Oats may keep arteries out of sticky situations

[Guest guest]

Oats may keep arteries out of sticky situations

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3741/is_6_52/ai_n6070017

Agricultural Research, June, 2004

by Rosalie Marion Bliss

 

Scientists funded by ARS have discovered that certain compounds in oats

hinder the ability of blood cells to stick to artery walls.

 

The findings were reported by nutritionist Mohsen Meydani and fellow

scientists at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at

Tufts

University, Boston, Massachusetts. Meydani is director of the center's Vascular

Biology Laboratory.

 

The oat compounds are called avenanthramides. The research team recently

found that they significantly suppressed adhesive molecules that " glue " blood

cells to artery walls. When blood cells stick to--and cause inflammation of--the

artery wall, plaques build up. That accumulation--called atherosclerosis--can

eventually block the blood vessel. The suppression provided by avenanthramides

in oats may prevent this narrowing of the passageways through which blood

flows.

 

To test the compounds' antiatherosclerotic activity, the scientists purified

avenanthramides from oats and exposed them to human arterial wall cells over a

24-hour period. After observing the mixture under incubation, Meydani found

significant reductions in both the expression of adhesion molecules and the

sticking of blood cells to arterial wall cells.

 

A Double Benefit

 

The research findings ramp up oats' already heart-healthy reputation--earned

because of their high fiber content. Fiber washes cholesterol from the

digestive system that would otherwise be released into the bloodstream.

Cholesterol

is a waxy substance, 85 percent of which is produced by the body--mainly in the

liver and small intestine. That 85 percent provides the essential cholesterol

the body needs, for example, to produce sex hormones and protect nerve

fibers.

 

The sticking point is that when carrier molecules, called apoproteins,

combine with non-water-soluble cholesterol (meaning it doesn't dissolve in

blood),

they form lipoproteins. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is considered " bad "

cholesterol that accumulates as it travels throughout the body. High-density

lipoprotein (HDL) actually washes excess cholesterol from arteries and then

ferries

it to the liver so it can be eliminated. Water-soluble fiber in oats is

believed to help reduce the amount of LDL cholesterol circulating in blood.

 

" Adding oat products as part of an overall healthy diet and cutting down on

high-fat, high-cholesterol foods are important to gaining these benefits, " says

Meydani.

 

His group filed a patent on the function of avenanthramides present in oats,

based on their anti-inflammatory and antiatherogenic effects.

 

As a grain, oats can be found in foods such as enriched cereals and breads;

as rolled oats, in oatmeal; and as oat bran, in muffins or other baked foods.

Meydani hopes a plant breeder or genetic engineer will create oats with high

levels of avenanthramides.

 

This research is part of Human Nutrition, an ARS National Program (#107)

described on the World Wide Web at www.nps.ars.usda.gov

 

Mohsen Meydani is with the USDA-ARS Vascular Biology Laboratory, Jean Mayer

USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, 711

Washington St., Boston, MA 02111-1524; phone (617) 556-3126, fax (617) 556-3224,

e-mail mohsen.meydani.

 

COPYRIGHT 2004 U.S. Government Printing Office COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

The flip side the report doesn't mention is that bad component of

oats outweighs the good. Nutritionists commonly fail to note that

oats are a bad food because they feed bowel disorders, which thrive

on carbohydrates. Bowel disorders are known to be epidemic precisely

because of advice that advocates oats, brown rice or whole grains (in

addition to people just " liking " carbs).

 

On the candidiasis group (candidiasis)

we have a lot of members with IBS and a few with IBD; we AVOID high-

carbohydrate foods to get the bowel disorders back under control.

 

Vitamin E makes platelets slippery too, without imposing carbs on the

bowel; since we take vitamin E anyway, it renders the oats

unnecessary.

 

Similarly, when other antioxidants are taken, the lesions that

attract low density cholesterol and plaque in the first place fail to

occur (see subclinical scurvey - Dr. Rath).

 

Carb foods and grains bad foods for other reasons too; Google

glycation and see what I mean.

 

Bonnie