Cardiovascular diseases are linked with blood cholesterol. Particularly in persons with moderately elevated cholesterol in whom heart disease has not yet been diagnosed, dietary interventions for reducing cholesterol are very promising. The meta-analysis shows that soluble fibers from psyllium reduce cholesterol.
Soluble fiber is found also in fruits, oats and barley.
It has also been reported that glucose absorption is reduced. As evidence of this, the US Food and Drug Administration recently authorized the use of health claims on food products containing soluble fiber from psyllium that state that they are associated with a decreased risk of coronary heart disease. The 8 studies in the meta-analysis included a total of 384 and 272 subjects receiving psyllium or cellulose placebo, respectively. The safety and adverse events associated with psyllium consumption were summarized from pooled data of 19 clinical studies ranging from 6 wk to 6 mo in duration.