How significantly do whole grains lower health risks?
When tracking groups of people over time or conducting surveys on people’s diets, researchers have found that people who eat a diet based on whole grains generally tend to have a lower body mass index (BMI) and better overall health.
If you are in the habit of eating whole grains, you have a significantly lower risk of contracting coronary heart disease – a risk lowered by 20 – 40%. The lowered risk of diabetes is similar at a 20 – 30% reduction.
People who consume the greatest amounts of whole grains, beyond experiencing the benefits above, also have a lower risk of developing some cancers.
What does the latest research on whole grains say?
In general, we have been seeing an increase of evidence that bolsters older findings, and we understand better how a diet high in whole grains helps in general health.
Most of the evidence for whole grains comes from observational studies, where we have limited control over the participants’ other lifestyle aspects (which also impact their health) besides their diet.
However, there has been an increase of evidence for the benefits from intervention studies (where tests resemble drug tests), which are generally more stringent than observational studies.
We are therefore now even more confident that good for health.
Do some provide more benefits than others?
There are differences between types and each person will need differing amounts.
Grains, such as wheat, rice, oat, barley and rye, vary markedly in the types and amounts of phytochemicals they contain depending on their genetics and a variety of agro-climatic factors.
Generally higher in the ‘good stuff’ – dietary fibre, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. They have similar macronutrient compositions, ie. energy, carbohydrate, protein and fat content.
However, different whole grains have different nutritional profiles.
Certain grains such as wheat, oat, barley and rye have higher fibre content (more than 10g of fibre per 100g). If your diet is low in fibre, สมัคร ufabet กับเรา รับโบนัสทันที you will want to eat more of these.
Research has also shown that beta glucan, found in oat and barley, is more effective in lowering blood lipids (fat) as compared to other grains. If you need to lose weight, replacing refined grains with oat and barley may help with the process.
On the other hand, corn has the highest phenolic acid content, followed by wheat, oat, and rice. The phenolic acid concentration corresponds to their antioxidant capacity.