Two-Day Oatmeal Diet Cuts LDL Cholesterol by About 10% for Six Weeks, Study Finds

Overview

• A two-day diet centered on oatmeal lowered LDL and total cholesterol by roughly 10%, with reductions persisting up to six weeks after participants resumed their usual eating.
• Participants on the short regimen lost about 2 kilograms on average and had a slight immediate drop in blood pressure.
• The intensive protocol assigned 17 adults to consume about 300 grams of oats per day at roughly half their typical calories within a study of 32 people with metabolic syndrome.
• A separate six-week trial in which participants replaced one daily meal with oats showed no measurable change in LDL or total cholesterol.
• Investigators linked the effect to shifts in gut microbial metabolites and emphasized the small, preliminary nature of the findings, calling for larger randomized trials to confirm and test repeat use.