Effects of oat bran and jogging on aerobic capacity, lipid profile and antioxidant parameters in young sedentary males

Problem Statement: Sedentary lifestyle predispose an individual to a number of chronic disease. Adopting a physically healthy lifestyle along with a consumption of nutritional supplementation is a strategy towards improving health related quality of life.Purpose: We aimed to investigate the combined effects of oat bran consumption and jogging exercise on aerobic capacity, lipid profile and antioxidant status in young sedentary males. Methods: Forty seven sedentary male university students with mean age 20.9 ± 1.7 years were recruited. They were randomly assigned to sedentary control (C), oat bran supplementation alone (O), exercise alone (J) and combined oat bran and exercise (OJ) groups. The participants in O and OJ groups consumed 18 g of oat bran powder which contains 3.6 g of β-glucan daily for 8 weeks. The participants in J and OJ groups performed jogging exercise with moderate intensity, i.e. 55% to 70% of their age-predicted HR^sub max^, 30 min per day, 3 days per week for 8 weeks. Participants' body composition, predicted maximal oxygen consumption (VO^sub 2max^), lipid profile and antioxidant status were measured pre- and post-tests. Results: In the O group, there were significant decreases in total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), increase in superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and decrease in glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity. In the J group, there were a significant increase in predicted VO^sub 2max^ and decreases in TC and LDL-C. In the OJ group, there were significant decrease in percentage of body fat, increase in predicted VO^sub 2max^, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and SOD activity, and decreases in triglycerides (TG) and LDL-C. Conclusions: Eight weeks of regular jogging exercise combined with daily oat bran consumption elicited more beneficial effects on improving body composition, aerobic capacity, lipid profiles and SOD activity in young sedentary males.