ORANGE COUNTY REGISTERMarch 3, 2015
A new observational study suggests that eating whole grains can decrease the chance of premature death by 9 percent.
Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, reviewed two studies that examined the eating habits of more than 100,000 participants who were periodically questioned about meals over a span of 14 years. The people who ate at least 33 grams of whole grain a day not only increased longevity but cut their chance of getting heart disease by 15 percent.
The researchers also found that participants who ate whole grains in place of red meat reduced their chance of dying from cardiovascular disease by nearly 20 percent.
Whole-wheat flour, oatmeal, whole cornmeal, brown rice and bulgur are common whole grains identified by the American Heart Association.
According to the Harvard study, “These findings further support current dietary guidelines that recommend increasing whole grain consumption to facilitate primary and secondary prevention of chronic disease and also provide promising evidence that suggests a diet enriched with whole grains may confer benefits toward extended life expectancy.”
Too good to be true?
“This year, I’m going to lose some weight.”
If you find yourself making this common resolution, know this: Many so-called “miracle” weight-loss supplements and foods (including teas and coffees) don’t live up to their claims. Worse, they can cause serious harm, say FDA regulators.
The agency has found hundreds of products that are marketed as dietary supplements but actually contain hidden active ingredients (components that make a medicine effective against a specific illness) contained in prescription drugs, unsafe ingredients that were in drugs that have been removed from the market, or compounds that have not been adequately studied in humans.
“When the product contains a drug or other ingredient which is not listed as an ingredient we become especially concerned about the safety of the product,” says James P. Smith, M.D., an acting deputy director in the FDA’s Office of Drug Evaluation.
Potential warning signs of tainted products:
n Promises of a quick fix, for example, “Lose 10 pounds in one week”
n Use of the words “guaranteed” or “scientific breakthrough”
n Products marketed in a foreign language
n Products marketed through mass emails
n Products marketed as herbal alternatives to an FDA-approved drug or as having effects similar to prescription drugs
Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2015/03/03/6101163/eating-whole-grains-could-help.html#storylink=cpy
