Are you regularly eating wholegrain cereals?
Eating wholegrain foods, like breakfast cereals, have benefits for disease risk reduction and weight management, according to a new review by independent public health nutritionist, Dr Carrie Ruxton.
Dr Ruxton found that adults eating three or more portions of wholegrain cereals daily had a 20-30% reduced risk of cardiovascular (CV) disease compared with those eating the lowest intakes.
Commenting on the review, Dr Emma Derbyshire, nutritionist and advisor to the Breakfast Cereal Information Service (BCIS) notes: “Increased wholegrain consumption is strongly associated with heart health benefits, including reduced risk of hypertension, and atherosclerosis.”
Research also reports consistent associations between wholegrain intake and a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. A study among over 72,000 women found that eating at least two servings daily is associated with a 43% reduced risk.
Dr Emma Derbyshire continues: “Wholegrain consumption also contributes to weight management. Dr Ruxton notes randomized controlled trials that have shown that consumption of wholegrain cereals reduces waist circumference while a three-year double-blind controlled trial in older adults found that eating three servings of wholegrains daily led to reductions in body mass index (BMI) and percentage body fat and trunk mass, findings which may be due to improved satiety and reduced sense of hunger.
“The mechanisms involved may relate to improved satiety as a RCT found that consumption of WG barley significantly increased levels of satiety hormones and reduced feelings of hunger. Finally, this new paper also links wholegrain intakes with better gut health, in particular a reduced risk of colorectal cancer.
“The scientific evidence of health benefits for wholegrains is clear, but consumers find it difficult to improve their wholegrain intake due to lack of specific guidelines on intakes and an inconsistent approach to wholegrain portion labelling. Consumers cannot easily identify good sources or obtain reliable information on portion sizes. Excellent sources of wholegrains include breakfast cereals and grain-based snacks and one portion of wholegrains can be obtained from one cup (30g) of a 100% wholegrain cereal.”
Tagged in Nutrition Diet Healthy eating