Mining For Articles: Whole Grains, Bran, And Heart Health

How The Article Was Found

This was an interesting and beneficial exercise in online research. After selecting an article from the Specific Studies section at the end of Chapter 2 in the Nutrition for Health, Fitness and Sport textbook, I accessed Google and entered the information. This brought me to an abstract on PubMed. At first it wasn't readily apparent where I'd be able to secure the full article, so I tried several options. Listed at the bottom of the abstract was a selection "Free Full Text," however upon attempting to access the link, nothing happened. There was another listing on the bottom left as well, PMID: 15585760. I plugged this into Google as well. This search did not yield the full article, but did present quite a list of related articles. I was finally able to view the full article when I entered "Jensen Intakes of whole grains, bran, and germ and the risk of coronary heart disease in men full article" into the Google search bar. This led me to the full publication by Jensen, Koh-Banerjee, Hu, Franz, Sampson, Gronbeck and Rimm. I am certain that there is a more expeditious fashion to obtain full articles, but this is how I was able to download the publication.

What The Study Looked At

The article was an interesting one and it's my assessment that they conducted the 14-year research study in the best fashion that was reasonably achievable. The study began with 51,529 male medical professionals between the ages of 40 and 75. A number were excluded due to existing cardiovascular disease, which resulted in 42,850 participants. Some participants had no whole foods added and others were supplemented with whole grain, bran, and/or wheat germ in varying combinations and quantities. An inverse relationship was noted with whole grain intakes of greater than 25 percent (at least three servings per day) and a 20 to 30 percent decrease in myocardial infarctions and other coronary heart disease.

However, it's my belief that there are many other factors that are difficult to control in this experiment: fitness levels and activity, stress levels, alcohol consumption, and other healthy food choices to name a few. That being said, the study still has merit, but a follow-up with a wider population and more stringent guidelines would be in order to eliminate variables.

Why Whole Grains Still Matter

The importance of whole grains in the human diet has been extolled for the past several decades. To quote the article: "In refined-grain products, the endosperm is separated from the bran and germ before milling, which leaves these refined products relatively nutrient poor." (Jensen, 2004). The process of refining wheat for the purposes of mass production and factory farming has depleted the vitamin and mineral content of much of our food supply. There is no doubt that whole grains are far healthier than their processed counterparts.

References

Jensen, M., et al. (2004). Intakes of whole grains, bran, and germ and the risk of coronary heart disease in men. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 80, 1492-1499. ajcn.nutrition.org

Williams, M. H., Anderson, D. E., and Rawson, E. S. (2013). Nutrition for health, fitness and sport (10th edition). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies.