PSYLLIUM REDUCES BLOOD-LIPIDS IN MEN AND WOMEN WITH HYPERLIPIDEMIA

To see if a modest amount of soluble fiber reduced blood lipids in sub jects with hyperlipidemia who were on a low-fat diet, 42 subjects (21 men, 21 women) consuming an American Heart Association step 2 diet too k two servings of breakfast cereal daily for two a-week periods in a r andomized crossover trial. There were two types of test cereals, each providing 6.7 g psyllium fiber daily, and two types of wheat bran cont rol cereals, matched for available carbohydrate and total fiber. Half the subjects tested each type of cereal, and the results were pooled b ecause the psyllium cereals had similar effects on serum cholesterol l evels. Comparing values at the end of 2 weeks, psyllium reduced serum total (6.33 +/- 0.12 mmol/L versus 6.76 +/- 0.12 mmol/L, p < 0.001), l ow-density lipoprotein (LDL; 4.36 +/- 0.11 mmol/L versus 4.73 +/- 0.12 mmol/L, p < 0.001) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (H DL; 1.10 +/- 0.05 mmol/L versus 1.14 +/- 0.05 mmol/L, p < 0.05) and th e LDL/HDL cholesterol ratio (4.27 +/- 0.20 versus 4.48 +/- 0.22, p < 0 .02) with no effect on triglycerides. There was no significant interac tion between the effects of treatment and sex for any of the blood lip id variables. Women tended to have greater decreases in total, LDL, an d HDL cholesterol levels than men, but the percent decrease in LDL/HDL ratio on psyllium was similar in men, 4.9%, and women, 4.7%. It is co ncluded that 6.7 g of psyllium fiber daily, with a low-fat diet, reduc es serum cholesterol levels in both men and women with hyperlipidemia.