Bran cuts heart disease deaths

Charlyn Fargo, Contributor

A new study finds that people with diabetes who consume more bran live longer and are less likely to die of heart disease. That news follows results from a number of studies that link higher consumption of whole grains to lower risks of developing Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

This new study goes a step further - suggesting that even for those who already have Type 2 diabetes, whole grain consumption (with plenty of bran) may help protect the heart. In the study, Lu Qi, a researcher at Harvard Medical School in Boston, followed 7,822 US women with Type 2 diabetes for 26 years.

During the study period, those women with the highest bran intake (the top 20 per cent) were 28 per cent less likely to die than those who consumed less bran. And they were 35 per cent less likely to die of heart disease or stroke than those women with the lowest 20 per cent of bran consumption.

The findings were published in the Circulation journal. The study was part of the Nurses' Health Study, a long-term study of US female nurses that began in 1976. Every two years, the women answered questions about lifestyle, medical history and diseases.

The group with the highest bran intake consumed about 9 grams of bran per day, about 10 times more than the lowest intake group. That level of consumption is higher than the typical recommendation of three to four ounce equivalents of whole grains. A one-ounce equivalent equals one slice of whole-grain bread or one cup of whole-grain cereal.

In general, researchers saw a connection with higher bran consumption and healthier lifestyles in the women. Researcher Qi suggested that diabetic women and men try to replace refined grains in their diets with bran-rich, whole grains.

- Reuters News Service and Circulation journal, May 10, 2010

Charlyn Fargo is a registered dietitian at the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.