Oat Alkaloids May Serve as Antioxidants

BOSTONOat avenanthramides (AV) are bioavailable and may increase antioxidant capacity in older adults, according to a new study (J Nutr, 137:1375-82, 2007). Researchers provided six free-living older adults with 360 mL skim milk alone (placebo), or with 0.5 or 1 g AV-enriched mixture in a three-way crossover trial with one-week washout periods. Plasma samples were collected over a ten-hour period. While three types of AV were found to be highly bioavailable, the bioavailability of AV-A was four-fold greater than that of AV-B at the 0.5 g dose. Consumption of the 1 g AV mixture elevated levels of reduced glutathione by 21 percent at 15 minutes and by 14 percent at 10 hours. The study was a joint effort between the Jean Mayer U.S. Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, and Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food, Ottawa, Ontario.