Health Benefits from Wholegrain

Wholegrain foods are excellent for your health and may even help you live longer.

If you think eating enough wholegrain means adding the odd slice of brown bread to your diet, new research may make you think again. A study in the US has found women who have 10 servings of wholegrain foods every week live longer than women who eat a more processed diet. The research, led by Professor David Jacobs of the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota, followed 34,000 women between the ages of 55 and 69. Professor Jacobs found the premature death rate was 15 to 25 per cent lower in women who ate wholegrain regularly, compared to those who ate mostly processed foods. The study also found those 10 weekly servings of wholegrain helped reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes by 15 to 35 per cent.

What foods are wholegrain?

There are more than you think. Wholemeal or mixed-grain breads, high-fibre breakfast cereals such as oats, brown rice, wholemeal pasta and popcorn are all wholegrain. Wholegrain foods contain precisely that – the whole grain. This means the inner endosperm and germ, and the outer bran layer. Many of the valuable nutrients and protective components are found in this outer layer.

Wholegrain are rich in dietary fibre, a host of vitamins and minerals including vitamin E, folate, iron, zinc and selenium, and some antioxidants. While refined and highly processed foods may offer some nutritional value, tests have shown wholegrain foods do much more for our internal health. For a start, they help to move cancer-causing carcinogens through the intestines faster before the disease has a chance to develop. They keep blood sugar and insulin levels steady too, an important factor in preventing or controlling diabetes. They can also assist with weight control because wholegrain foods are nutritious and filling, so you need less of them to feel full and they’re relatively low in calories.

The soluble fibre in oats and barley has been shown to help lower blood cholesterol levels, and the phytochemicals in wholegrain have a similar effect. Grains also contain folate, which may help to lower a substance found in the body called plasma homocysteine – a risk factor for coronary heart disease.

So how much wholegrain should I eat?

“Wholegrain foods should be eaten on a daily basis,” says Professor Jacobs. "Eating wholegrain foods 10 times a week is a simple path to a disease-free and longer life. "