Method of administration influences the serum.pdf

Am J Clin Nutr 1994;59: 1055-9. Printed in USA. ? 1994 American Society for Clinical Nutrition 1055 Method of administration influences the serum cholesterol- lowering effect of psyllium13 Thomas MS Wolever, David JA Jenkins, Sharon Mueller, Dana L Boctor, Thomas PP Ransom, Robert Patten, Eunice SM C/tao, Kenneth McMillan, and Victor Fulgoni III ABSTRACT To determine whether psyllium must be mixed with food to lower serum cholesterol, 18 modestly hypercholes- terolemic subjects were studied for three 2-wk periods, in random order, separated by a 2-wk return to a National Cholesterol Ed- ucation Program Step 2 diet. Compared with values for subjects consuming control wheat-bran cereal (63 g/d), after 2 wk of 54 g psyllium-enniched cereal/d containing 7.3 g psyllium, serum total, LDL, and HDL cholesterol, respectively, were reduced by 8% (6.15 ± 0.15 vs 6.71 ± 0.19 mmollL, P 0.01), 11% (4.24 ± 0.15 vs 4.78 ± 0.19 mmol/L, P 0.02), and 7% (0.99 ± 0.05 vs 1.07 ± 0.05 mmolfL, P 0.01). When 7.6 g of the same type of psyllium as in the test cereal was taken between meals, serum total (6.50 ± 0.19 mmol/L), LDL (4.50 ± 0.21 mmolIL), and HDL (1.06 ± 0.06 mmol/L) cholesterol were no different from control values, and total cholesterol was greaten than after psyl- hum cereal (P 0.05). We conclude that psyllium must be mixed with foods to have the maximum effect on serum cholcs- terol. AmfClinNutr 1994;59:1055-9. KEY WORDS Diet, humans, psyllium, dietary fiber, choles- tenol Introduction Psyllium (ispaghula seed husks) is an unusual viscous fiber that not only reduces blood glucose (1) and lipid concentrations (2, 3) but also increases fecal bulk and reduces transit time (4). The mechanism by which psyllium reduces blood glucose rc- sponses (5) is believed to be the same as that for guar gum, which increases the viscosity of the small intestinal luminal contents resulting in a reduced rate of carbohydrate absorption (6, 7). In- timate mixing of the fiber with food is necessar