Oats Lower Cholesterol: Maybe? :

Every time sciences finds a good correlation between food and health - a food manufacturer will try to isolate it and oversell it.

This is the case with oats. Oats are a great food - particularly for breakfast - but Quaker have taken it a bit too far calling their oats "The Cholesterol Hunter".

A recent review of research found that patients who were consuming oatmeal foods (for more than 4 weeks) had lower LDL cholesterol. LDL cholesterol declined 6.9mg/dL. In the scheme of things this isn't much.

LDL cholesterol ratings - mg/dL (according to NHLBI ):

• <100 Optimal
• 100-129 Near optimal/above optimal
• 130-159 Borderline high
• 160-189 High
• >=190 Very high

Quaker took things a bit further - claiming that Quaker Oatmeal "goes in and actually soaks up extra cholesterol and removes it from your body".

This is a gross exaggeration - however the people at CSPI have forced Quaker to change their advertising.

The case highlights how health benefits are often overstated in marketing material. Expect to see a lot more of this as functional foods continue to grow in popularity.

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