The Effects of Barley-Derived Soluble Fiber on Serum Lipids

Abstract

PURPOSE We wanted to determine the association between consumption of barley and changes in plasma lipids in healthy and hypercholesterolemic men and women.METHODS A systematic literature search was conducted from the earliest possible date through January 2008. Trials were included in the analysis if they were randomized controlled trials of barley that reported effi cacy data on at least 1 lipid endpoint. A DerSimonian and Laird random-effects model was used in calculating the weighted mean difference (WMD) and its 95% confi dence interval (CI). Statistical heterogeneity was addressed using the I 2 statistic. Visual inspection of funnel plots, Egger's weighted regression statistics, and the trim and fi ll method were used to assess for publication bias. RESULTSWe found 8 trials (n = 391 patients) of 4 to 12 weeks' duration evaluating the lipid-reducing effects of barley. The use of barley signifi cantly lowered total cholesterol (weighted mean difference [WMD], -13.38 mg/dL; 95% CI, -18.46 to -8.31 mg/dL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (WMD, -10.02 mg/dL; 95% CI, -14.03 to -6.00 mg/dL) and triglycerides (WMD, -11.83 mg/dL; 95% CI, -20.12 to -3.55 mg/dL) but did not appear to signifi cantly alter highdensity lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (P = .07).CONCLUSION Barley-derived β-glucan appears to benefi cially affect total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and triglycerides, but not HDL-cholesterol.

Beta-glucan- or rice bran-enriched foods: a comparative crossover clinical trial on lipidic pattern in mildly hypercholesterolemic men

“…The effect of dietary fiber on cholesterol metabolism has been studied extensively (Keys et al, 1960;Burkitt et al, 1974;Trowell, 1975), even if results between studies on the effects of different kinds of fibers on LDL-cholesterol concentrations are variable (Anderson, 1987;McIntosh et al, 1991;Talati et al, 2009). This variability may be due to several Beta-glucans or rice bran on lipidic pattern M Rondanelli et al factors, such as fiber intake, baseline serum cholesterol concentrations, mode of administration, food matrix, and solubility or molecular weight of the fiber.…”

“…The protective effects of dietary fiber against cardiovascular disease (CVD), mediated through a reduction in serum lipids, were first reported 440 years ago by Keys et al (1960); later research led to the dietary fiber hypothesis proposed by Burkitt et al (1974) and Trowell (1975) that states that a high intake of starchy carbohydrates and fiber is protective against CVD. Many trials showed a hypocholesterolemic effect of an increased intake of fiber from cereals, such as barley, rice and oats; the active component in barley has been identified as beta-glucans, which reduces serum total cholesterol by 5-10% (according to Anderson, 1987;McIntosh et al, 1991;Shimizu et al, 2008;Talati et al, 2009) and by 20% (according to Behall et al, 2004), although not all studies (Keogh et al, 2003) showed barley beta-glucans to be hypocholesterolemic.…”

In This Issue: Practice, Research, and Reflection

“…13 Jerant and colleagues explore how personality factors may create important biases in response to surveys of primary care patients.…”

Scientific Opinion on the substantiation of a health claim related to barley beta-glucans and lowering of blood cholesterol and reduced risk of (coronary) heart disease pursuant to Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006

“…The second meta-analysis (Talati et al, 2009) included eight studies (13 treatment arms, 391 subjects), seven of which (Biörklund et al, 2005;Keenan et al, 2007;Keogh et al, 2003;Li et al, 2003;McIntosh et al, 1991;Newman et al, 1989;Shimizu et al, 2008) were already included in the meta-analysis by AbuMweis et al (2010). The additional study (Lupton et al, 1994) was a randomised, parallel, 30-day intervention trial in 79 hypercholesterolaemic subjects.…”