Eat Your (Whole-Grain) Cereal

Ivanhoe Newswire
Monday, March 5, 2007; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- When it comes to cereals, doctors appear to know best.

A new study conducted among physicians shows docs opt for healthier, whole-grain varieties, with 100 percent of the participants reporting eating the cereals at least once a week.

What did they get for their healthy habits? A significantly lower risk of heart failure.

Doctors who reported eating whole-grain cereals seven times a week or more cut their heart failure chances by 28 percent. Those eating these cereals between two and six times a week saw their risk drop by 22 percent, and even those who just ate the cereals once a week had a 14 percent lower risk.

The research is part of the ongoing Physician's Health Study. Participants in this trial were about 54 years old when the study started, suggesting whole grains do a body good even as we get older.

"There are good and powerful arguments for eating a whole-grain cereal for breakfast," reports Luc Djouss, M.D., M.P.H., D.Sc., lead author of the study and assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Aging at Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. "The significant health benefits of whole-grain cereal are not just for kids but also for adults. A whole-grain, high-fiber breakfast may lower blood pressure and bad cholesterol and prevent heart attacks."

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SOURCE: American Heart Association's 47th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 28-Mar. 3, 2007