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Ethnic differences in Whole Grains Sources of B-vitamins

Data was collected from participants of the Multiethnic Cohort Study in Hawaii using a quantitative food frequency questionnaire in order to identify major sources of grains and their contribution of B vitamins in five ethnic groups. The main sources of whole grains for all ethnic-sex groups were whole wheat and rye bread, followed by popcorn and cooked cereals. The only exception being Native Hawaiian men and Japanese Americans for whom brown/wild rice was the second most important source of whole grains. For all ethnic-sex groups with the exception of African American Women the consumption of refined grains was greater than that of whole grains. An important contribution to the intakes of niacin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6 and folic acid was made by grain consumption.  
Nutrition Journal. 2013; 12:65. (Sharma et al.)

Whole Wheat, Rye Don’t Improve Insulin Sensitivity in 12 Week Trial

Epidemiological studies suggest a relationship between whole grain intake and insulin sensitivity. In an effort to investigate this possible relationship a randomized controlled trial was conducted by a group of European scientists. One hundred and forty six individuals were recruited in two European cities (Kuopio, Finland and Naples, Italy) and randomized into two groups. One group consumed a diet based on refined grains and the second group was given a diet based on whole grains. After a 12-week period where good adherence was achieved, there was no significant difference in insulin sensitivity measures between the two groups. 
Clinical Nutrition. 2013. [Epub February 8, 2013] (Giacco et al.)

Whole Grain Decreases Body Fat Compared to Refined Grain

Danish researchers at the University of Copenhagen followed 79 overweight or obese women for 12 weeks as they ate calorie-restricted comparable diets with either refined wheat or whole wheat. Throughout the study, body weight and composition, blood pressure and several risk markers were measured. Though both groups lost weight, the whole wheat eaters showed a greater reduction in body fat mass, while total cholesterol and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol increased with the refined wheat group, “which may suggest a cardioprotective role for whole grain.”

The Journal of Nutrition, April 2012; 142(4):710-6. (Kristensen et al.)

Sprouting Enhances Folate in Pita Bread

Folate, found in foods such as spinach, is an important vitamin necessary to prevent neural tube defects (birth defects of the brain, spine, and spinal cord). In a study in Egypt, researchers found that sprouting wheat increased folate levels 3- to 4-fold depending on temperature. The scientists concluded that making pita bread with just 50% sprouted wheat flour is enough to increase the daily folate intake by 75 micrograms, or almost 20% of the adult recommended intake.
Food and Nutrition Research. 2012 April 2;56 (Hefni et al.)

Persistent Satiety from Rye Porridge

Twenty-four healthy subjects in Sweden were randomly assigned to eat either a breakfast of rye porridge or the same amount of calories in the form of refined wheat bread for three weeks. After a wash-out period of 3-4 weeks, they switched to the other breakfast choice. At three points during each three-week diet, researchers recorded appetite ratings (hunger, satiety, and desire to eat) for 24 hours. They found that the whole grain rye porridge resulted in higher satiety, less hunger, and less desire to eat for four hours after breakfast, but that the differences did not extend into the afternoon. The satiety effect persisted throughout the three weeks of the diet.
Physiology & Behavior, 28 October 2011 [Epub ahead of print] (Isaksson et al.)

Sprouted Wheat Higher in Nutrients

We all know that whole grains are more nutritious than their refined counterparts. But increasingly, research is showing that sprouted whole grains can offer even greater benefits. In a recent study, Vietnamese researchers sprouted wheat for 48 hours, and found it was higher in dietary fiber, free amino acids and antioxidant activity than unsprouted wheat.
Journal of the Science of Food & Agriculture. 2011 September 14 [Epub ahead of print] (Hung et al)

