A Manitoba research study that examines the effect of a cookie on blood pressure goes completely hands-off.

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

“It’s 100% contactless,” said research coordinator Maryam Samsamikor. “We give all instructions via virtual meetings and we deposit cookies, treatments, but also devices and questionnaires.”

What researchers are studying is how a dietary fiber called beta-glucan affects blood pressure, a health condition that affects 6 million Canadians and is the leading risk of death in countries like Canada according to the Foundation of heart disease and stroke.

“If we can use dietary approaches to lower blood pressure, that’s a good thing for Canadians,” said Sijo Joseph, Research Scientist, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

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

In this study, participants will be given enough breakfast cookies to eat two a day for several weeks. Inside these cookies are four grams of oat-derived beta-glucan. Participants will also be given another batch of cookies to eat every day for several weeks that don’t contain beta-glucan, but they won’t know which cookies are which.

Participants will also be required to wear an ambulatory blood pressure cuff for several days while they eat 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 go for a walk or even sleep while they have the device on them to measure their blood pressure,” Samsamikor said.

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

“Health Canada approval is a long process and we have to show it in multiple studies, multiple times,” Joseph said. “So this may be the first study to show this and future studies will help us to petition Health Canada.”

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

“It boosted the market,” he said. “So new marketable attributes or new health claims would certainly help the oat and barley industry sell more products because it ultimately benefits consumers.”

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

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

People eligible for the study must be between the ages of 40 and 75 and have high blood pressure that is not controlled by medication.

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

More information is available here. Those wishing to contact the researchers can email [email protected]