Health News
Whole grain diets lower risk of chronic disease

Feb 14, 2008, 05:23

Diets with high amounts of whole grains may result in significant weight loss and reduce the risk of chronic diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease, suggests a study, which was published in the January 2008 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The study was conducted by a team of Penn State researchers at University Park and the College of Medicine.

"Consumption of whole grains has been associated with a lower body weight and lower blood pressure," said Penny Kris-Etherton, co-author of the study, professor of nutritional sciences at Penn State. "We thought that incorporating whole grains into a heart-healthy weight loss diet may provide the same benefits to people at risk from chronic diseases."

The study involved 50 obese adults aged 20 to 65 with 25 male and 25 female who had metabolic syndrome, a cluster of symptoms that increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

The study participants were randomly assigned instructions to have either all of their grain servings from whole grains or all of their grain servings from refined grains.

"We asked participants in the whole grain group to focus on foods that had whole grains as the first ingredient," said Heather Katcher, lead author of the study, a Penn State Ph.D. recipient and currently a dietetic intern at Tulane University.

During the 12-week study, all participants were given the same dietary advice on weight loss, and encouraged to participate in moderate physical activity.

The researchers also asked participants to eat daily five servings of fruits and vegetables, three servings of low-fat dairy products, and two servings of lean meat, fish or poultry.

Both groups decreased the waist circumference and body weight significantly - between 8 and 11 pounds on average each. But the weight loss in the abdominal region was significantly greater in those who ate whole grains.

Additionally, the whole grain eaters experienced a 38 percent decrease in C-creative protein levels in their blood, an inflammatory marker believed to be linked to risk for diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Higher C-creative levels mean higher risk.

Weight loss alone did not reduce levels of inflammation, the study found.

"Typically you would expect weight loss to be associated with a decrease in C-reactive protein, but the refined grain group showed no decrease in this marker of inflammation even though they lost weight," said Kris-Etherton.

One way to explain is that eating too much refined grains negated the beneficial effect of weight loss on C-reactive protein levels, according to the researchers.

The study also showed those who ate lots of whole grains also had higher intake of fiber and magnesium which may prevent or delay the onset of diabetes.