Manage weight by eating more whole grain
If you’re interested in improving your overall health – including managing your weight – you might consider increasing the amount of whole grain in your diet.
A study published earlier this month found that people who ate a diet with whole grains, which also met the recommended daily level of fiber, lost close to an extra 100 calories per day compared with those who ate refined grains (like white bread and white rice) without much fiber.
Over a year, that could add up to five pounds, but weight loss among the 81 men and women in the study was not measured.
“If nothing else, eating whole grains might help people slow the steady weight gain that bedevils most people as they age,” Phil Karl, the first author of the study and a nutrition scientist at the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, told NBC News.
The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, was performed in partnership between Tufts University and the General Mills Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition (BIHN) to help quantify how whole grain and fiber work to benefit weight management. The BIHN provided partial funding for the study and BIHN scientists contributed as part of the research team.
“This is a well-designed randomized clinical study that adds to the very strong body of evidence on whole grain,” said Maha Tahiri, our vice president and chief health and wellness officer, who leads the BIHN.
The study is the latest among four additional publications that summarized more than 75 individual studies that clearly showcased the benefits of a higher intake of whole grain.
Those studies found that higher whole grain intake was associated with a lower risk of premature death from all causes, including cancer and heart disease. One full serving (16 grams) increase in whole grain intake resulted in a reduced risk of premature death by 7 percent.
And 50 grams of whole grain compared with no whole grain intake reduced the risk of premature death by 20 percent.
A whole grain leader
Over the past two decades General Mills has been on a mission to increase whole grain in our products. We accelerated this journey in 2005 when we converted our entire line of cereals to include at least eight grams of whole grain per serving. It was the single biggest health-driven product improvement in our history.
Today, all of our Big G, Nature Valley and Annie’s cereals deliver double-digit grams of whole grain per serving, and 30 General Mills cereals have 16 grams of whole grain per serving or more.
Fully 98 percent of our cereals list whole grain as the first ingredient and deliver at least eight grams of whole grain per serving – much more than any of our competitors.
In addition, our K-12 breakfast portfolio in U.S. schools are also whole-grain rich and deliver more than 1 million servings of whole grain to school children every school day.
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