Eating wholegrain foods is essential, research shows

JUST three slices of wholemeal bread a day can slash the risk of dying from heart disease by a quarter, a major study reveals.

It also shows that even small extra helpings of wholewheat pasta or brown rice eaten each day help prevent an early death.

Harvard researchers say governments should issue new advice urging us to eat more wholegrains as the long term benefits are so strong.

Although some wholegrain foods also contain sugar and salt which can be detrimental to our health, they contain far lower levels than white bread, rice or processed cereals.

Wholegrains – such as porridge oats, muesli and seeded bread – include carbohydrates which haven’t been processed. They are rich in fibre, protein, antioxidants and certain vitamins which are thought to encourage digestion, help weight loss and prevent heart disease, cancer and other illnesses.

In the largest study of its kind, researchers from Harvard University’s School of Public Health analysed evidence involving 800 000 adults, including their dietary habits.

They found that every 16g portion of wholegrain food reduced the risk of dying from heart disease by nine percent.

The likelihood of dying from cancer went down by five percent and from any other long term illness by seven percent. One 16g portion is equivalent to a slice of bread, a small bowl of muesli, or porridge, or half a cup of wholewheat pasta or rice. But adults who ate three portions a day – 48g – were 25 percent less at risk of dying of heart disease, 14 percent from cancer and 20 percent from any natural cause.

Victoria Taylor, senior dietician at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Eating more whole grains is a simple change we can make. Choosing brown rice, wholewheat pasta, wholemeal or granary bread instead of white and swopping to wholegrain breakfast cereals like porridge are simple ways to help us up our fibre and wholegrain intake.”

Eating a balanced diet, getting enough exercise, and getting your blood pressure checked regularly are all important steps to reduce your risk of having a stroke.Talk to your GP if you are concerned.

– Daily Mail