Nutrition: Whole grains have many good benefits for your health

I recently saw an advertisement for popcorn with this banner proudly displayed: Popcorn is a Whole Grain!

Given that microwave popcorn is highly processed, its a bit of a stretch to compare this type of popcorn with food thats truly nutritious. Nevertheless, theres plenty of good evidence that whole grains provide health benefits for most people.

Today Ill look at two ways that whole grains help men stay healthy as they age.

High intake of whole grains are associated with lower CHD risk
Grain Benefit One: CHD prevention

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health conducted a trial to examine the association between whole-grain intakes in men and the incidence of coronary heart disease. CHD occurs when the interior walls of arteries become blocked.

As reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers analyzed data collected from more than 42,000 men whose ages ranged from 40 to 75 at the outset of the study. At that time, all of the subjects were free from cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes. The responses to detailed dietary questionnaires were followed for 14 years, along with medical records.

About 1,800 cases of CHD were recorded during the study period. After cardiovascular disease risk factors were taken into account, researchers found that subjects who had the highest intake of whole grains were far less likely to be diagnosed with CHD compared to men who had the lowest intake.

Some foods have added bran, and this was taken into account as well. Bran is the fibre-rich, outer layer of grain. Results showed that the highest intake of added bran was associated with lowered CHD risk compared to those with the lowest intake. Researchers noted that this result suggests that the bran component of whole grains could be a key factor in this relation.

They also help lower your risk of colon polyp reoccurrence
Grain Benefit Two: Colon polyp prevention

Another American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study found that whole grains contribute to colon health.

A team from the US University of Arizona and the National Cancer Institute examined the results of two intervention trials: the Polyp Prevention Trial and the Wheat Bran Fibre Trial. In the first trial, more than 2,000 men and women were randomly assigned either a high fibre diet or a normal diet. In the Wheat Bran Fibre Trail, nearly 1,430 men and women ate a daily cereal that contained either 13.5 grams of wheat bran fibre, or two grams of wheat bran fibre.

When the combined data was analysed, researchers found that higher wheat bran fibre intake was associated with a significantly reduced risk of colon polyp recurrence among men, but not women.

I should note that the follow-up period of this study was only two to four years, and the latency period of colon cancer is 10 to 20 years. So this is by no means the last word on the long-term effects of wheat bran intake on colon cancer prevention. 

Make sure you but real whole grain products
Both of these studies focused on bran. But that shouldnt distract us from the value of keeping grains whole.

Most whole grain breads and cereals youll find on supermarket shelves are not truly whole grain, but rather a mix of flours that simply includes some whole grain. For the real thing youll need to look for grains (wheat, oats, barely, cornmeal and brown rice) that contain the fibre-rich bran, the starchy endosperm, and the nutritious germ.

Keep these three elements together in a true 100 percent whole grain product, and youll get fibre, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals.

But a word of caution: Many people are sensitive to a component of grains called gluten, which can trigger coeliac disease. Even worse, a good number of those people arent even aware they have a sensitivity. For more information about coeliac disease, go to:

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