The new study which involved 50 overweight adults tested the effects of a whole grain-rich diet and one fuelled by refined grains. The subjects were split into two groups where they were put on either a whole grain or refined grain diet. After eight weeks on the strict dietary program, they resumed their normal eating patterns before those eating only whole grains previously switched to refined grains only and vice versa.
The results were significant. Consuming rich whole grain foods helped reduce inflammation in the body, a natural response that not only occurs from illness and injury but also in overweight patients that can increase risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Whole grain foods also seem more filling, according to the food diaries that each of the test subjects filled out. People who were on a refined grain diet ate far more than those keeping to whole grain.
"Our analysis confirmed that there is a sound scientific basis for the dietary recommendation to eat whole grains," says Tine Rask Licht, co-author of the study and professor from Denmark's National Food Institute.
"This may particularly apply to people, who are at increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes."
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