Benefits of Oats

While we have listed the numerous health benefits of oats, it is important to first understand what oat beta-glucan is:

What is Oat Beta-Glucan?

Oat beta-glucan is a type of fibre, which has the ability to absorb large amounts of water. This forms a thick gel within the stomach which traps cholesterol in the digestive system. These soluble fibres are naturally present in oats at a significantly high level compared to other grains. The action of trapping cholesterol in the digestive system helps to stop it circulating in the blood stream. The oat beta-glucans from oat based cereals also contributes to a reduction in the rise of blood glucose after a meal.

Oat products have had many medicinal and cosmetic purposes but the specific role of oat beta-glucan was not properly explored until the 20th century. It was in 1969 that Peter J Wood helped to isolate and then characterise the structure and bioactive elements of oat beta-glucan, however it wasn’t until 1984 when public interest arose because of reports of its cholesterol lowering effect.

It was then in 1997 when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US approved the claim that the intake of 3g of oat beta-glucan from oats, may reduce the risk of heart disease (when consumed as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol), following a detailed review of 33 different clinical studies.

This paved the way for Doctor’s and dieticians to recommend the intake of a specific food in order to tackle a disease, because it was the first time a public health agency had supported such a claim.

Since then, the consumption of oats has continued to be linked to disease prevention with noted effects on ischemic heart disease and stroke prevention, but also in other areas like reducing body mass index (BMI) and lowering blood pressure.

References: wikipedia.org

Scientific Approval

Oat beta-glucan has been subject to many scientific studies and has been recognised by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which has officially confirmed oat beta-glucan’s health-promoting effects (EFSA Journal 2010;8(12):1885).

On 15 November the EU Commission gave final authorisation on the oat
beta-glucan disease risk reduction health claim and published in the Official Journal of European Union.