Wheat

In a small study, researchers assigned 15 people to four different types of 100% whole grain bread and measured their blood sugar responses (using iAUC, post-meal glucose, and 3-hour glucose). One bread was made with 100% stone ground flour, one was made with 100% roller milled flour, one was made with 50% roller milled flour and 50% cracked whole wheat, and one was made with 40% roller milled flour, 30% intact whole wheat, and 30% cracked whole wheat — although all breads were 100% whole grain. Among the roller milled breads, they found that the larger the particle sizes in the bread (intact whole wheat > cracked whole wheat > roller milled wheat), the gentler the impact on blood sugar. Interestingly, the blood sugar response of the stoneground bread (as measured by iAUC) was better than the 50% cracked wheat / 50% roller milled bread, but not quite as good as the 40% roller milled / 30% intact whole wheat / cracked whole wheat bread.
Diabetes Care. 2019 Nov 19. pii: dc191466. doi: 10.2337/dc19-1466. (Reynolds AN et al.)

Swapping out some of the white flour for whole wheat flour in pasta is a simple way for manufacturers to bump up the nutritional quality of their products. But researchers wonder if different whole wheat pasta formulations might be better than others. In this study, researchers compared the nutritional and sensory (taste, acceptability, etc.) characteristics on two types of partially (28.5%) whole wheat fresh pasta: in one, the whole wheat flour was fermented (essentially a sourdough starter) and in the other, the whole wheat flour was not fermented. The fermented pasta showed a higher content of free essential amino acids and phenolic compounds, lower phytic acid content, and higher antioxidant activity. In consumer testing in a group of 54 people, the fermented pasta was rated higher for overall acceptability (taste, texture, and flavor). Interestingly, when people were told about the use of sourdough fermentation in the pasta, the acceptability ratings were even higher, reflective of the growing appetite for functional foods.
Foods. 2019 Sep 18;8(9). pii: E422. doi: 10.3390/foods8090422. (Fois S et al.)

Health not only implies being free of disease; health also takes into account how well we adapt to the stresses of everyday life, and the inevitable wear-and-tear on our bodies – in other words, resilience. To see how whole wheat might impact inflammation and resilience, 50 overweight and obese adults were randomly assigned to either 98 grams of whole wheat per day (from bread and cereal) or 98 grams of refined wheat per day for 12 weeks. Scientists then measured markers of inflammation and liver health and used modeling (the “health space” approach) to determine how resilient their bodies were to external stressors based on these findings. In this experiment, whole wheat was shown to protect against higher inflammation, and was also shown to promote resilience in the liver. 
Journal of Nutrition. 2019 Aug 27. pii: nxz177. doi: 10.1093/jn/nxz177. (Hoevenaars FPM et al.)