Blood Test Confirms Whole Grain Consumption Levels

Documenting the benefits of whole grains often depends on asking people to recall how often they eat whole grain foods, a process subject to less-than-precise memories and lack of understanding of just what constitutes a whole grain food. Now scientists at Uppsala University in Sweden have provided further evidence that blood levels of alkylresorcinols – a type of fat found in the bran of rye and wheat but in few other foods — can serve as more objective evidence of regular consumption of wheat and rye.  The researchers asked 72 adults to keep detailed, weighed records of everything they ate for 3 days, on two separate occasions, then tested the levels of alkylresorcinols in their blood. They found a very reliable relationship between the foods eaten and the blood levels measured.
The Journal of Nutrition, September 1, 2011. [Epub ahead of print July 2011]

Kids Accept Whole Grains in School Study

Researchers from the University of Minnesota (including WGC Scientific Advisor Len Marquart) observed students at 10 schools in Minnesota and 7 schools in Texas, to see whether whole grain pancakes and tortillas can readily be substituted for similar refined products. For the study, foods with varying percentages of whole grain content were used. Using both aggregate plate waste measurements and student taste ratings, the scientists noted no difference in whole grain vs. refined grain pancake consumption at both elementary and middle / high schools, while consumption of whole grain tortillas was lower than refined tortillas. In general, elementary students were pickier than middle and high school students, and the use of whole white wheat boosted acceptance over whole red wheat. The researchers concluded that products such as those in the study would increase consumption of whole grains among children and youth.
Journal of the American Dietetic Association. September 2011; 111(9):1380-4

48g of Whole Grains Daily Cuts Blood Pressure

In a cross-over study conducted at the UK’s University of Surrey, researchers asked 14 healthy normal-weight adults to consume either two whole grain rolls (totaling 48g of whole wheat) or two control rolls with their normal diets. While researchers did not find the decrease in appetite they had been seeking, they were surprised to find a significant decrease in the subjects’ systolic blood pressure during the three weeks they ate the whole wheat rolls, and an increase in systolic pressure during the white-bread phase of the trial.
British Journal of Nutrition, April 18, 2011: 1-4 [Epub ahead of print]

Greater Satiety with Whole Grain Rye

Researchers at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences carried out two cross-over studies in which subjects were asked to rate their hunger, satiety, and desire to eat during an eight-hour period following consumption of various isocaloric grain foods at breakfast.  All forms of whole rye – rye bread with milled or whole kernels, and milled rye porridge – provided greater satiety than the control refined wheat bread, but the unmilled kernels held hunger at bay the longest.
Nutrition Journal, April 11, 2011; 10:31

RCT Shows Whole Grains Reduce Blood Pressure

In a randomized control trial of 233 healthy, middle-aged volunteers, subjects spent 4 weeks consuming a run-in diet of refined grains, and then were randomly allocated to the control diet (refined), a whole wheat diet, or a whole wheat and whole oats diet for 12 weeks. Each group consumed 3 daily portions of the specific grains. Systolic blood pressure and pulse pressure were significantly reduced by 6 and 3 mm HG, respectively, in the whole grains groups compared to the control refined group. Researchers at the University of Aberdeen concluded that this blood pressure decrease would decrease the incidence of coronary artery disease and stroke by 15-25% respectively.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, October 2010; 92(4):733-40. Epub August 4, 2010

Indigestible Carbs May Explain Diabetes Benefits of Whole Grains

Some carbohydrates found especially in whole grains resist digestion and instead are processed by the body through fermentation in the lower colon. This process creates short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that show an intriguing range of health benefits. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden carried out an intervention study with 5 healthy women and 10 healthy men, offering each of them 8 different cereal-based dinners in random order on separate evenings. In the mornings, all subjects ate identical breakfasts, after which their glucose response and their blood concentration of butyrate, a SCFA, were measured. Whole grain evening meals high in indigestible carbohydrates, such as barley kernels, resulted in higher butyrate concentrations and lower glucose response than refined-grain meals such as white wheat bread. The researchers hypothesize that this may explain why whole grain is protective against type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Journal of Nutrition, September 1, 2010 [Epub ahead of print]

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