertensive medication
By Fam Pract 2002;51:353-359,369.
Apr 26, 2002, 7:47am

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Daily consumption of whole-grain oat cereal reduces blood pressure, and in patients already using antihypertensive medication, allows a decrease in dosage, investigators in Minnesota report.

In one of two separate trials, Joel J. Pins, of the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis, and colleagues randomized volunteers with hypertension to 137 grams of oat cereal daily, with approximately 12 grams of total fiber and 6 grams of soluble fiber. The control groups consumed wheat cereals with total fiber of approximately 3 grams and soluble fiber of <1.1 grams.

The researchers report in the April issue of The Journal of Family Practice that among the 45 subjects consuming oats daily, 73% were able to reduce their blood pressure medication. After 12 weeks, mean total cholesterol dropped by 15% and LDL cholesterol by 16%, and blood glucose levels improved significantly. However, during a 6-week followup after the trial , two-thirds had to resume their previous dose of medication.

In comparison, 42% the 43 subjects given the wheat cereal diet were able to decrease their dose of antihypertensive medication but experienced no significant reduction in total cholesterol or LDL cholesterol.

In a second study, the Minneapolis investigators assigned 18 untreated hypertensives with average systolic blood pressure of 130 to 160 mm Hg and diastolic pressure of 85 to 100 mm Hg to a similar intervention or control diet. Again, those in the oat cereal group, but not in the control group, experienced a "statistically and clinically significant decrease" in blood pressure after 6 weeks. Changes in cholesterol were also similar.

"Physicians may be justified in recommending to their hypertensive patients a dietary regimen that includes the daily consumption of whole-grain oats (equaling 6 grams of soluble fiber) in conjunction with their usual therapy," Pins and his associates conclude

© Copyright 2002, All Rights Reserved -Center For Clinical Age Management, Inc.