Including some roughage in your diet is beneficial to the heart
and arteries - a high intake of dietary fibre has been shown to
lower the risk of heart disease. One source of dietary fibre - the
wholegrain - is receiving more and more favourable attention in
health-based research, spurring on food manufacturers to make their
products wholegrain.
Wholegrain means that, except for the inedible outer husk, the
whole original seed of the plant is used - the bran, the germ and
the endosperm.
Wholegrains include brown rice, oat groats or whole wheat, or
they can be ground to flour before being used in products like
cereals and breads.
In products that have been refined, like white rice or white
flour, both the bran and the germ are removed, together with the
important fibre, vitamins and minerals they contain, so that only
the starch and protein-rich endosperm are left.
According to recent studies, regular consumption of wholegrains
leads to lower cholesterol, less build-up of fatty plaque in the
arteries and reduces the risk of heart disease by 25%.
A high wholegrain intake can also lower blood sugar and insulin
levels, which is important in the prevention and management of type
2 diabetes, and is linked with a lower waist circumference, which,
is also a risk factor for heart disease.
Wholegrains are a wholesome package of beneficial nutrients that
can be effortlessly included in our healthy diets to help prevent
the build up of plaque in our arteries, so try and include them in
most meals.