2. Materials and methods
2.1. Study design
Volunteers with hyperlipidemia (serum triglyceride concentrations above 2 mmol L-1
and/or total cholesterol above 6.2 mmol L-1) were included in the study. A first group was
given three slices (93 g) of bread (LEVA, Pågens, Malmo¨, Sweden) daily containing 1.3 g
of stable fish oil (0.5 g omega-3 fatty acids) totally. The fish oil bread also contained oat fibre
(mainly soluble). In order to evaluate effect of the oat fibre, two control groups were
included. One group received the same amount of bread with oat fibre alone (no fish oil) and
another group bread with wheat fibre (mainly insoluble) alone containing no fish oil (control
bread). The amount of fibre in the bread was 10g per 100g bread. Blood samples were taken
before the test period and 2 and 4 weeks after the start of this period, and serum or plasma
concentrations of triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, fatty
acids, and MDA were determined.
2.2. Study population
Thirty-six volunteers with hyperlipidemia, mean age of 562 (range 34–71) years, were
randomly divided into three groups: 12 subjects were given bread containing fish oil with oat
fibre, 12 bread with oat fibre alone (no fish oil) and the other 12 bread with wheat fibre alone
(no fish oil) for 4 weeks.
Some population characteristics and pretreatment values of the three participating groups
are shown in Table 1.
All subjects were instructed not to change their diets during the experimental period and
all subjects except one in oat fibre group and one in wheat fibre group finished the study. The
bread was used instead of ordinary bread and was thus not administered on top of the
ordinary diet. The subjects were asked to record and report any significant changes in their
diet and in their way of living. They were asked to fast for 12 hours before blood sampling.