Eat several servings of whole grains a day to prevent corectal cancer

Eat several servings of whole grains a day

Whenever I use the word “several” in a sentence, my little girls always ask me, “how many is several again?” In my book, it means “about three.” More than three is only going to give you more phytochemicals, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. But considering the average American currently eats less than one serving of whole grain each day, eating several a day is probably plenty challenging for now.

The good news about fiber

Lately, the link between high fiber diets and colon cancer prevention has been challenged by some surprising study results. Here’s what the American Institute for Cancer Research makes of this: “Although some studies on fiber and colorectal cancer have been inconclusive, many studies have shown that diets high in fiber and low in fat reduce colorectal cancer risk.”

The proposed primarily plant-based diet with plenty of vegetables, fruits, beans, and whole grains gives us not only fiber, but also important vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other phytochemicals that help fight cancer.

And there is a lot more to fiber than just fighting colon cancer. A diet rich in soluble fiber can help the body in five big ways.

1. Lowers serum cholesterol and triglycerides.

2. Helps those with diabetes reduce their blood sugar and insulin levels and can lessen the chances of developing type 2 diabetes to begin with.

3. Helps people eat fewer calories by filling them up faster.

4. Helps the bowel by promoting general colon health by regulating bowel movements.

5. Helps lower blood pressure.

Soluble fiber forms a gel in the intestinal tract, which helps slow carbohydrate absorption, which in turn reduces the rise in blood glucose and insulin following the meal. Soluble fiber also grabs some bile as it is about to leave the body. The body then makes more bile using cholesterol in the body thereby reducing serum cholesterol levels.

All these body benefits can be yours with a higher fiber diet. The American Heart Association recommends people eat 25 to 30 grams of fiber from food, not supplements, each day. You’ll find soluble fiber in beans, peas, oats, oat bran, barley, some fruits (such as apples, pears, prunes, berries, peaches, and citrus fruits), some vegetables (such as potatoes and sweet potatoes, parsnips and turnips, squash, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, and asparagus), psyllium seed, and flaxseed.

A study from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas found that a high-fiber diet (including 25 grams each of soluble and insoluble fiber) relying on fruits, vegetables, and grains (not supplements), lowered blood sugar and insulin levels at least 10 percent more in type 2 diabetics than the standard American Diabetes Association diet with 24 grams of fiber a day.

The same study from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas noticed that for the group eating 50 grams of fiber a day, blood lipid levels (total cholesterol, triglycerides, and very low-density lipoproteins) decreased in amounts normally seen with lipid-lowering medications.

With every 3-gram per day increase in soluble fiber, Finnish researchers found a 27 percent reduction in coronary death.
Researchers at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago found that adding oats (a great source of soluble fiber) to an already low-fat diet can help women lower cholesterol an additional 8 to 9 mg/dl. on top of the 12 mg/dl. reduction realized on the low-fat diet alone.
Researchers from the department of epidemiology at Tulane University in New Orleans analyzed 19 years of data on what people ate in relationship to heart disease. They found that those who ate beans at least four times a week had a 19 percent lower risk for coronary disease.
Research dietitians at Colorado State University gave a small group of men, ages 50 to 75, two bowls of high-fiber cereal (hot and cold oat and wheat cereals) every day for 12 weeks. They found that, on average, the amount of fat in their overall diets dropped from 91 grams a day to 82 grams. Saturated fat and cholesterol from food also dropped.
Many studies have shown that a fiber-rich diet helps you stay (or get) trim by giving you a feeling of fullness and satiety after a meal sooner (so you are less likely to overeat). It can help you feel this fullness longer (delaying the time when you feel physical hunger again).

Great news about whole grains

There are powerful nutrients and phytochemicals (plant chemicals) in whole grains that have recently been linked to reducing the risk of some cancers and heart disease. Here are the various phytochemicals whole grains contain and the health benefits they boast:

Lignans (barley, flaxseed)

Lignans function as antioxidants, which help prevent certain cellular changes that can lead to cancer. Studies have found that women with the highest concentrations of lignin in their urine are less likely to develop breast cancer than women with lower lignin levels.

Flavonoids (oats)

One of the flavonoids, rutin, may reduce heart disease risk by preventing platelets from clumping together. Rutin is also suspected of helping shrink LDL cholesterol particles and making them less likely to stick to arterial walls. Other flavonoids may reduce cell proliferation (rapid growth) and keep toxic substances from reaching cells.

Tocotrienols (whole wheat, oats, barley)

Tocotrienols are powerful antioxidants that help prevent ordinary LDL cholesterol from changing to a form that is especially likely to clog arteries. They also inhibit the production of cholesterol by the liver. And some saponins are thought to bind up cholesterol and usher it out of the body unabsorbed.

(Note: Whole grains also contribute vitamin E and selenium, which are both important antioxidants.)

How phytochemicals work together with fiber, minerals, and vitamins is important. The only way to cover our bases here is to get all of these wonderful things together, in food. Many experts agree that making the effort to eat more whole grain foods is probably a better investment in your health than taking nutrition supplements.

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