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Last Updated: Aug 1, 2008 - 10:24:18 AM |
THURSDAY FEB 21, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- If you are a frequent reader of foodconsumer.org, you should have already known that eating lots of whole grains full of the nutrients and fibers are good at least for your body weight and heart health.
A study found obese adults at risk of heart disease shed more belly fat and reduced their plasma levels of C - reactive protein or CRP when they ate lots of whole grains.
CRP is recognized as a marker of chronic low level of inflammation in the blood vessels. CRP and belly fat were associated with high risk of heart attack and stroke.
In contrast, those who ate mainly refined grains like white bread during the study were able to lose weight as well when they cut calories, but they lost less fat around their waist and did not lower CRP.
The results published in the Jan 2008 issue of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed eating whole grains not only help lose weight, but also reduce risk of cardiovascular disease.
Oatmeal, brown rice and barley are some examples of whole grains while white bread and other refined flour products are typical refined grain products.
In the study, Dr. Penny Kris-Etherton and colleagues at Pennsylvania State University instructed 50 men and women who had metabolic syndrome to cut calories for 12 weeks with one group asked to use whole grains and another to use refined grains.
On average, each participant in both groups lost an average of 8 to 11 pounds. The difference is that the subjects in the whole grains group reduced the CRP level by an average 38 percent while no change was observed in the refined grain group.
Both groups had similar changes in waistline size, but the whole grains group experienced a greater reduction in the fat content around the waist than those eating refined grains.
The researchers explained the CRP level dropped probably fiber in whole grains may keep the blood sugar more stable, which helped lower the CRP level in the study subjects. The antioxidants may also reduce the CRP level.
T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D., Cornell University nutrition professor has said loud and clear in his book "The China Study" that one can eats whatever amounts of whole grains and do not fear he will gain weight.
Dr. Campbell pointed out that the Chinese in rural areas who ate mostly grain products and vegetables were leaner although they ate 400 or more calories a day than their counterparts in the US.
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