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Twelve normolipidic healthy human subjects were fed a diet with or without additional soybean phytosterols for 4 weeks in a crossover design. The order of the treatments was randomized. Phytosterols were added to the diet blended in butter. The dietary ratio cholesterol:phytosterols was 0.7 during the control period (436 mg cholesterol/day and 29 mg phytosterols/day) and 1.88 during the phytosterols period (410 mg cholesterol/day and 740 mg phytosterols/day). Blood cholesterol was 10% lower after subjects consumed the phytosterol-enriched diet than when they consumed the control diet (p < 0.001), which was due to a 15 % LDL cholesterol decrease (p < 0.001). The HDL cholesterol:LDL cholesterol ratio was markedly enhanced (+25%) (p < 0.01). These findings suggest that a significant lowering of plasma total and LDL cholesterol can be effected by a modest dietary intake of soybean phytosterols.

Twelve young healthy adults (five men, seven women) ingested four test meals on four occasions so we could examine the relationship between the rate of gastric emptying (GE) and the glucose response to different starchy foods. Each meal consisted of one food product containing 50 g starch: spaghetti, rice, French bread, or mashed potato. Basal and postprandial glucose and insulin responses were measured for 3 h. The foods were labeled with 3.7 MBq Tc99m-albumin and GE was studied by scintigraphy for 3 h. The rate of GE (expressed by the GE half-time) was fastest for mashed potatoes, then bread, rice, and slowest for spaghetti. Blood glucose and serum insulin responses were similar. A significant negative correlation was found between the GE half-time and the maximum variation in blood glucose level (r = -0.6, p less than 0.0001). The glucose response to all four foods is strongly related to the GE rate.