There is a lot that we humans have to do in order to stay fit and healthy. And when it comes to protecting ourselves against heart diseases then we will do anything whatever it takes. We also know that nothing can be better than eating whole grains if we want the heart to live longer. Whole grains refer to grains like wheat, oatmeal, brown rice, and millet that haven’t been refined to remove the bran and other materials.
According to new research published in The Journal of Nutrition, eating whole grains will always result in smaller increases in waist size, blood sugar, and blood pressure. This fact is applicable for middle-aged and older adults who eat less than a minimum of three servings a day.
Data from Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tells that about one in every four deaths in the US is caused by heart disease. That is why researchers have also emphasized whole grain food items that will boost our heart health.
More Whole Grains Helps in Lowering Heart Diseases
Researchers conducted an experiment and studied to determine how it is better than refined grains and how both of them would affect various risk factors for heart diseases, including waist size, blood sugar, blood pressure, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides.
The data that was used by the researchers was actually taken from the Framingham Heart Study Offspring Cohort which began in the 1970s and the main purpose of this experiment was to assess these above-mentioned risk factors of heart diseases.
The experiment was conducted on 3,121 participants out of which most of them were white with an average age in the mid-50s. all the participants were under surveillance and were monitored for continuous 18 years by the researchers for their health outcomes to determine the effects of whole and refined grains on their health.
After every four years of interval, the test subjects were called upon to compare the changes and the researchers found out that those who ingested whole grains had a minimal waist size increase and in addition, blood sugar and systolic blood pressure increases were greater in those who ate fewer servings of whole grains.
Whole Grains Contain Fibre and Heart-Healthy Nutrients
Further study shows that whole grains are better for humans and they should include in their diet because they include edible parts of the grain kernel: the bran, the germ, and the endosperm. Experts say that when grains are refined, they are left behind with endosperm as fiber-rich bran and the nutrient-rich germ is removed. And endosperm is mainly starchy carbohydrates and a minimal number of vitamins and minerals.
This is the major problem with refined grains because this lost component in a grain plays an important role in maintaining a healthy life. And researchers concluded that nothing can be better than whole grains for our body because it reduces heart disease, hypertension, stroke, type – 2 diabetes, colon cancer, and obesity.
How to Include More Whole Grains into Your Diet?
Colleen Tewksbury, Ph.D., national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, said the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends at least three servings of whole grains a day. She has emphasized the limitation of refined grains to three servings or less.
You can select what to eat like a small slice of bread or a half-cup of a cooked grain product like whole grain pasta, oats, or rice. In fact, there are some of the terms that may be used to identify whole grains and it includes whole grain (name of grain), whole wheat, whole (other grain), stoneground whole (grain), brown rice, oats, oatmeal (including old-fashioned oatmeal, instant oatmeal), and wheatberries.