Eating nothing but oatmeal for just two days might sound extreme, but it delivered a striking payoff in a new clinical trial. People with metabolic syndrome who followed a short, calorie-reduced oat-based plan saw their harmful LDL cholesterol drop by 10%, along with modest weight loss and lower blood pressure. Even more surprising, the cholesterol benefits were still visible six weeks later.
Cholesterol-lowering effects of oats induced by microbially produced phenolic metabolites in metabolic syndrome: a randomized controlled trial
I feel bad that I’m not prepared to try to read and comprehend this entire document.
What I got so far is that people on a diet of oats boiled in water three times a day saw a significant change in cholesterol levels. People who ate it once a day saw potentially beneficial changes to their gut biome but no significant change to cholesterol levels.
I’m not eating water-boiled oatmeal three times a day, but if there is a more palatable message here (see what I did there?), I think it perhaps validates that oats really are good for you.
For two days. The surprising thing about this was that the benefits took two days. It’s not a permanent diet.
Well okay, but how long does it take to go back to where you were if you stop?
What do you do here? Periodically do an oat cleanse? Try to replicate the effects of the oats in a medicine or dietary supplement that can be administered?
In the article, it states after two days of 300g of oatmeal per day + small amounts of fruits/veggies, beneficial effects to cholesterol were still measurable after 6 weeks of participants returning to their normal diet
The study only followed up after 6 weeks, but they noted the group that ate only oats for 2 days still showed positive effects at that time compared to a control group.
Also worth noting that the researchers compared a “2 day oat cleanse” of sorts to a control group of controlled calorie intake, then separately a group who ate oatmeal once a say for 6 weeks compared to a control group that maintained their usual diets. The oatmeal over 6 weeks group stabilized certain metabolic markers but the change wasn’t as drastic as in the 2 day oats only group. Also worth noting that all the subjects had Metabolic Syndrome, so essentially pre-diabetic exhibiting obesity and showing effects from that, so effects on healthy individuals may be different.
To your point about medicine or supplements, the researchers were specifically trying to identify the causal link between oat digestion and cholesterol effects. They posit it has to do with the way the gut biome digests them and chemicals they release. So that could theoretically be put in a supplement form, but the interest is drawn from the fact that oats are generally cheap and widely available. They make for a very good intervention option.
I don’t hate oats by the way!