Increasing your intake of whole grains will help, says a study in the August issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The finding echoes the results of two other recent reports focusing on women and whole grain intake.

Almost 50% reduction in risk
In the most recent study, researchers from Simmons College, Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital, Boston, followed almost 43 000 men for 12 years.

None of the men, whose ages ranged between 40 and 75, had a history of cardiovascular disease or diabetes.

The researchers tracked intake of whole grains, and asked periodically about height, weight and physical activity. They found that 1 197 cases of Type II diabetes were diagnosed.

They then categorised the men into five levels of grain consumption - from an average of 0.4 servings of whole grains per day to 3.2 servings a day. They found those in the highest-consumption category had a 42 percent decreased risk for Type II diabetes, compared to those in the lowest-consumption category.

Might compensate for other risk factors
"We cannot promise that people who eat a lot of whole grains won't get diabetes, but people who eat a lot of whole grains are less likely to get diabetes," says lead author Teresa T Fung, a dietician and an assistant professor of nutrition at Simmons College.

Eating whole grains might even help compensate for other risks.

Obesity increases the risk of Type II diabetes, but men in the study who were obese but physically active and who also had a high intake of whole grains had a 52 percent lower risk of diabetes than did inactive obese men who did not eat many whole grains.

How it works
What's the magic of whole grains?

Researchers speculate the high fibre content of the bran fraction of whole grains slows down gastric emptying, and thus slows down the release of glucose into the bloodstream. That, in turn, reduces the insulin response after meals and the risk of developing diabetes.

Whole grain foods also have more magnesium than refined grain foods, and that has been shown to improve the response of insulin, too.

"The insulin level in the blood tends to be more stable," Fung says, "and it doesn't peak as high, and that might have something to do with reducing the risk."

Are you getting enough?
As good as whole grains are, most people don't eat nearly enough. Recommendations from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2000 suggest that several of the recommended six to 11 servings of grain per day be whole grains.

"About half of all grains (eaten) should be whole grains," Fung says. Depending on a person's size and caloric needs, that means at least three servings a day of whole grains, she says.

In addition to cutting your diabetes risk, whole grains fill you up and may make it easier to lose weight.

To boost whole grain intake, Fung suggests reading labels on food products and looking for ingredients such as "whole wheat," or buying food products such as oatmeal, brown rice or whole grain pastas.

Source: Health 24: HealthScout.

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