Go ahead, eat your WHOLE grains & reduce your risk of heart disease by 9% for EVERY ONE OUNCE SERVING! You can officially stop avoiding them. Think oats, barley, whole wheat, buckwheat, quinoa, amaranth, brown rice, farro, teff, bulgur….everyday. Just published research from JAMA Internal Medicine--is based on data from the long-running Harvard Health Professional & Nurses studies (118,000 participants), that dates back to the mid-1980s. We saw clear evidence that the more whole grain intake, the lower the mortality rate is, said Dr. Qi Sun, an assistant professor of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. When we looked at risk of death from heart disease, there was an even stronger association. The researchers estimate that every one-ounce serving of whole grains reduced a persons overall risk of an early death by 5 percent, and their risk of death from heart disease by 9 percent. Whole grains are so healthy that a persons risk of an early death drops with every serving added to a daily diet. [If youve been avoiding whole grains because you thought that limiting carbs were the way to go--its time to rethink that health strategy. Besides, theres credible evidence that whole grains are the fermentable substrate that the immune-boosting good gut bacteria thrive on. You NEED THEM. More good news about high-fiber carbs here: tinyurl/bq5zwcl Lose That Terrible Horrible Inflammatory Disease-Causing Visceral Belly Fat with Whole Grains? Tufts Researchers Say It Helps!] Whats so GOOD about WHOLE GRAINS? According to Sun, they are rich in fiber -- mainly from the bran -- and that fiber helps slow digestion and prevents harmful spikes in blood sugar levels. In addition, both the bran and the germ contain a number of important vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin E and magnesium, as well as nutrients such as antioxidants, added Joan Salge Blake, a registered dietitian and a clinical associate professor of nutrition at Boston University. EXCERPTS FROM JAMA Internal Medicine: 1. CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE PREVENTION! In these 2 cohorts of US men and women, we found that a higher whole grain intake, with or without added bran or germ, was associated with reduced mortality, especially deaths due to CVD (cardiovascular disease). These associations were independent of demographic and lifestyle predictors of mortality, as well as the overall dietary quality, and largely persisted among participants with various risk profiles. 2. PREVENTING CANCER? NOT SO MUCH. No significant general benefits for the prevention of cancer were found--except for colorectal cancer. For example, a meta-analysis of 25 prospective studies found that whole grain intake was associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer, whereas other studies did not find significant associations with endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, or prostate cancer. 3. BRAN TRUMPS THE GERM. An interesting finding of our study is that intakes of bran but not germ were significantly associated with reduced CVD mortality. Consistently, results from previous analyses in the NHS and HPFS also suggested that the bran component, but not germ, was significantly associated with reduced risk of diabetes, hypertension, CHD, or CVD mortality among those with diabetes, 4. WHATS SO SPECIAL ABOUT WHOLE GRAINS? THE NUTRIENTS & PHYTOCHEMICALS. CHOCKFUL OF GOOD STUFF. The observed significant associations for bran are in line with proposed mechanisms that attribute the benefits of whole grains primarily to nutrients and phytochemicals that exist in the bran portion. Bran is a rich source of fiber, B-group vitamins, vitamin E, magnesium, and phytochemicals, which may potentially explain whole grains’ favorable effects. For instance, fiber, primarily found in the bran, may reduce the risk of certain chronic diseases, in particular CVD, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and certain cancers. Antioxidant phytochemicals found in wheat bran fractions, such as phenolic acids and alkylresorcinols, may modulate cellular oxidative status and prevent oxidative damage to biologically important molecules, such as DNA, proteins, and membrane lipids. In addition, magnesium has potentially favorable effects on insulin sensitivity and diabetes risk, blood pressure, and cardiovascular health. 5. THE STRENGTHS OF THIS STUDY. LARGE, LONG-RUNNING, COMPLIANT PARTICIPANTS, GOOD FOLLOW-UP: The strengths of our study include a large sample size, a high follow-up rate, long duration of follow-up, repeated assessments of diet, multivariate adjustment, and assessments of whole grain contents from various food sources. In addition, all participants were health care professionals, which may help minimize potential confounding by educational attainment or socioeconomic status. We investigated 74 341 women from the Nurses’ Health Study (1984–2010) and 43 744 men from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (1986–2010), 2 large prospective cohort studies. All patients were free of CVD and cancer at baseline. SOURCE: Wu, H. et al. Association Between Dietary Whole Grain Intake and Risk of Mortality: Two Large Prospective Studies in US Men and Women. JAMA Intern Med. 2015 Jan 5. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.6283. [Epub ahead of print]
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 16:15:35 +0000
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