Journal of the American College of Nutrition
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Physiological effects of concentrated barley beta-glucan in mildly hypercholesterolemic adults.
Barley fiber rich in beta-glucans lowers serum lipids, but is difficult to incorporate into products acceptable to consumers. We investigated the physiological effects of two concentrated barley beta-glucans on cardiovascular disease (CVD) endpoints and body weight in human subjects. ⋯ Overall, supplementation with isolated barley beta-glucans of different molecular weights had small effects on cardiovascular disease markers. Molecular weight of the barley fiber did alter effects on body weight with the high-MW fiber significantly decreasing body weight.