Whole grains

A team of scientists in Boston and Baltimore led by PK Newby studied data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, and found that seniors consuming the most whole grain had lower body mass index (BMI) and weight, and smaller waist circumference. More whole grain consumption was also associated wtih lower total cholesterol, lower LDL cholesterol and improved glucose response.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, December 2007; vol 86(6): 1745-1753

 

UK researchers Janice Harland and Lynne Garton pooled data from fifteen studies on whole grain intake and BMI or adiposity, and found that in 119,829 male and female subjects age 13 or older, a higher intake of whole grains (about three servings per day) was associated with lower BMI and less central adiposity (abdominal fat).
Public Health Nutrition, November 16, 2007; 1-10. Epublished ahead of print.

Pancreatic cancer is the most fatal cancer in the U.S., but eating two servings or more of whole grains daily may cut the risk of this swift and deadly killer by up to 40%. That was the finding of researchers at UC San Francisco led by June Chan, who compared diets of 532 pancreatic cancer patients with 1,701 people not suffering from the disease.
The American Journal of Epidemiology, November 2007; 166(10):1174-1185

After following 21,376 male physicians for almost 20 years, Luc Djoussé and J. Michael Gaziano at Harvard found that those eating two to six servings of whole grain cereal a week reduced their risk of heart failure 22%, while those eating whole grains daily reduced risk by 28%. For this study, cereals with at least 25% whole grain or bran by weight were classified as whole grain.
Archives of Internal Medicine, October 2007; 167: 2080-2085

At the Harvard School of Public Health, researchers led by JS de Munter pooled data from six cohort studies including 286,125 participants, and found that a two-servings a day increment in whole grain consumption was associated with a 21% decrease in risk of type 2 diabetes.
PLoS Medicine, August 2007; 28;4(8):e261

Researchers at Harvard studied nearly 30,000 enrolled in the Women’s Health Study. Lu Wang’s team found that, over ten years, those who ate the most whole grains had an 11% lower chance of developing high blood pressure.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, August 2007; vol 86(2):472-9

That habitual whole grain consumption reduces the risk of both cardiovascular disease and diabetes has been well documented. Now, a recent study by the University of Minnesota’s David Jacobs shows that eating whole grains confers an even greater risk-reduction in mortality from inflammatory diseases. Jacobs and his colleagues followed more than 27,000 post-menopausal women for 17 years and concluded that “oxidative stress reduction by constituents of whole grain is a likely mechanism for the protective effect.”
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, June 2007; vol 85(6):1606-1614

A study by Philip Mellen at Wake Forest University and colleagues measured atherosclerosis of the common carotid artery, and its progression over five years. Mellen’s team found that, among the 1178 men and women in the study, those who ate more whole grains had less unhealthy artherosclerotic thickening of the common carotid artery.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, June 2007; vol 85(6):1495-1502

A team of researchers led by Arthur Schatzkin studied data for almost half a million middle-aged men and women enrolled in the NIH-AARP Diet and Healthy Study, to learn whether fiber intake and/or whole grains might reduce the risk of colorectal cancer. In this analysis, total dietary fiber intake was not associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer, but both grain fiber and whole grains were shown likely to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, May 2007; vol 85(5):1353-1360

A study of 150 college students found that higher whole grain intake was associated with lower BMI (Body Mass Index). Overall, students averaged only 0.7 servings per day of whole grain, and authors, led by Nick Rose, noted that low availability of whole grains on and around campus could be responsible for low intake.
Journal of Nutrition and Education Behavior, March 2007; vol 39 (2); 90-94