Additionally, more people taking GOE were more successful at reducing their smoking habit in the study, highlighting its potential as a support for quitters, wrote Marina Friling, researcher at IFF Health, Migdal Haemek, Israel, and colleagues in Frontiers in Nutritionโ.
Tobacco smoking is famously linked to health problems such as increased risksโ for heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer, so cutting the habit is a critical goal for public health systems, said the researchers. However, quitting smoking is complicated by nicotine addiction and withdrawal symptoms, which โcan significantly affect mental wellness and overall wellbeing,โ they added.
Oats (Avena sativa) are a candidate for tackling this issue as they have been used to reduce stress, anxiety and depression for centuries and are safe to consume, though some of these benefits lack scientific backing.
IFFโs commercial green oat herb extract Neuravena is designed to improve mental and cardiovascular health by inhibiting monoamine oxidase-B (MAO-B), an enzyme that breaks down dopamine, they add.
Helping people quit smoking
The investigators recruited 145 participants (mean age of 29.59 years, 54% women, 98.8% Caucasian) in Spain to a placebo-controlled study, with eligible participants being healthy adults aged from 18 to 65 years that smoked 10 or more cigarettes per day for at least the last six months.
They also had to be exhaling carbon monoxide levels of at least 10 ppm, have a negative urine drug test and be willing to stop smoking.
The researchers randomized the volunteers to receive two daily capsules containing 450โmg of Neuravena or 519โmg maltodextrin (placebo) for eight weeks, with group sizes of 72 and 73 respectively.
Participants were assessed in terms of their mental wellbeing including quality of life (QoL), perceived stress, depression and nicotine dependence.
Friling and colleagues found that participants taking GOE saw significant improvements in QoL over the course of the study as measured by the abbreviated World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF). On a scale from 0 to 100 where a higher score means a better outcome, their physical health score improved from 72.5 at baseline to 76.7 and their psychological scores rose from 64.5 to 68.4. In contrast, those in the placebo group saw respective drops from 74.8 to 72.6 and from 69.6 to 68.4. The researchers found no significant differences in other aspects of the questionnaire including overall QoL and overall health.
There were also significant improvements in another QoL measure, the Visual Analogue Scale, and the SF-36, which is a measure of general health. Those taking GOE also saw stronger drops in perceived stress and better improvements in wakefulness after sleep onset than those taking a placebo.
The researchers noted that stress is an important part of quitting smoking and can interfere with cessation, adding that โthe consumption of GOE has demonstrated the ability to reduce stress levels among individuals trying to reduce or cease smoking. Consequently, this intervention holds the potential to foster a more constructive and positive experience.โ
Meanwhile, the GOE group had a higher percentage of volunteers that reduced their cigarette count per day by more than 20% โ defined as a successful reducer, with a rate of 66.7% compared with 49.3% in the placebo group. However, there was no significant difference between groups in terms of daily cigarette consumption over time.
โSmoking reduction is often suggested as a step toward quitting for individuals who are unable or not willing to quit smoking abruptly,โ said Friling and colleagues. โStudies have shown that smoking reduction increases the probability of cessation in the long term, as gradual and controlled reduction is related with less withdrawal symptoms and a success feeling that may motivate smokers to quit.โ
Commenting independently on the research, Raj Dasgupta, Chief Medical Advisor for Fortune Recommends Health, told NutraIngredientsโ that the โevidence that GOE affects dopaminergic pathways is still in very early stages. Some animal studies suggest that GOE can influence dopamine levels in the brain. There have been a few human trials showing changes in brain activity related to dopamine after taking GOE, but more research is needed to confirm these findings.โ
He noted that large-scale clinical trials are needed to clearly establish how well GOE works and how safe it is. He added: โLong-term studies are also important to see if there are any benefits or side effects from taking GOE over a longer period of time.โ
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Source: Front. Nutr.โ 2024โ, 11
โDietary supplementation with a wild green oat extract (Avena sativa L.) to improve wellness and wellbeing during smoking reduction or cessation: a randomized double-blind controlled studyโ
doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2024.1405156โ
Authors: Marina Friling et al.
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