''New blueberry muffin may lower heart disease risk''

Melbourne, May 20

Scientists have developed a new blueberry muffin recipe that may help decrease the risk of heart diseases by lowering cholesterol levels in the blood.

The 'Good heart' muffin contains three grammes of beta glucans - a healthy soluble fibre that occurs naturally in oats and cereals and has cholesterol-lowering properties.

"There is good evidence that three grams or more of oats beta glucan consumption a day can help reduce cholesterol levels," said Nima Gunness from University of Queensland in Australia.

"I wanted to turn my discovery into a product, like a muffin, that people could eat to help reduce the amount of cholesterol in their blood stream, lowering the risk of heart disease," she said.

Following up on a previous study that demonstrated how beta glucan fibre in oats can slow absorption of fats to reduce blood cholesterol, Gunness perfected her low-fat blueberry muffin recipe over several months.

"The trick was to avoid making the muffin gluggy from all the extra oat bran and beta glucan fibre," Gunness said.

"We are not suggesting that people go off any cholesterol-lowering medication, however, eating a muffin a day is a convenient way for people to improve their heart health," she said. — PTI