From foodconsumer.org
Whole grain cereals are heart healthy - study
By David Liu - foodconsumer.org
Mar 4, 2007 - 5:18:37 PM
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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