Whole grains help you live longer.
Recent research has shown that eating whole grains can significantly reduce the risk of life-threating disease and help us live longer.
Based on the results, scientists established that people who ate three or more meals of whole grains every day had a 20 percent reduced risk to suffer a premature death, compared to other individuals who ate fewer whole-grain meals or none.
According to Dr. Qi Sun, study author and assistant professor of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, the death rate lowers depending on how high is our whole grain intake. Plus, the risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases drops off as well.
Basically, whole grains can make up most of our meals without worrying that we do not eat healthy enough. They are named whole grains because they contain the entire grain kernel such as endosperm, middle layer; germ, nutrient-rich core; and bran, outer husk.
Foods consisting of whole grains include whole cornmeal, brown rice, oatmeal and whole-wheat flour. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), refining the grains means removing the germ and the bran as well as many of the B vitamins, iron, and fiber. Foods made of refined grains are white flour, white rice, and white bread.
Based on the reviewed findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) and 12 published studies, Sun and his team concluded that only 98,000 deaths occurred from 1971 until 2010 among 800,000 men and women from Scandinavian countries, the UK, and the US.
Furthermore, they established that the risk of premature death from stroke and heart disease was reduced by around 25 percent when people had three meals of these grains every day, meaning a total of 48 grams, whereas the ones who had fewer or no meals of whole grains had a higher risk of premature death.
Plus, the risk of dying from cancer dropped off with 15 percent among participants who had three servings of whole grains. It is also worth mentioning that whole grains are high in fiber. Therefore, they can improve blood cholesterol levels and help regulate blood sugar, lowering the risk of diabetes and heart disease.
Fiber from whole grains also increases the feeling of satiety, so you will eat fewer calories, lower the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and maintain a healthy weight.
Image Source:Albert Sons
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