answer:I am with you that merely substituting other less healthy breakfast foods for oatmeal may be the operating element of lowering your cholesterol. I did find this snippet on the current school of thought regarding oatmeal… “It is thought that the oat fibers in oatmeal mix with cholesterol in the small intestine, then bind to the cholesterol molecules and carry it out of the body—instead of it being absorbed into the blood. ” I can’t stand the stuff but eat it anyway for the purported health benefits!