A meta-analysis was performed on epidemiologic studies to assess the relationship between β-glucan consumption from oats and barley on blood cholesterol level, triglyceride/ triacylglycerol (TGL/TAG) level, and blood glucose level (BGL) in humans. Thirty research articles were analyzed that evaluated the effect of different exposure levels of β-glucan on blood cholesterol and BGL, yielding 126 clinical studies. A significant inverse relation in total cholesterol (TC) (−0.60 mmol/L; 95% CI: −0.85 to −0.34), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) (−0.66 mmol/L; 95% CI: −0.96 to −0.36), and TGL/TAG (−0.04 mmol/L; 95% CI: −0.15 to 0.07) was found after consumption of β-glucan. In contrast, an increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) was noted (0.03 mmol/L; 95% CI: −0.06 to 0.13) with a random-effect model. The analysis also showed a significant change in BGL (−2.58 mmol/L; 95% CI: −3.22 to −1.84) but since there was high heterogeneity among studies, the authors concluded that the effect of β-glucan on BGL is still inconclusive. A fixed-effect model showed a significant change in TC, LDL, and BGL but no significant changes in HDL and TGL/TAG. The dose–response model showed that a 3g/day dose of oat or barley β-glucan was sufficient to decrease TC. Nutrition. 2011 Oct;27(10):1008-16. PMID: 21470820.
