Rice Bran Oil May Reduce Cholesterol

Oil in rice bran helps lower cholesterol, according to a studyreported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (January2005). The researchers based their findings on the results of 2studies.

The first study included 26 men and women randomly assignedto a low-fiber diet. The participants ate 22 g of fiber daily, or a high-fiberdiet with defatted rice bran, in which they ate 2 times as muchfiber as the other group. At the conclusion of the 5-week study,none of the participants showed significant changes in their overallblood cholesterol levels. The researchers were surprised tolearn that the participants in the defatted rice bran group had elevatedlevels of low-density lipoprotein ("bad") cholesterol.

In the second 10-week study, which was broken into 5-weekperiods, 14 participants were followed on 2 diets. During the first5-week period, the participants ate one third of their total dietaryfat in the form of a blend of peanut oil, olive oil, corn oil, canola oil,palm oil, and butter. The second 5-week phase replaced the oilblend with rice bran oil. At the conclusion of the study, lead author,Marlene M. Most, PhD, said that the study participants'cholesterollevels were the lowest when their diets included rice bran oil.