A new study has found that using a specific diet for just two days could help people cut their cholesterol by 10%, lower their blood pressureand evenlose weight. High cholesterol and high blood pressure are often known as silent killers because they don’t have many noticeable symptoms before causing major medical events like a heart attack or stroke.

However, key lifestyle and diet interventions have been known to help lower both measurements, but most take dedication over time to see results and heart-healthy foods can often be expensive.

Scientists have now discovered a simple, cost-effective diet that could turn it all around in just two days: oats. Eating three oat meals for just two days before going back to your normal diet could result in health benefits that last weeks.

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The outcomes from this diet proved even more beneficial than those who ate moderate amounts of oats over a number of weeks or those who didn’t eat oats at all. German researchers from the University of Bonn shared the results of their latest study in the Nature Communications journal.

Oats are known to have a healthy effect on the heart and cholesterol levels. This is thanks to its beta-glucan content, according to the British Heart Foundation.

This is a type of soluble fibre that forms a gel in the gut and essentially stops cholesterol from being absorbed into the body in the first place. Eating just three grams a day of oats and barley can help maintain cholesterol levels, according to the experts.

For the study, one group of participants ate 100grams of rolled oat flakes in boiled water three times a day for two days. While another group replaced just one meal a day of their normal diet with 80 grams of rolled oat flakes and boiled water for six weeks.

66 participants completed the study. All of which had central obesity and at least two traits of metabolic syndrome. Most had elevated blood pressure, impaired glucose metabolism and dyslipidemia, which is often an indicator of high cholesterol.

People who switched to oats-only for two days saw a 10% drop in cholesterol levels. While this was a significant finding, the researchers pointed out that it’s a lesser reduction than when people go onto modern medications.

Study author Marie-Christine Simon, junior professor at the Institute of Nutritional and Food Science at the University of Bonn, said: “The level of particularly harmful LDL cholesterol fell by 10 per cent for them – that is a substantial reduction, although not entirely comparable to the effect of modern medications. They also lost two kilos in weight on average and their blood pressure fell slightly.”

The researchers highlighted that there needs to be more studies to validate their findings across larger and more generalised groups from the population.

The BHF recommends that people trying to up their oat consumption look at trading their breakfast foods for oat-based porridge or muesli. Oatcakes can also be an easy substitute for crackers or snacks.