Is Oat Soluble Fiber Better Than Other Soluble Fiber For Cholesterol?

Keeping your blood cholesterol levels within target is a good strategy to lower your risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. Your food choices can have a significant effect on your blood cholesterol concentrations, and adding soluble fiber to your diet can help you reach your goals more easily.

Cholesterol Targets

The current recommendations suggest keeping your total cholesterol level below 200 mg/dL, while the target for LDL cholesterol varies depending on your cardiovascular risk. For example, people at very high risk should keep LDL cholesterol below 70 mg/dL, people with diabetes and some risk factors should aim for below 100 mg/dL, while healthy people can have LDL cholesterol levels of 130 mg/dL or lower. It is also advised to keep triglyceride levels below 150 mg/dL and HDL cholesterol levels above 40 mg/dL for men and above 50 mg/dL for women.

Types of Fiber

Fiber is divided into two main categories. First, insoluble fiber corresponds to the fiber that goes through the digestive system without breaking down and it has the role of giving bulk to the stools and preventing constipation. Insoluble fiber is found in whole grains, wheat bran and some fruits and vegetables.

Soluble fiber constitutes a type of fiber able to absorb fluid, which results in the formation of a type of gel. The soluble fiber in this gel can bind with some fatty acids eaten at the same meal and prevent them from being absorbed, which results in lower blood cholesterol levels, especially LDL cholesterol levels, and a smoother elevation of your blood sugar levels after the meal.

Cholesterol-Lowering Potential of Soluble Fiber

The fiber contained in oats, psyllium and flaxseeds is mainly soluble. According to the January 1999 issue of the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition," each gram of soluble fiber from oats can reduce LDL cholesterol levels by 1.4 mg/dL, while each gram of soluble from psyllium can lower LDL cholesterol by 1.1 mg/dL. Guar gum and pectin also have LDL-lowering properties, which correspond to a potential reduction of 1.1 mg/dL and 2.7 mg/dL, respectively, per gram of soluble fiber consumed. Flaxseeds also contain soluble fiber, which have the ability to lower blood cholesterol.

Best Soluble Fiber

Oat fiber is effective at lowering cholesterol levels, but it is not better than other types of soluble fiber that can be found in psyllium, flaxseeds, pectin and guar gum. Therefore, you can benefit from adding soluble fiber from a variety of sources to increase your chances of getting enough soluble fiber in your diet and prevent boredom. To be effective, soluble fiber needs to be included at most of your meals, so it is a good idea to get them from different sources to increase your options. For example, you could have oatmeal for breakfast, add ground flaxseeds to your yogurt at lunchtime and include some psyllium husk in your meatloaf for dinner. Alternatively, you could add some psyllium to your glass of water at breakfast, sprinkle oat bran in your unsweetened applesauce at lunch and sneak some ground flaxseeds in your pasta. You can also include eggplants, okra, oranges and apples as additional sources of soluble fiber to your diet.