title: Rice bran oil, not fiber, lowers cholesterol in humans.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The cholesterol-lowering abilities of rice bran's fiber and oil apart from its fatty acid composition remain unclear.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of the study was to assess the effects of defatted rice bran and rice bran oil in an average American diet on blood lipids in moderately hypercholesterolemic persons.
  
  
  METHODS
  Study 1 used a parallel-arm design. Twenty-six healthy volunteers consumed a diet with 13-22 g dietary fiber/d for 3 wk, and then 13 of the volunteers were switched to a diet with defatted rice bran to double the fiber intake for 5 wk. Study 2 was a randomized, crossover, 10-wk feeding study performed in 14 volunteers who consumed a diet with rice bran oil (1/3 of the total dietary fat) substituted for an oil blend that had a fatty acid composition similar to that of the rice bran oil. Serum lipids and factor VII were measured in both studies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Defatted rice bran did not lower lipid concentrations. In study 2, total cholesterol was significantly lower with consumption of the diet containing rice bran oil than with consumption of the control diet. Moreover, with consumption of the rice bran oil diet, LDL cholesterol decreased by 7% (P < 0.0004), whereas HDL cholesterol was unchanged.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Rice bran oil, not fiber, lowers cholesterol in healthy, moderately hypercholesterolemic adults. There were no substantial differences in the fatty acid composition of the diets; therefore, the reduction of cholesterol was due to other components present in the rice bran oil, such as unsaponifiable compounds.
authors.affiliation: Division of Functional Foods Research, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70808, USA. mostmm@pbrc.edu
authors.forename: Marlene M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Most
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tulley
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morales
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lefevre
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004032:Diet; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000178:diet therapy*; D008074:Lipoproteins / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012275:Oryza
chemical_list: D008074:Lipoproteins