More Whole Grains, Less Belly Fat

Want a flatter, leaner tummy? Remove from your diet white, processed grains like white bread and white rice, and eat more whole grains such as oatmeal, barley, bulgar, 100% whole-wheat bread, whole-wheat pasta, and brown rice, new research has found.

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Studying 50 obese men and women, scientists at Pennsylvania State University put all 50 subjects on a calorie-reducing diet for 12 weeks, but divided them into two groups. Half were instructed to eat whole grains; the other half were told to choose refined, processed grains, like white-flour foods.

After 12 weeks, average weight loss for both groups was about the same: 8 to 11 pounds. But the whole-grain group showed significantly greater reductions in the percentage of fat around the middle.

That’s great news not only for appearance but also for health. Numerous studies published over the past two decades have found that belly fat is particularly harmful to our hearts and health. Abdominal fat is one of the characteristics of a now-epidemic condition in the U.S. called the metabolic syndrome, which is a collection of several risk factors for diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

Belly fat is also linked with chronic low-level inflammation in the blood vessels, which in turn is linked with heart attacks and strokes. Another risk factor that tumbled among the whole-grain eaters (and not the refined grain eaters) in the new Pennylvania State University study was a key marker of chronic inflammation – C-reactive protein, or CRP.

Similarly, research on women who adopted the Pritikin Program, which emphasizes whole grains over white grains, found that CRP levels plummeted on average 45%, and in just two weeks. Studies have also found that among both adults and children, the Pritikin Program reversed the clinical diagnosis of metabolic syndrome.

Other benefits among the whole-grain eaters in the Pennsylvania State University study included significant increases in dietary fiber intake “which is associated with the lowest risk of coronary heart disease,” noted lead investigator Dr. Heather I Katcher and colleagues. Also observed were significant increases in intake of magnesium, “which improves insulin action and glucose metabolism in patients with type 2 diabetes.”

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