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Whole Grains Dispose of Body Fat: Another Reason to Make the Switch

Here’s yet another reason to switch completely from refined flour products to whole grains. In a new study by the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, at Tufts University, adults who ate three servings of whole grains a day while also eating less than one serving a day of commercially enriched flour products, had less of a type of fat tissue that is thought to play a key role in triggering diseases. The fat is known as visceral adipose tissue, or VAT, which surrounds internal organs.

The researchers examined 2,834 participants, ages 32 to 83, and VAT volume was approximately 10 percent lower in the healthy eating group. However, lead study author Nicola McKeown, Ph.D., explains that, “Whole grain consumption did not appear to improve VAT volume if refined grain intake exceeded four or more servings per day. This result infers that it is important to make substitutions in the diet, rather than simply adding whole grain foods. For example, choosing to cook with brown rice instead of white, or making a sandwich with whole grain bread instead of white bread.”

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