AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Nutrition / 14.06.2016
Whole Grains Could Benefit Health and Longevity, But Most Diets Fall Short
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Geng Zong, Ph.D.
Research fellow at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Boston, Massachusetts.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: The refining process of grains removes most of fiber, minerals, vitamins, polyphenols and alkyl resorcinols that mainly exist in the outer layer of a kernel, thus enriches grains with carbohydrate and energy. Whole grains, on the other hand, are cereal grains or processed cereal grains that contains bran and germ, in addition to the inner most endosperm, as their natural proportions in the kernel. Observational studies have repeatedly linked whole grain intake with major chronic diseases, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer, but findings regarding mortality are inconsistent and have not been quantitatively summarized. By meta-analyzing 14 existing or unpublished prospective cohort studies, our investigation found that whole grain intake is inversely associated with mortality risk from all-causes, CVD, and cancer. Among people with whole grain consumption, estimated all-cause mortality risk was 7% (for 10 grams/day), 16% (for 30 grams/day), 20% (for 50 grams/day), and 22% (for 70 grams/day) lower than people with no whole grain consumption. Similar dose-response relationship was observed for CVD and cancer mortality.
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