SEARCH HEALTH STUDIES

Whole Grains may help cut Acne

Australian researchers led by Neil Mann recruited 50 young males (age 15-25) with mild to moderate acne for a twelve-week study of the relationship between diet and acne. Half the group ate a typical Western diet, while the other half ate lean meat, poultry, fish, fruits, vegetables and substituted whole grain bread, cereals and rice for refined foods. After twelve weeks, the acne of the group eating more protein and whole grains “improved dramatically, by more than fifty percent.”
Journal of Dermatological Science, April 2008; 50(1):41-52. Epublished January 4, 2008.

Cholesterol and Visceral Fat Decrease with Barley

A randomized double-blind study in Japan followed 44 men with high cholesterol for twelve weeks, as the men ate either a standard white-rice diet or one with a mixture of rice and high-beta-glucan pearl barley. Barley intake significantly reduced serum cholesterol and visceral fat, both accepted markers of cardiovascular risk.
Plant Foods and Human Nutrition, March 2008; 63(1):21-5. Epub 2007 Dec 12.

Better Blood Sugar Control with Certain Whole Grains

Swedish researchers at Lund University have determined that certain whole grain products can help control blood sugar for up to ten hours. A team led by Anne Nilsson fed twelve healthy subjects test meals including different whole and refined grains, and found that barley and rye kernels at one meal had a long-lasting effect on controlling blood sugar extending to most of the day after the whole grain breakfast, or overnight with whole grains at dinner.
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, March 2008; 87(3):645-54

Amaranth May Have Cancer-preventing, Anti-inflamatory Properties

Molecular biologists in Mexico set out to study the bioactive peptides in amaranth and, in 2008, were the first to report presence of a lunasin-like peptide in the protein in amaranth.  Lunasin is a peptide previously identified in soybeans and is widely thought to have cancer-preventive benefits as well as possibly blocking inflammation that accompanies several chronic health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.  Additional bioactive peptides in amaranth protein were found to have antihypertensive properties.
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, February 27, 2008; 56(4):1233-40.  Epub January 23, 2008.

Oats May Help Reduce the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

Researchers in Mannheim, Germany carried out a dietary intervention with 14 patients who had uncontrolled type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance. The patients were introduced to a diabetes-appropriate diet containing oatmeal during a short hospital stay, then examined again four weeks later. On average, patients achieved a 40% reduction in insulin dosage – and maintained the reduction even after 4 weeks on their own at home.
Experimental and Clinical Endocrinology & Diabetes, February 2008; 116(2):132-4

Black/Brown Rice More Effective in Weight Control

At the Department of Food and Nutrition at Hanyang University in Seoul, Korean researchers randomly assigned forty overweight adult women to two groups. For six weeks, one group ate meals containing white rice, while the other consumed otherwise-identical meals with a mix of black and brown rice. While both groups showed significant reductions in weight, BMI and body fat, the whole grain rice group surpassed the white rice group in all three measures. The whole grain group also saw an increase in HDL (good) cholesterol and in antioxidant activity.
Nutrition Research. February 2008; 28(2): 66-71.

Whole Grain offers pre-biotic benefits

A double-blind, randomized, cross-over study at the University of Reading, UK, divided 31 healthy adults into two groups. Half the volunteers ate 48g of whole grain cereal daily; the other half ate the same amount of wheat bran cereal daily for three weeks. After a two-week washout on normal diets, the groups were reversed for a second period of three weeks. The study concluded that whole grain cereal promoted increases in bifidobacteria and lactobacillus, while the bran cereal did not.
British Journal of Nutrition, January 2008; vol 99(1):110-20. Epublished August 29, 2007.

Whole Grains Reduce Weight, Cut CVD Risk

In a clinical study conducted at Penn State, researchers put 50 obese adults on a reduced calorie diet for 12 weeks, during which time half the group was asked to eat all their grains as whole grains, and the other half was advised to avoid whole-grain foods. Body weight, waist circumference and percentage body fat decreased significantly in both groups, but the whole grain group saw a signicantly greater decrease in abdominal fat, and a 38% decrease in C-reactive protein (CRP), an inflammatory marker for cardiovascular disease.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, January 2008; vol 87(1): 79-80

Cardiovascular Risk Reduced by Sprouted Rice

In a Korean study, rats on a high-cholesterol diet were divided into four groups, a control group and three experimental groups which were fed (1) sprouted giant embryonic rice, (2) giant embryonic rice, or (3) conventional brown rice.  (Giant embryonic rice is rice with a larger germ than normal.)  Rats fed the sprouted rice saw a rise in their plasma HDL-cholesterol (“good cholesterol”) and other markers that led researchers to conclude that “consumption of germinated giant embryonic rice is effective in lowering atherosclerosis cardiovascular disease risk.”
Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, 2007; 51(6):519-26. Epub 2007 Dec 20.

Chronic Disease risks reduced with whole grain

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

 

Sorghum is Safe for People with Celiac Disease

Up to one percent of the U.S. population (and about ½% worldwide) is believed to have Celiac Disease, an autoimmune reaction to gluten proteins found in wheat, barley and rye. While sorghum has long been thought safe for celiacs, no clinical testing had been done until researchers in Italy made a study. First, they conducted laboratory tests; after those tests established the likely safety, they fed celiac patients sorghum-derived food products for five days. The patients experienced no symptoms and the level of disease markers (anti-transglutaminase antibodies) was unchanged at the end of the five-day period.
Clinical Nutrition. 2007 Dec;26(6):799-805. Epub 2007 Aug 24

Higher Whole Grain Intake Associated with Lower BMI

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.

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