An article from the Framingham Study published in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that eating whole grains in place of bakery products and pasta lowers high cholesterol, lowers high blood pressure, and reduces body weight. Most important, this study shows that eating whole grains in place of bakery products and pasta lower blood insulin levels.

High insulin levels constrict arteries to cause heart attacks. High insulin levels stimulate the hypothalamus in the brain to make you hungry. High levels of insulin stimulate your liver to manufacture fat and high levels of insulin make you fat. Anything that lowers insulin levels helps you lose weight, lower high blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and prevent heart attacks, strokes, and diabetes.

When you eat foods made with flour, your blood sugar rises quickly. Whole grains are like capsules that release their contents very slowly. It takes about an hour to cook whole grains because of this tight capsule, and your body still has a difficult time breaking the capsule, so they are very slow to digest. Whole grains help prevent diabetes and obesity because they keep insulin levels lower. See report #D222.

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 76, No. 2, 390-398, August. Whole-grain intake is favorably associated with metabolic risk factors for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in the Framingham Offspring Study1,2,3,4 Nicola , McKeown, James B Meigs, Simin Liu, Peter WF Wilson and Paul F Jacques.

Checked 8/9/05

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