Evidence for healthy whole grains debunked?

[Julie G]

Cochrane has come up with a new report diving into the evidence behind the whole grain recommendations for heart health. This is something I've often wondered about, but couldn't find the evidence. Turns out; neither could they. Anyone surprised?

Whole grains for cardiovascular disease
http://www.cochrane.org/CD005051/VASC_w ... ar-disease

There is insufficient evidence from RCTs of an effect of whole grain diets on cardiovascular outcomes or on major CVD risk factors such as blood lipids and blood pressure. Trials were at unclear or high risk of bias with small sample sizes and relatively short-term interventions, and the overall quality of the evidence was low. There is a need for well-designed, adequately powered RCTs with longer durations assessing cardiovascular events as well as cardiovascular risk factors.

[Spittinchips]

Hey, Julie,

It's been a few years since I read Anthony Colpo's book, but I remember it being reasonably good on facts. It's a good thing that it doesn't take long to read, because his writing style can get tiring quickly.

https://www.amazon.com.au/Whole-Grains- ... B00IMQVYKY

Thanks for the Cochrane link.

[Dyver]

Interesting review. I've always heard they were pushing grains since that's what the US was producing in excess... Seems like more and more evidence is in that high fat/low carb is the better way to go...

[Harrison]

It seems to be very difficult to show reliable effects in nutritional RCTs. For example, check out this Cochrane review on low-glycemic index diet on lipids or BP: http://www.cochrane.org/CD004467/VASC_l ... ar-disease

I expect that huge individual differences in metabolism, gut fauna, etc almost always doom these studies to failure. I think that personalized medicince based on SNPs and biomarkers will help see what interventions work for which groups. For example, this looks interesting: https://habit.com/. However, I think a finger prick sample will probably not cut it in the end vs. a true blood draw, but I hope I'm wrong.

[DesertRaven]

Best evidence for whole grains is that it is the foundation for the Mediterranean diet pattern, which has really good data. One could easily argue that the benefit of the MD is olive oil, fish, wine, vegetables, etc and that the whole grains are a free rider.


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[NewRon]

Best evidence for whole grains is that it is the foundation for the Mediterranean diet pattern, which has really good data. One could easily argue that the benefit of the MD is olive oil, fish, wine, vegetables, etc and that the whole grains are a free rider.

Interesting that every time I've been to the Mediterranean over the last 40 years, I never saw one wholegrain piece of bread or rice. Ever. I asked about it a few times in health food shops in Spain and Italy and they just laughed at me. Maybe it's a State secret

[DesertRaven]

Best evidence for whole grains is that it is the foundation for the Mediterranean diet pattern, which has really good data. One could easily argue that the benefit of the MD is olive oil, fish, wine, vegetables, etc and that the whole grains are a free rider.


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Agree with that observation, NewRon! The term "Mediterranean diet" as it is used by nutritional folks was largely defined in Boston in the early 90's, as nearly as I can tell, although people had referred to it loosely before. A long way from Majorca, Sicily, Crete, or Lebanon, in any event.


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[circular]

Interesting that every time I've been to the Mediterranean over the last 40 years, I never saw one wholegrain piece of bread or rice. Ever. I asked about it a few times in health food shops in Spain and Italy and they just laughed at me.

I wonder if it depends where you go, which of course confounds health reporting on the topic since there must be variations on a Mediterranean diet.

[Edit]Oh I now see the comment that the description of the diet may come out of Boston long long ago