Fat-free chocolate snacks also may lower cholesterol

KSU News Service

MANHATTAN --- A quick reader survey: Which of the following is an inventive way to lower cholesterol?

A) Take an expensive pill prescribed by your doctor;

B) Wolf down a tasty chocolate snack;

C) Eat a handful of novel snack foods;

D) Both B and C.

Carol Klopfenstein said the answer's a snap. Soon, lowering cholesterol may no longer mean sacrificing afternoon and evening goodies, or buying expensive medication.

So, if you chose "D", you're correct.

Utilizing a process called extrusion, Klopfenstein and several other Kansas State University scientists are creating tasty, new food products with cholesterol-lowering qualities. They also think they can create a tablet or capsule from soy fiber that will substitute for expensive prescription drugs to lower cholesterol.

"Traditionally, snack foods have been equated with junk food," said Klopfenstein, a cereal chemist with K-State Research and Extension. "Since snacks are becoming a major part of people's diets, we thought we should be devoting energy toward making them more nutritious."

One new product --- the "Chocolate Pocket" --- is especially interesting. It's healthy, but don't let that fool you; it really is chocolate, right down to the look and taste. In fact, the "Chocolate Pocket" is so chocolatey, you may feel guilty for eating it. But you don't have to.

"Almost everyone loves chocolate," said Brooke Boice, a graduate student and research assistant. "Our main goal is to create a snack product that will be available on the market, tastes good and acts as a functional food. (We hope to find) that if you consume it, it will actually help you in lowering your cholesterol."

So far, studies at K-State have shown that soy fiber can decrease cholesterol by 20 percent in hamsters, considered the "model" for animal-based cholesterol studies. The next step, according to Klopfenstein, is to see if the same thing happens in humans.

"We really did not expect the findings that came about," she said. "Fiber-rich foods that had been extruded under certain conditions had greatly enhanced, cholesterol-lowering qualities. We expected these new snacks to be low-fat, but we didn't expect them to lower cholesterol, too."

Extrusion is simply a modern, more efficient way of mixing and cooking foods. Depending on the product the K-State researchers are making, fiber from soybeans, corn, wheat or oats is mixed with wheat or rice flour, then fed through the extruder. The product is heated under pressure, often expanding during "cooking." A die shapes the end product into breakfast cereals (an example is oat rings), snack foods (corn curls), pasta, pet food or a number of other consumer products.

Extrusion is a fast process, taking 2 to 3 minutes from raw materials to finished product.

Of special interest to farmers is that the new extruded snacks are made from the residual fiber of corn, soybeans, wheat and oats. In the past, residual fiber was used almost exclusively for animal feed. The new extruded snacks provide an additional use of grain fiber.

"For a long time, people didn't think fiber had any value at all; it was just ignored," Klopfenstein said. "Then, nutritionists determined that people who had fiber in their diet were healthier. For one, it prevented constipation. But researchers also have found a link between fiber and heart disease, and that some fibers can protect against colon cancer. Fiber has received much attention in the last 10 years."

Still, a fundamental question for frequent munchers: Do fiber

rich, extruded snacks taste good?

"We use sensory analysis panels to guide our work," Klopfenstein said. "And, the 'Chocolate Pockets' are pretty popular with the people who work near the extruder. The bottom line is if it doesn't taste good, it doesn't sell."

K-State is conducting human research trials using extruded soy fiber dietary supplements. The participants --- 15 men and 15 women - -- already have high cholesterol, but will receive no pharmaceutical therapy other than taking eight of the extruded soy fiber capsules per day.

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