Oatmeal Reduce Cholesterol: True or False?



Posted: Friday, January 08, 2010

by
Feng Shui Absolutely

So does oatmeal reduce cholesterol in the body? We know that it is very important to have a low cho
lesterol intake in our diet and there many different foods that help you achieve that. Studies have shown that oatmeal does help significantly reduce the level of cholesterol you have in your blood.

There are many reasons to why the amount of cholesterol should concern you. A high level of cholesterol in your blood causes many health problems. These include thickening the arteries, which puts a pressure on the normal blood circulation. As a result, this affects the heart adversely leading to high blood pressure and other heart problems.

What is oatmeal and how does that help? Oatmeal is just coarse oats that are used as an ingredient in many food products. Most of these foods are cereals or foods normally eaten for breakfast such as porridge and muesli. Oatmeal is a complex carbohydrate meaning that it is slowly broken down through digestion to release sugar. This slow and steady release of sugar is beneficial for diabetic people.

Oatmeal is high in fiber and it is this quality that reduces cholesterol in the blood. Oatmeal is a soluble fiber and that means it is able to dissolve in water. This happens in the intestines after the oats are ingested.

This substance gets in the way of the LDL cholesterol from being passed onto the bloodstream as it is absorbed by the soluble fiber. Eventually, like fiber this goes out as waste from the body.

A lot of studies have been carried out on the effects of a high fiber diet including oatmeal. The results are highly supportive of the effectiveness of the reduction in cholesterol levels even though the processes are not yet clearly understood by the scientific community.

If you are looking to reduce your cholesterol level or just to maintain a healthy diet, it is easy to increase your fiber intake by eating oatmeal. As mentioned, most breakfast foods already include it and a lot of baked products also use it as an ingredient.

You should also remember that not every product that has the word 'oat' in it's name actually contain oatmeal and is therefore good for you. The best example for this is oatmeal cookies that are basically made up of sugar and fat. So, always check the label for the level of soluble fiber in the product before buying.


Visit the Cholesterol Scoop for more information on Cholesterol Ratio.
Henry Fong is a Feng Shui Consultant based in Malaysia. He provide Feng Shui consultation for both residential as well as commercial properties via his on-site as well as off-site services over the Net. www.henryfong.com
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