HOW TO WARD OFF DIABETES

BENEFIT FROM WHOLEGRAINS

Consuming wholegrains such as a slice of rye bread or a bowl of oat porridge daily can prevent the development of Type-2 diabetes, finds a study.

The study, led by researchers from the Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, showed that it made no difference which type of wholegrain product or cereal the participants ate – rye bread, oatmeal, and muesli, for example – seem to offer the same protection against Type-2 diabetes.

What is more important is how much wholegrain one eats each day, they said.

In the study, men with the highest wholegrain intake had a 34% lower risk of diabetes, while women had 22% lower risk, than people who had eaten less wholegrain.

“Most studies similar to ours have previously been conducted in the US, where people mainly get their wholegrain from wheat,” said Rikard Landberg of the varsity.

“We wanted to see if there was a difference between different cereals. One might expect there would be, because they contain different types of dietary fibre and bioactive substances, which have been shown to influence risk factors for Type-2 diabetes,” Landberg said.

For the study, the team included 55 000 participants.

Wholegrains are defined as consisting of all three main components of the grain kernel: endosperm, germ, and bran.

Those who avoid all cereals, therefore lose out on the positive health effects of wholegrain, which come principally from the bran and the germ.