Don’t Throw Out the Oat Bran Yet : Cholesterol: A new study shows that people who eat the fiber responsibly do reduce their fat intake.

As if there have not been enough studies to make oat bran puff up with pride or deflate with embarrassment, out comes yet another one from Syracuse University, released in the Journal of the American Dietetic Assn., that finds oat bran’s benefits not unfounded, but highly overrated.

And, as expected, there is not much to link the Syracuse study to the Boston study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine in January, which debunked the cholesterol-lowering effects in oat bran, except it’s substitution effect: that when adding oat bran to the diet, people tend to cut down on other foods, thus reducing their total fat intake.

According to the American Medical Assn., researchers Jean Bowering Ph.D. and a registered dietitian, and Wendy Demark-Wahnefried Ph.D. and a registered dietitian, in a study funded by Syracuse University Faculty Senate Grant and by Quaker Oats Co., found that oat bran’s benefits are not unfounded but over-hyped.

“The problem is that oat bran was riding a popularity wave--it was the darling of the advertising world and it really didn’t deserve to be. The proliferation of junk food fortified with oat bran (doughnuts sprinkled with oat bran, for example) was ridiculous. I would be pleased if this study resulted in the removal of oat bran junk food from the market. However, let’s not throw out the baby with the bath water.”

Demark-Wahnefried thinks consumers should use oat bran responsibly. “While it is good to include it in your diet, it is no ‘magic bullet.”’

Looking at oat bran’s effect on the daily diet, researchers determined that its cholesterol-fighting properties may have been overestimated by the public.

However, the researchers caution that abandoning oat bran as a dietary supplement may be premature and note that the study does support existing research that fat modified and oat bran-supplemented diets can lower serum cholesterol.

During the three month analysis, 68 people between ages 20 and 65 with high cholesterol levels were asked to modify their diets. One group ate a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet; a second group ate the same diet but added 50 grams of oat bran daily (a large bowl of hot oat bran cereal). A third group continued with its regular eating habits, adding 50 grams of oat bran a day. A fourth group added only a ready-to-eat cereal with 42.5 grams of processed oat bran each day.

Those in the first group reduced their cholesterol levels by 17%, while those who ate the same diet along with oat bran reduced their cholesterol levels by 13%. Groups three and four; those who continued their regular eating habits but added oat bran--reduced their cholesterol levels by 12 and 10.1%, respectively. Researchers note that the differences among the four groups are not statistically significant.

“All groups experienced reduced cholesterol levels,” said Demark-Wahnefried. “This indicates that a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet and oat bran supplementation were equally effective. However, she notes, “The results indicate that oat bran did not have an additive effect when combined with a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet.”

Demark-Wahnefried says that the oat bran groups may have experienced a reduced cholesterol level because of a “substitution effect.” She explained that those eating oat bran--which is considered bulk--were less hungry and therefore less likely to consume foods high in fat and cholesterol.

However, Demark-Wahnefried points out that the substitution effect is not the sole mechanism. “Further research on larger populations is necessary before any firm conclusions can be drawn,” said Demark-Wahnefried.