What’s So Healthful About Oats?

What’s so healthful about oats? In a word: beta-glucan. Beta-glucan, as Judy Foreman tells us in this short piece in the Boston Globe, is a natural anti-inflammatory agent that suppresses the body’s production of certain cytokines. Foreman reports that a 2007
study of more than 27,000 post-menopausal women followed for 17 years,
concluded that eating whole grains such as oats was linked to a lower
risk of death from diseases that are triggered by inflammation,
including heart disease and diabetes.
Wait, there’s more: an analysis of data pooled from 10 studies published in 2007 by the
Cochrane Collaboration touted the benefits of whole grains for lowering both LDL
("bad" cholesterol) and total cholesterol in people diagnosed as being
at risk for coronary heart disease. Eight of the 10 studies involved
only oats, and seven of those found a clear, beneficial effect.  The
researchers cautioned, however, that even though studies show a
consistent, positive effect, most are short-term and are paid for by
companies that sell oat products.
More from the Boston Globe’s Judy Foreman.