Research affirms oats’ heart healthy effects

by PATRICIA GROTENHUIS

An Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada researcher hopes that new research will increase demand for oats.

Study results released this week from an international team of researchers indicates oat bran can lower cholesterol levels.

“I am hoping that this project raises awareness of the importance of including oat bran-containing foods in the Canadian diet, and increases demand for oats and oat foods,” says Dr. Susan Tosh of the Guelph Food Research Centre, one of the researchers working on the study.

Tosh adds increasing levels of high soluble fibre in diets, such as oat-based foods, lowers heart disease rates.

Just what the implications of an increased demand might have on Ontario’s oat crop is difficult to predict, says Susan Murray, a spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

“I can’t speculate about what market demands might be, however Eastern Canadian oats (from Ontario and Quebec) do have a larger share of the market now than they did historically,” says Murray.

She attributes the increase in market share to a recent local sourcing commitment by the Peterborough Quaker Plant.

Over the past several years, the average Ontario oat crop has been 85,000 acres in recent years.

Researchers probed test subjects fed a variety of cereals twice a day for four weeks. Through the course of the study, they determined cereals which contained beta-gluten from oat bran had a lowering effect on LDL cholesterol.

The study ran from July, 2007 to July, 2010. Participants were from Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.

Other participating researchers were from Australia, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. BF