from the nothing-is-better-for-thee-than-me dept.
Study by the University of Bonn shows that positive effects are still evident even six weeks later:
A short-term oat-based diet appears to be surprisingly effective at reducing the cholesterol level. This is indicated by a trial by the University of Bonn, which has now been published in the journal Nature Communications. The participants suffered from a metabolic syndrome – a combination of high body weight, high blood pressure, and elevated blood glucose and blood lipid levels. They consumed a calorie-reduced diet, consisting almost exclusively of oatmeal, for two days. Their cholesterol levels then improved significantly compared to a control group. Even after six weeks, this effect remained stable. The diet apparently influenced the composition of microorganisms in the gut. The metabolic products, produced by the microbiome, appear to contribute significantly to the positive effects of oats.
The fact that oats have a beneficial effect on the metabolism is nothing new. German medic Carl von Noorden treated patients with diabetes with the cereal at the beginning of the 20th century – with remarkable success. "Today, effective medications are available to treat patients with diabetes," explains Marie-Christine Simon, junior professor at the Institute of Nutritional and Food Science at the University of Bonn. "As a result, this method has been almost completely overlooked in recent decades."
Although the test subjects in the current trial were not diabetic, they suffered from a metabolic syndrome associated with an increased risk of diabetes. The characteristics include excess body weight, high blood pressure, an elevated blood sugar level, and lipid metabolism disorders. "We wanted to know how a special oat-based diet affects patients," explains Simon, who is also a member of the Transdisciplinary Research Areas "Life & Health" and „Sustainable Futures" at the University of Bonn.
The participants were asked to exclusively eat oatmeal, which they had previously boiled in water, three times a day. They were only allowed to add some fruit or vegetables to their meals. A total of 32 women and men completed this oat-based diet. They ate 300 grams of oatmeal on each of the two days and only consumed around half of their normal calories. A control group was also put on a calorie-reduced diet, although this did not consist of oats.
Both groups benefited from the change in diet. However, the effect was much more pronounced for the participants who followed the oat-based diet. "The level of particularly harmful LDL cholesterol fell by 10 percent for them – that is a substantial reduction, although not entirely comparable to the effect of modern medications," stresses Simon. "They also lost two kilos in weight on average and their blood pressure fell slightly."
[...] But how does oatmeal exert its beneficial effect? "We were able to identify that the consumption of oatmeal increased the number of certain bacteria in the gut," explains Simon's colleague Linda Klümpen, the lead author of the trial. The microbiome has increasingly been the focus of research in recent decades. After all, it is now known that intestinal bacteria play a decisive role in metabolizing food. They also release the metabolic by-products that they create into their environment. They supply, among other things, the cells of the gut with energy, enabling them to better perform their tasks.
In addition, the microbes send some of their products around the body in the blood stream, where they can have various effects. "For instance, we were able to show that intestinal bacteria produce phenolic compounds by breaking down the oats," says Klümpen. "It has already been shown in animal studies that one of them, ferulic acid, has a positive effect on the cholesterol metabolism. This also appears to be the case for some of the other bacterial metabolic products." At the same time, other microorganisms "dispose of" the amino acid histidine. The body otherwise turns this into a molecule that is suspected of promoting insulin resistance. This insensitivity to insulin is a key feature of diabetes mellitus.
A large amount of oats for two days better than a small amount for six weeks
The positive effects of the oat-based diet tended to still be evident six weeks later. "A short-term oat-based diet at regular intervals could be a well-tolerated way to keep the cholesterol level within the normal range and prevent diabetes," says Junior Professor Simon. However, in the current study, the cereal above all exerted its effect at a high concentration and in conjunction with a calorie reduction: A six-week diet, in which the participants consumed 80 grams of oats per day, without any other restrictions, achieved small effects. "As a next step, it can now be clarified whether an intensive oat-based diet repeated every six weeks actually has a permanently preventative effect," continues Simon.
Journal Reference: Klümpen, L., Mantri, A., Philipps, M. et al. Cholesterol-lowering effects of oats induced by microbially produced phenolic metabolites in metabolic syndrome: a randomized controlled trial, Nature Communications, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68303-9
(Score: 4, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 24, @12:20PM
not follow too much of the nutritional advice. It would reverse your aging and you would eventually develop back into an embryo and eventually disappear.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Tuesday February 24, @01:58PM (14 children)
I didn't see any mention of the kind of oatmeal used. Quick oats? Rolled oats? Or steel cut oats?
I have read that quick oats and rolled oats release nutrients too fast. Steel cut oats are best, but they are less convenient to prepare. The others, you can just add water and microwave them for 1 or 3 minutes. But steel cut should be soaked for a while -- half an hour or longer.
