Eating whole grain breakfast cereals often may help reduce risk of heart failure, according to an analysis of the observational Physicians’ Health Study presented March 2 at the American Heart Association’s 47th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention.

The study found that those who reported eating a whole grain breakfast cereal seven or more times per week were 28% less likely to develop heart failure compared to those who did not eat such cereal.   Whole grain cereals are defined as those with at least 25% from oat or bran.

A scientist with foodconsumer.org responded to this report saying that although oat and or bran is likely to be better than other foods such as meat or dairy in terms of their impact on the heart, this study per se does not reveal a causal relation between eating cereals and reduced heart failure risk. That is, eating whole grain cereals does not necessarily lead to decreased risk of heart failure.

The study found the seemingly protective effect of whole grain cereals is dose responsive.   Those who ate two to six times a week were 22% less likely to develop heart failure whereas those who ate whole grain cereals once a week had their risk reduced by 14%, compared to those who did not eat any whole grain cereal.

"There are good and powerful arguments for eating a whole-grain cereal for breakfast," said Luc Djoussй, M.D., M.P.H., D.Sc., lead author of the study and assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Aging at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass.

"The significant health benefits of whole-grain cereal are not just for kids, but also for adults. A whole-grain, high-fiber breakfast may lower blood pressure and bad cholesterol and prevent heart attacks," Djoussй added.

The Physicians’ Health Study involved more than 10,000 physicians with 79% reporting that they ate whole grain cereals and 21% reporting that they ate refined cereals.   Among those whole grain eaters, 35% said they ate seven or more times per week, 39% two o six times and 26% up to once per week.

The data were obtained through annual detailed questionnaires about the subjects' heart events and consumption of breakfast cereals.   The assessment was conducted at 18 weeks. two years, four years, six years, eight years and ten years between 1982 and 2006.   The average baseline age was 53.7 years.

Although whole grain cereals are touted for their vitamins, minerals and antioxidants as well as high fiber content, processed cereals are often not tested for the availability of the vitamins and minerals. Harsh processing may have caused a big loss of the noted nutrients.   Cereals that are less thermally processed are supposed to retain more nutrients than those harshly processed.

The study has no final say about the effect of oat and or bran whole grain cereals on heart health.   A firm conclusion may only be made until after a trial is conducted.   One possibility, according to the foodconsumer.org scientist is that those who ate oat and or bran breakfast cereals were likely to follow a general healthy lifestyle, which may be the real reason for the reduced risk of heart failure.  That is, other factors may also affect risk of heart failure.

For more information, read benefits of whole grains an article hosted at the United States Department of Agriculture.

SOURCE: American Heart Association, news release, March 2, 2007