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Spent Yeast Improves Cholesterol Count

Beta-glucan, the much-studied fiber that lowers cholesterol and earned an FDA health claim for oat products, is also abundant in spent yeast from breweries and bakeries. According to the first study on yeast-derived beta-glucan, the easily dissolved fiber not only lowers low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and total cholesterol, it raises high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels as well. The combination of low LDL and high HDL levels decreases the risk of coronary artery disease.

The study by Robert Nicolosi of the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Control at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell and Stacey Bell of Medical Foods Inc., Cambridge, Mass., included 15 obese men ages 20 to 60 with high cholesterol (greater than 240 mg/dL). After their baseline blood samples were taken, all the men supplemented with 7.5 g of beta-glucan fiber dissolved in orange juice twice daily for eight weeks. Blood samples were repeated at weeks seven and eight of fiber consumption and again at week 12.

During the 12-week study, the men's HDL increased significantly, by 16 percent, while total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol declined. The authors note that when combined with a special diet, beta-glucan supplementation may in some cases eliminate the need for cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Labels for oat foods containing 0.75 g or more of beta-glucan per serving may claim the food reduces cholesterol; however, oat fiber by itself does not raise HDL concentrations. The study was partially funded by a company that produces beta-glucan fiber.

—American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1999 Aug;70:208-12.