Could More Whole Grains Help You Live Longer?
June 13, 2016
By Kathleen Doheny
Three servings a day lessens risk of dying from heart disease and cancer, study suggests.
Health experts have long urged people to swap their processed white grains for the whole-grain variety, and new research suggests that advice might help you live longer.
Researchers found that people who ate three or more servings of whole grains a day had a 20 percent reduced risk of premature death during the study period, compared to those who ate fewer or no servings of whole grains.
"The higher the whole grain intake, the lower the death rate, especially deaths from cardiovascular disease," said study author Dr. Qi Sun. He is an assistant professor of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.
Whole grains are so named because they contain the entire grain kernel, including bran (outer husk), germ (nutrient-rich core) and endosperm (middle layer). Whole-grain foods include whole-wheat flour, oatmeal, brown rice and whole cornmeal.