HHS HealthBeat (July 30, 2007)

More whole grain goodness

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Federal food recommendations say we should make at least half our grains whole. People who have the right amounts of things like whole wheat bread have a lower risk of heart disease. 

And a researcher thinks there may be another advantage.

David Jacobs of the University of Minnesota looked at women’s eating habits and their risk of death from inflammatory conditions such as infections, diabetes, and colonic diseases. His study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

``Those who were eating a substantial amount of whole grains had about a 35 percent reduction in risk of death from certain causes that we thought were related to inflammatory processes.’’  (13 seconds)

Less whole grains meant less benefit.

But Jacobs thinks whole grains must have some things that do a whole lot of good.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss

Last revised: July, 30 2007