All hail the whole grain!
A human nutrition study reaffirms the health benefits of substituting refined-grain products like white bread with whole-grain foods like whole-wheat bread, oatmeal, barley, rye, and brown or wild rice.
Scientists with the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA)—jointly run by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts—conducted the study to clarify the role of whole grains in helping regulate weight, blood sugar levels, and calorie (energy) use, among other benefits. Unlike refined grains, which undergo extensive milling or other processing, whole grains are sold for consumption with their bran and other constituents intact—all rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber, carbohydrates, and phytonutrients.
The study, published in the February 2017 online issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,is the first to strictly control participants’ diet, weight, and type of whole-grain products they consumed, according to the HNRCA researchers and their coauthors. Previous clinical trials, they add, didn’t incorporate these important study design criteria, leaving the benefits of whole-grain diets—especially on weight management—open to question.
Source: To read the rest of the story, please go to: AgResearch Magazine