Reduce Belly Fat By Choosing Whole Grains

Current recommendations from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 are that we should consume 3 or more 1-ounce servings of whole grains per day to help reduce the risk of several chronic health conditions and potentially support healthy weight control.  Whole grains include cereal grains that consist of the intact and unrefined, ground, cracked or flaked fruit of the grains whose principal components, the starchy endosperm, germ and bran, are present in the same relative proportions as they exist in the intact grain. While whole grains are an important part of our daily diet on their own, recent research suggests that consuming adequate amounts of whole grains each day also improves our overall diet quality.

Although previous research has suggested that whole grain consumption might help support healthy weight control, the impact of the types of grains we consume on body fat is not completely understood.  A recent nutrition study published in the current issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition examined the impact of dietary grain consumption on changes in abdominal visceral fat (fat found around our internal organs) and abdominal subcutaneous fat (fat found under the skin of our belly).  Dietary information was collected from over 2,800 adult men and women who took part in the Framingham Heart Study by the use of a food frequency questionnaire.  Links between grain (whole versus refined) consumption and measurements of abdominal fat volume were analyzed.  The nutrition researchers reported:

• Individuals in the group with the highest whole grain consumption had the lowest amount of visceral fat and subcutaneous belly fat.
• Eating large amounts of refined grains was linked to higher levels of both subcutaneous belly fat and visceral fat.
• Study subjects who consumed at least three servings of whole grains, but still continued to eat large amounts of refined grains did not see any reduction in abdominal visceral fat.

These are very interesting and important findings that can help guide us toward healthier eating habits.  While it is clear that consuming whole grains might have a variety of possible health and nutritional benefits, this new study points out the importance of increasing our whole grain consumption at the expense of refined grains.  The benefits of whole grain consumption on visceral belly fat reduction were only evident when whole grains replaced refined grains in the diet.  So in addition to getting adequate amounts of whole grains in our diets, make sure to substitute those whole grains for the refined grains many of us currently choose.  Instead of dinner rolls made from refined grains, choose whole grain dinner rolls or instead of consuming a sandwich on bread made for refined grains (most white breads), choose 100% whole wheat bread.

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