CEREAL DIETARY-FIBERS AFFECT POSTPRANDIAL LIPOPROTEINS IN HEALTHY-HUMAN SUBJECTS

Normolipidemic males (six) ingested on separate days a low-fiber (2.8 g) test-meal (70 g fat, 0.75 g cholesterol), enriched or not with 10 g dietary fiber in the form of either oat bran. rice bran or wheat fiber or 4.2 g fiber as wheat germ. Fasting and post-meal blood samples were obtained for 7 h. Chylomicrons, VLDL, LDL and HDL were isolated from the baseline samples and the samples of the 2-3 h triglyceride peak. Chylomicron triglycerides were significantly (p less-than-or-equal-to 0.05) reduced with wheat fiber. All fiber sources reduced chylomicron cholesterol. VLDL lipid components were not markedly changed. LDL cholesterol decreased post-prandially and this was reversed after adding oat bran and wheat germ. HDL triglycerides were unchanged but the post-prandial HDL cholesterol decrease was significantly amplified after adding oat bran and wheat germ. In conclusion, dietary fiber-rich fractions from cereals can alter post-prandial lipoproteins in humans to a variable extent.