Live Longer With This Healthy Eating Change
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It’s official: You are what you eat. According to findings published by JAMA Internal Medicine in a study backed by Harvard researchers, eating whole grains is so beneficial for good health, your chances of living longer increase with every serving eaten.
In fact, the research indicated that for every ounce of whole grains downed, a person’s risk of death decreases by five percent and the risk of death by heart disease drops by nine percent. However, whole grains didn’t seem to impact a person’s risk of cancer.
“I definitely saw a connection between mortality and whole wheat intake,” says Dr. Qi Sun, study author and assistant professor of medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Ho spital and Harvard School of Public Health. “Whole grains contain many beneficial nutritional factors, including magnesium, vitamins, lignans, phenolic acids and alkylresorcinols, which may jointly lead to lower risk of developing heart disease and diabetes.”
Another way in which wheat trumps white: When grains are refined and processed, all that’s left of the seed is the endosperm, which is swelling with calories—and not much else. The Whole Grains Council, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group, also estimated that about 25 percent of the grain’s proteins, in addition to 17 nutrients, are lost in the process.
The findings are planted in data from two separate studies—one looked at over 74,000 women and the other analyzed over 43,000 men. The set of research began in the 1980s and continue d until 2010. During that time, participants filled out a food and diet questionnaire every two to four years, which included specific questions about their whole-grain consumption. The study also adjusted for factors that may have an impact on a person’s mortality, including smoking habits, age and weight. Over the course of the trial, over 27,000 people died, but one-third fewer people died among the group that ate the most whole grains per day.
So how can you take advantage of this field of youth? The good news: It’s probably already in your kitchen cabinet. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans advises that at least half of the grains you consume should be whole. Jackie Newgent, a registered dietician nutritionist and author of The With or Without Meat Cookbook, also suggests using Harvard’s “Healthy Eating Plate” as a goal, where one-fourth of your plate is whole grains. Here are a few of her other tricks for sneaking in more whole-grain goodies.
Look for whole wheat. Before you start sifting through the aisles of your grocery store, make sure that what you’re buying says “whole wheat” and not just “wheat,” Newgent says.
Reinvent oatmeal. Think of oatmeal beyond the breakfast hour. Make your bowl of hot cereal—which is chock-full of good grains—savory by preparing it with vegetable broth, asparagus tips and a sprinkle of herbs and Parmesan cheese.
Build a better burger. Roll oats, fresh parsley and mushrooms into the ground meat and s erving it on a whole-grain bun.
Snack smart. When snack time rolls around, reach for the GMO-free popcorn—it’s a whole grain.
Get creative with sides. When it comes to your daily dinner routine, freekah, spelt, farro and sorghum get the whole-grain gold star, so serve them up just like you would rice. Sneak tabbouleh in your salad. And opt for whole-grain pizza crust, pasta and brown rice. If you're gluten-free, stick with whole-grains like amaranth, buckwheat, corn, millet, oat, quinoa, wild rice, sorghum and teff.
Rethink recipes. If you’re baking, substitute whole-wheat flour or oat flour for at least half of the flour your favorite recipe calls for, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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