Oats

A meta analysis including a total of 126 clinical studies found that consumption of 3 g/d of β-glucan (about 60 grams of oats), reduced LDL cholesterol by up to 20%.

“The current review strengthens the hypotheses that of all forms of dietary fiber, natural β-glucan molecules are the most promising to use as a method of treating patients with dyslipidemia.”

“β-glucans promote a more physiologically-based rebalancing of cholesterol levels.”

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0899900710003941

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5810204/

Oats are a unique source of polyphenols called avenanthramides, and are found to have multiple health benefits in humans. 

“Avenanthramides modulate multiple biological events, resulting in anti-inflammatory, anti-itching, and immunomodulatory effects”

“Studies indicate that avenanthramides also exert antioxidant and antiproliferative effects, which help preventing or treating cancer”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6770293/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19941618/

“Beta-glucan is reported to increase the viscosity of food bolus, delay gastric emptying and lengthen intestinal transit time, slow the absorption of nutrients especially the carbohydrates, and enhance the satiety”

“Beta-glucan could slow the appearance of glucose, resulting in longer-lasting insulin secretion which exert a prolonged inhibition of endogenous glucose production and lipolysis”

“The statistically significant reduction in HbA1c in the present review would translate to a clinically significant reduction in the risk of death related to diabetes (−8.82%) and overall mortality (−5.88%)”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4690088/