Pandemic-era blood pressure study involving cookies requires zero in-person contact

A Manitoba research study that is looking into a cookie’s effect on blood pressure is going completely contact-free.

Those running the study say it’s a way to keep research going safely during the COVID-19 pandemic without running the risk of the study being shut down due to changes in public health orders.

“It’s 100-per cent contactless,” said research coordinator Maryam Samsamikor. “We give all the all instructions through virtual meetings and we drop off the cookies, the treatments, and also the devices and the questionnaires.”

What investigators are studying is how a dietary fibre called beta-glucan impacts blood pressure, a health condition that affects 6-million Canadians and is the leading risk for death in countries like Canada according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

“If we can use dietary approaches to reduce blood pressure, it’s a great thing for Canadians,” said Sijo Joseph, research scientist, Agriculture and Agrifood Canada.

Joseph said beta-glucan is found mainly in cereal grains like oats and barley.

In this study, participants will be given enough breakfast cookies to eat two each day for several weeks. Inside those cookies are four grams of beta-glucan derived from oats. Participants will also be given another batch of cookies to eat every day for several weeks that do not contain beta-glucan, but they will not know which cookies are which.

Participants will also have to wear an ambulatory blood pressure cuff for several days during the time they are eating these cookies for breakfast. The device automatically measures blood pressure periodically and weighs less than a pound.

“So they can do their normal errands, they can go to work or they can for a walk or even sleep while they have the device on them measuring their blood pressure,” said Samsamikor.

If this study shows beta-glucan is effective in bringing down elevated blood pressure to normal levels, the information will be part of a collection of data needed to file a petition to Health Canada so blood pressure reduction could be used on labels and in advertising in the future.

“Health Canada’s approval, it’s a long process and we have to show it in multiple studies, multiple times,” Joseph said. “So this could be the first study to show that and future studies will help us come up with that petition to Health Canada.”

Joseph added that beta-glucan has already been approved by Health Canada for its benefits in lowering cholesterol.

“It has driven the market,” he said. “So new marketable attributes or new health claims would definitely help the oats and barley industry to sell more products because it’s ultimately benefiting the consumers.”

According to the Prairie Oat Growers Association, Canada is the largest exporter of oats globally.

A representative from the Manitoba Crop Alliance told CTV News that barley is generally used in feed, and only a small percentage grown in Canada is used for food.

Those eligible for the study must be 40 to 75 years old and have elevated blood pressure that is not managed by medication.

This research is a collaboration between the Chronic Disease Innovation Centre at Seven Oaks Hospital, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and the University of Manitoba.

More information is available here. People looking to contact the researchers can email [e-mail].