Nutritionists: Oatmeal isn't the only 'right thing to do'

Other foods just as fiber-laden

March 6, 1997
Web posted at: 6:00 p.m. EST

From Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen

ATLANTA (CNN) -- When studies showed that oat bran could lower cholesterol, sales of oats soared. The government even announced recently that oatmeal makers could put special health claims on their labels. The question now: How much oatmeal does one have to eat to do the heart some good?

Nutritionists don't doubt that oatmeal is healthy. Oats lower cholesterol because they are high in soluble fiber. But so do lot of other foods, like grapefruit, prunes, kidney beans and broccoli.

"There are other good substitutes that can carry the load for oatmeal. It's not the only thing," Dr. Virgil Brown of Emory University School of Medicine said.

One doctor at Harvard University Medical School, Harvey Simon, even wrote in a recent book that people can fight atherosclerosis, or clogged arteries, "by adding soluble fiber to your diet even if you never touch an oat."

And now that the Food and Drug Administration has approved healthy claims on boxes of oatmeal, Quaker Oats has sent Mary Donkersloot, a registered dietitian, on a national oat-promoting tour.

"The amount of oatmeal you have to eat is a good-sized bowl," she said. "It's a cup-and-a-half of cooked oatmeal."

Or someone can opt for oat in other ways, like a low-fat muffin.

Meanwhile, if you don't want to eat a bowl of oatmeal every day but still consume soluble fiber, nutritionists urge people to remember the other healthy foods. The FDA also has encouraged manufacturers of similar food to apply to make the same claim on their labels.

 

Related stories:

• FDA: oats good for hearts, and boxes can say so - January 21, 1997
• Oat bran makes a hearty return - January 6, 1996
• Studies call for more fiber, OK java - February 14, 1996
• Oat bran makes a hearty return - January 6, 1996
• Food labels may change -- again - December 22, 1995

Related sites:

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• Food and Drug Administration
• FDA Allows Whole Oat Food To Make Health Claim on Reducing The Risk of Heart Disease (FDA)
• Quaker Oats
• General Mills
• Center for Science in the Public Interest

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