Down-regulation of partial substitution for staple food by oat noodles on blood lipid levels: A randomized, double-blind, clinical trial

Miao-Yu Liao a,b, You-Cheng Shen c, Hui-Fang Chiu d, Siew-Moi Ten e, Yan-Ying Lu f, Yi-Chun Han e, Kamesh Venkatakrishnan e, Shun-Fa Yang a,g,**,1, Chin-Kun Wang e,*,1

a Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, 110, Sec. 1, Jianguo North Road, Taichung City, 40201, Taiwan

b Department of Family Medicine, Taichung Hospital Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taichung, 40301, Taiwan

c School of Health Diet and Industry Management, Chung Shan Medical University, 110, Sec. 1, Jianguo North Road, Taichung City, 40201, Taiwan

d Department of Chinese Medicine, Taichung Hospital Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taichung, 40301, Taiwan

e School of Nutrition, Chung Shan Medical University, 110, Sec. 1, Jianguo North Road, Taichung City, 40201, Taiwan

f Department of Neurology, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, 110, Sec. 1, Jianguo North Road, Taichung City, 40201, Taiwan

g Department of Medical Research, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, 110, Sec. 1, Jianguo North Road, Taichung City, 40201, Taiwan

This clinical trial was conducted to assess the lipid-lowering activity of oat noodles by replacing partial staple food (wheat or rice noodle) in normal and mildly hypercholesterolemic subjects. Totally 84 healthy and mild hypercholesterolemic subjects were recruited and divided into 2 groups as experimental (oat noodles) and placebo (wheat noodles) and instructed to consume 100 g of oat noodles or wheat noodles (replacing one or two meals/day) for 10 weeks and followed by 2 weeks of follow up (without noodle consumption).

Various anthropometric measurements and biochemical analysis were carried out during initial (baseline), 2nd, 6th, 10th and 12th week (follow-up). Consumption of oat noodles by replacing staple food for 10 weeks significantly reduced (**p < 0.01) the levels of total cholesterol (TC; 17.46%) and low-density lipoprotein LDL-c (19.03%) in both healthy and mildly hypercholesterolemic subjects. However, the hypocholesterolemic effect is significantly higher in mildly hypercholesterolemic subjects as compared with normal subjects. A pronounced decline (*p < 0.05) in the levels of various cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) markers including TC/HDL and LDL/HDL ratios and blood pressure (SBP; 11.09% and DBP; 7.48%) were observed in oat noodles supplemented subjects as equivalence with the placebo group. The partial replacement of staple food with oat noodle could considerably improve the health status of all subjects especially in hypercholesterolemic subjects and thus lower the risk of CVDs.

Keywords: Hypercholesterolemic, Oat noodles, Total cholesterol, Blood pressure, Staple food