“Whole Grain Diets have Scant Proof of Being Heart Healthy”
Cereal advertisements constantly suggest that a diet heavy in whole high fiber grains has been proven to be of great benefit to your heart and cardiovascular health. If so, where is the evidence? Whole grain foods encompass a range of products and include whole grain wheat, rice, maize, and oats as well as milled whole grains such as oatmeal. The American Heart Association recommends the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet or a Mediterranean-style diet to help prevent cardiovascular disease. Both diets emphasize cooking with vegetable oils with unsaturated fats, eating nuts, fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products, whole grains, fish and poultry, and limiting red meat and added sugars and salt. But, studies published by the Cochrane Library, have found that experiments testing the heart benefits of whole grains have been too small, too brief, or both, making it impossible to determine how these foods might lead to long-term heart benefits in the general population.
