Whole-Grain Cereals Cut Heart Risks: Study

FRIDAY, March 2 (HealthDay News) -- Eating whole-grain breakfast cereal is associated with a reduced risk of heart failure, a new U.S. study says.

In this study, breakfast cereals were considered whole-grain if they contained at least 25 percent oat or bran content. Whole grains have a high fiber content and are rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

The analysis of nearly 10,500 doctors in the Physicians' Health Study found that those who ate whole-grain breakfast cereal seven or more times a week were 28 percent less likely to develop heart failure over the course of the study (conducted from 1982 to 2006) than those who never ate whole-grain breakfast cereal.

Doctors who ate whole-grain breakfast cereal two to six times a week had a 22 percent reduced risk of heart failure, while those who ate whole-grain cereal up to once a week had a 14 percent reduced risk.

"There are good and powerful arguments for eating a whole-grain cereal for breakfast," study lead author Dr. Luc Djousse, assistant professor of medicine in the division of aging at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, said in a prepared statement.

"The significant health benefits of whole-grain cereal are not just for kids but also for adults. A whole-grain, high-fiber breakfast may lower blood pressure and bad cholesterol and prevent heart attacks," Djousse said.

The study was to be presented March 2 at the American Heart Association's annual Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention Conference in Orlando, Fla.

More information

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has more about the benefits of whole grains.

SOURCE: American Heart Association, news release, March 2, 2007