Health Studies

Recent research has shown that children’s acceptance of whole grains varies widely from food to food. Kids will happily consume some foods that are 100% whole grain, while turning down others in which only 10-15% of the grain is whole grain. Using this knowledge, it’s possible to design a roadmap for increasing kids’ consumption of whole grains, without risking “pushback” – an important consideration, since the only healthy nutrients are those that are actually consumed. In this study, Len Marquart, Elizabeth Arndt, and colleagues modeled the change in whole grain consumption that could be achieved by switching 15% to 50% of the refined grain to whole grain in breads, pizza crusts, pasta, breakfast cereals, muffins, waffles and other foods kids eat daily. They found that, without changing documented eating patterns in the children, they could raise consumption of whole grains from 6% of total grains to 28% of whole grains with this approach, while also reducing demographic disparities.
Journal of the American Dietetic Association. September 2011; 111(9):1322-8

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]

Scientists at Columbia University and Stanford collaborated to reflect on the association between rapidly rising rates of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in India, and the adoption of refined carbohydrates – especially white rice and white flour – in that country. They advocated re-introduction of whole grains commonly consumed before 1950, including amaranth, barley, brown rice, millet, and sorghum, as a way to stem chronic disease in culturally-sensitive ways.
Nutrition Reviews, August 2011; 69(8):479-488

Fiber is one of the factors that is known to slow the uptake of glucose into the blood stream after eating. Researchers at Oxford Brookes University in the UK set out to explore whether whole grain barley with different fiber levels (10% fiber vs 16% fiber) or in different serving sizes (25g and 50g of available carbohydrate) would affect glycemic response. They found no difference in any of the variables, but all of the barley porridge options elicited a significantly low glycemic response.
British Journal of Nutrition, July 26, 2011:1-6 [Epub ahead of Print]

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]