High blood fat: Is brown rice or oatmeal better?

When you have high cholesterol, doctors often recommend eating whole grains to lower your blood cholesterol. Oats and brown rice are among the healthiest grains.

Both oats and brown rice are healthy foods. However, they affect blood lipids in two different ways, according to the US website Eating Well .

Both brown rice and oats are healthy foods.

PHOTO: AI

With oats, this whole grain contains a special type of soluble fiber called beta-glucan. Once in the intestine, beta-glucan attracts water to form a viscous gel, slowing the absorption of fat and cholesterol.

Not only that, the gel layer also retains bile salts, the main component of bile, which is synthesized by the liver from cholesterol to digest fat. When bile salts are excreted in the stool, the liver is forced to use more cholesterol in the blood to create new bile salts, thereby reducing the level of "bad" LDL cholesterol.

A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that eating as little as 3 grams of beta-glucan a day for several weeks can reduce LDL "bad" cholesterol by an average of 0.25 mmol/L. This amount of beta-glucan is equivalent to about 60-80 grams of oats. The effect is more pronounced in people with high blood fat or type 2 diabetes.

When it comes to lowering bad cholesterol, oats are one of the most effective whole grains.

Lowering LDL "bad" cholesterol: Oats more effective than brown rice

Meanwhile, with brown rice, its bran contains many beneficial compounds such as polyphenols and tocotrienol, a form of vitamin E. These substances have the ability to inhibit enzymes involved in the creation of cholesterol in the liver. In addition, polyphenols in the bran layer have the effect of protecting blood vessels and reducing the risk of atherosclerotic plaque formation.

Many studies have shown that the bran layer of brown rice contains compounds that can help reduce blood cholesterol. However, if you simply replace white rice with brown rice in your daily diet, the amount of bioactive compounds absorbed is often not high enough to produce a significant cholesterol-lowering effect.

Therefore, brown rice is beneficial for health in general, however, if the goal is to reduce "bad" LDL cholesterol, the effect will be less than oats.

A good way is to combine both oats and brown rice. People can alternate between oats for breakfast and brown rice for lunch and dinner to get the benefits of both grains.

Oats can be eaten 1-2 meals to take advantage of the benefits of reducing "bad" LDL cholesterol, especially effective when combined with a low-fat diet, limiting red meat and fried foods. Meanwhile, although the effect on blood lipids is not as strong as oats, brown rice still helps stabilize blood sugar and weight, good support for people with metabolic disorders, according to Eating Well .

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/mo-mau-cao-chon-gao-lut-hay-yen-mach-tot-hon-185251113135845698.htm