Cholesterol Control

The glucose and insulin levels in the blood-circulation after a meal (the postprandial blood-glucose and insulin response) differ with different foods, and are directly related to quantity of available glucose (sugar) consumed (glycemic load). A lower attenuated response is believed to benefit both healthy and diabetic people. The response to a food can be estimated by the glycemic index (GI). GI compares the cumulative blood glucose repsonse 2h after food intake with a control (glucose or white bread) containing the same amount (or load) of available glucose (normally 50 g).

Oat ß-glucans can attenuate the glycemic response. The mode of action is that the oat ß-glucans forms a viscous gel in the stomach and intestine, which encapsulates "fast carbohydrates" and hence delays the absorption of sugars. The slower rate of absorption reduces the requirement for excessive insulin response.

It has been shown that the GI of cereal products enriched in oat ß-glucans (GI = 52) were significantly lower than the GI for commercial oat-bran breakfast cereals (GI = 80) and white bread (GI = 100) (Jekins et al. 2002). Thus blood glucose levels can be moderated by eating food enriched with oat ß-glucan.