A recent randomised crossover clinical trial, now accessible online and set to be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Nutrition, demonstrates that incorporating foods made from refined corn flour enriched with corn bran into your diet can reduce LDL cholesterol levels by 5% to 13.3% within just four weeks.
In the study, researchers compared the effects of whole-grain cornmeal, refined cornmeal, and a mixture of refined cornmeal with added corn bran. Remarkably, 70% of the participants experienced significant reductions in LDL cholesterol levels when consuming the corn bran-enriched blend. However, the other types of corn flour did not lead to changes in LDL or total cholesterol levels.
“There’s a common misconception that dietary changes need to be drastic to impact cardiovascular health and metabolic function,” said Dr. Corrie Whisner, the lead researcher and Associate Professor at Arizona State University’s College of Health Solutions. “This study highlights that corn, often overlooked, has unique properties. By refining grains and utilising corn bran, we can create tasty foods that also offer real benefits for heart health.”
Dr. Whisner emphasised that the study was designed to avoid dramatic dietary shifts, focusing instead on a realistic intervention that could easily be integrated into a regular diet. Participants were provided with baked goods made with specific corn flour blends to ensure consistent intake throughout the study. These baked goods were carefully crafted by a master baker skilled in food formulation, using ingredients commonly found in everyday grocery items. The goal was to show how incorporating corn bran-enriched flour into a heart-healthy diet can be both practical and beneficial.
Interestingly, the study did not find significant or consistent changes in gut microbiota diversity, which aligns with participants reporting no digestive discomfort or noticeable changes during the trial. While two gut bacteria genera, unclassified Lachnospiraceae and Agathobaculum, showed significant differences based on the treatment, only the Agathobaculum increased during the whole-grain cornmeal phase, with no similar changes observed in the other phases.
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