(Score: 3, Touché) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday February 24, @02:06PM (1 child)
Too lazy to read TFA, I just want to mention: we just made big servings of steel cut oats for breakfast - does it still lower cholesterol when you add 1 tablespoon of butter per serving? I was wondering about the fat-equivalent comparing 1 tablespoon of butter in 1.5 cups of water vs 1.5 cups of whole milk without the butter - seems that it's almost identical, the whole milk might have a little more fat.
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(Score: 4, Touché) by corey on Tuesday February 24, @10:14PM
Yeah I didn’t read TFA too. It sounds like crap. So what did the people eat before switching to oats? KFC every lunch? They could eat almost anything and their cholesterol would come down.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday February 24, @02:08PM (9 children)
>steel cut should be soaked for a while -- half an hour or longer.
There are faster cooking preparations of steel cut oats that cook in about 7 minutes, we used to get them from Trader Joes but they quit selling them - only have the 20 minute cooking steel cut variety now. This morning's oats were 7 minute steel cut from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08FNGHYL4 [amazon.com]
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(Score: 2, Interesting) by pTamok on Tuesday February 24, @04:09PM (8 children)
I cook my rolled oats by first soaking in cold, salted water overnight, then adding milk, and s-l-o-w-l-y1 raising them to *almost* boiling point2. Proportions are (about) 7 oats - 8 water - 8 milk. Salt to taste. I'm not a fan of steel-cut/pinhead oats. If I want more flavour, I add a teaspoonful or so of some rolled rye/barley/wheat before soaking. No doubt the methods other people use suit them: I know someone who makes their porridge with oats and water in a microwave. Their taste is different to mine.
My approach does not pass the Scots purity test (only ingredients allowed for that are oats, water and salt, some allow you to toast the oats in a dry frying pan beforehand.) So I like milky porage/porridge. I'm a philistine [wiktionary.org].
Meta-analysis from 2016 showing a diet enriched with oat β-glucan is associated with a reduction of LDL levels: [nih.gov].
1 Ideally over a period of about 1 - 2 hours. Most mornings it's about 15 minutes. Stirring is essential unless the heating is very, very, gentle, otherwise you will get burnt porridge at the bottom and insufficiently cooked porridge at the top. Too much stirring gives you wallpaper paste: you need just the right amount. Getting porridge right requires attention, or very gentle heat over a long period. Rice pudding has similar characteristics.
2 Boiled milk tastes dreadful. Ultra-high temperature pasteurised ('UHT/sterilised' [wikipedia.org]) milk has the same 'off' flavour. I'm used to ordinary pasteurised [wikipedia.org] milk. I'm not one of those people that advocate for raw milk, although I had it when I visited my uncle who farmed a herd of Jerseys. He drank it every day and died from non-milk related causes.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday February 24, @06:28PM (7 children)
My approach does not pass the Scots purity test either, after cooking the oats are poured into a bowl containing a fat tablespoon of brown sugar dusted heavily with Ceylon cinnamon. I'm only about 20% Scottish.
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(Score: 1) by pTamok on Tuesday February 24, @07:05PM (6 children)
Heh, I diced fruit and drizzle with partially inverted sugar syrup. Demerara sugar is shockingly expensive around here. On special days, I use some maple syrup. About once a year I use full-fat milk, or drizzle with cream.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday February 24, @08:15PM (2 children)
I tried making it with full fat milk, the taste just wasn't worth the mess in the pot while cooking / risk of boil over etc.
We're in the state (Florida) that produces over half the sugar for the US - we've got white sugar, light brown sugar (my choice for oatmeal), dark brown sugar... you name it. Essentially, the "darkness" of the brown amounts to molasses content - you could get brown sugar flavor with white sugar + molasses, but molasses is messy to work with.
I used to add raisins on occasion, but they just don't do much for me.
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(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Wednesday February 25, @03:07PM (1 child)
Maybe I should try adding molasses to my oatmeal.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday February 25, @04:57PM
It's a subtle difference in flavor - I don't like much. For us it's a simple choice of scooping from one sugar container or the other. If you're using molasses directly, I'd probably try mixing it in the water before the oats have even started cooking, just to get an even distribution. Also, if you measure it in a spoon, you can rinse the spoon in the boiling water. Or, you can use the time honored cooking tradition of just pouring in "a dollop" but again, hot water will distribute it better than any other step of the process.
If you're looking for a reason to buy spices from an Indian market, Cardamom isn't bad along with the Cinnamon - never occurred to me to try Cardamom without the Cinnamon - maybe next time.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 25, @04:44AM (1 child)
> On special days, I use some maple syrup.
I take it maple syrup is expensive in your area? We're in a producing region (upstate NY) and once a year I drive about 20 minutes to buy a gallon straight from a dairy farm that also has a small sugaring operation. Last year it was $40/gallon (3.8 l) and that lasts just about a year for the two of us.
