Whole-Grain Foods May Lower Diabetes Risk
(NY, Reuters Health, 2/13/04)

When Dr. Nicola M. McKeown of Tufts University in Boston, and team, analyzed data for more than 2,800 participants in the ongoing Framingham study, the researchers found that subjects who ate at least 3 servings of whole-grains daily were less likely to develop metabolic syndrome or to become insulin resistant than their peers. Metabolic syndrome, a precursor to diabetes and cardiovascular disease, includes abdominal obesity, hypertension, high blood levels of triglycerides, low HDL (good) cholesterol levels and elevated blood sugar. The researchers recommend incorporating whole grain foods into the diet, but they caution that consumers must beware of product labels that contain statements like “made with whole-grain” and should make sure that the first entry on the ingredient list is a whole grain.