I'm not a big fan of the standard brown plastic syrup jugs, so once I get it home I decant into quart glass bottles (originally fruit juice) and store in the back of the fridge.
(Score: 1) by pTamok on Wednesday February 25, @01:18PM
Current price here is around USD 150 (one hundred and fifty) per US Gallon.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 25, @01:37PM
Are y'all talking about desserts or similar?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 24, @09:24PM
Mmmm... petrified and covered in hot grits
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Tuesday February 24, @10:23PM
That's too simple. Steel cut oats come in various degrees of fineness. Some are just the dried grain cut in half or thirds. others are more finely chopped. If speed of digestion is of concern, this will make a large difference. (FWIW, I prefer the oats only cut a couple of times, but that does mean longer cooking.)
OTOH, I suspect (without checking) that this study used rolled oats. Even those come in different thicknesses, however.
All that said, if you want slow digestion, just eat uncooked rolled oats. (It sounded, though, like they didn't allow milk or cream with the oats, so that would be a bit unpleasant. But with milk the normal rolled oats, uncooked, are quite palatable, though I'd hardly call them delicious.)
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(Score: 5, Insightful) by VLM on Tuesday February 24, @02:23PM (2 children)
Notice how carefully they track LDL vs higher risk factors
The above three will kill you at a young age, and make you miserable along the way. Aside from circulatory system collapse, that'll kill kidneys and encourage cancer growth. Also some mental health/brain issues that seem to be related to very long term elevated blood glucose levels.
The fourth item matter unless you also simultaneously have the above three. I'm not convinced this is an issue beyond statistical artifact. To some extent lowering LDL levels to "save blood vessels" is like treating a a gunshot wound using leeches. The cause and effect seem absent. Trying to prevent heart damage by controlling LDL is like claiming you "cured" kidney damage caused by uncontrolled diabetes blood sugar levels via dialysis; it would be slightly more intelligent not to destroy the kidneys in the first place. Same situation with LDL.
An ultra high carb diet will make the dangerous first three much worse, although it may reduce the comparatively harmless fourth value.
Are you fucking kidding me? This is like 1950s research funded by tobacco companies that the healthiest thing you can do is smoke cigarettes. Some stuff never changes. Names, places... but not the story. This is the same thing.
This is worse than an AI story its literally just corporate propaganda. If you're gonna lie, go for the big lie I guess. Disgusting to see this portrayed as "science".
(Score: 3, Funny) by shrewdsheep on Tuesday February 24, @04:34PM
Nutritional research can always be safely ignored. Relevant factors: amount of calories: 90%, type of calories: 10%.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by HiThere on Tuesday February 24, @10:28PM
Whole oats, rolled or not, are not a normal high carb diet. I'd be a bit suspicious, and want replicated studies, but I wouldn't just discount this study.
OTOH, that does sound like a very low protein diet, so not something that one should be on for an extended period of time. But three days probably isn't a problem for anyone. It's got lots of fiber, and a carb that's digested rather slowly.
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(Score: 2) by RedGreen on Tuesday February 24, @06:10PM (2 children)
My mother could get me and my brother to eat oatmeal when a child was by putting massive amounts of brown sugar on it. I am thinking I would require the same thing now to get me even to have a go at it.
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(Score: 3, Informative) by Deep Blue on Tuesday February 24, @09:22PM
Nah, just small drop of butter and milk. That's the way to go.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by HiThere on Tuesday February 24, @10:34PM
If you want to do it as a rather healthy and tasty (though perhaps not delicious) meal, you could cook the oatmeal, and just as it's starting to boil drop a couple of eggs in. Stir until the eggs are done, add some curry powder, and then serve.
OTOH, I've never had a problem with cholesterol. If you do, add some other choice, but not sugar or other starch.
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(Score: 4, Interesting) by istartedi on Tuesday February 24, @06:21PM (2 children)
IMHO, it's got the same defects as any other "crash diet". Sure you'll extend your life; but you'll start to wonder what the point of living is. I'd be more interested in a study that involved incorporating the oats in to a diet that people would find to be enjoyable indefinitely. For example, oats were a component of the meat loaf my parents made. What might the benefit of that be? Love a good meat loaf. Not gonna eat the "oat based diet" outlined in the summary.
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(Score: 5, Insightful) by c0lo on Tuesday February 24, @09:30PM (1 child)
"Two Days of Oatmeal..." Fer God sake, two, only 2 days, you call that diet?
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(Score: 1) by istartedi on Tuesday February 24, @11:46PM
OK, ya got me. That's what I get for skimming. Would delete if this were like the other social media sites.
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(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 24, @07:38PM
Oatmeal and potatoes are high in magnesium which may cause problems
for people taking those, correct ??