Question 2
The overall consumption of whole grains was relatively low; the “high” whole grain intake group was anyone who consumed greater than 0.5 oz equivalents/day. Is 0.5 oz equivalent/day of whole grains enough to cause a change in chronic disease risk factors long term? Do you think the minimum recommended amount of three servings of whole grains per day is enough to cause a change?
posted by Kevin @ 8:33 PM
31 comments
31 Comments:
I do not know if 0.5 oz equivalent/day is enough to cause change long term. I do think that we have to promote that every little change helps. It would be easy for a client to argue that if 0.5 oz isn't going to help, why consume any whole grains at all. I think that 0.5 oz equivalent/day is far too low for where we want people to be but it is better than nothing.
A 0.5 oz equivalent/day seems to me like such an insignificant amount of whole grains and I do not necessarily believe that this would make a different in chronic disease risk factors. When thinking about the minimum of 3 servings of whole grains per day, as a recommendation, I do feel that it is a good amount to change an individual’s risks. But I say this with assumption that if someone is actively trying to reach the goal of 3 whole grain servings/day, they are probably also eating other, healthier foods that fight again chronic diseases. If an individual were to consume a terrible diet full of saturated fats and simple sugars and eat 3 servings of whole grain equivalents, I believe the risk of disease would not significantly change.
It is really hard to say if 0.5 oz per day is enough to cause a change in risk factors for chronic disease. I think more research is needed to determine a "minimum" amount that could be consumed and still lower risk factors for disease. If I was working with a client and they told me that was all they were eating, I would still tell them that's great and try to encourage them to consume more. At least the participants in this study were consuming some whole grain. Maybe it is just the beginning for them and they will continue to increase their whole grain consumption. I have not done a great deal of research on the topic of 3 servings of whole grain being enough to lower risk factors but I would assume that there is research behind that recommendation. I don't think it would be recommended if there wasn't some evidence that it lowers risk factors for disease.
Also, how do we know that everyone needs the same amount of whole grains? Some people may experience positive results of lowering disease risk factors with minimal amounts while others may need to consume more. I agree with Brooke that those who are making a point to consume 3 servings of whole grain per day are also eating other healthy foods. I think the combination will help fight disease.
Jamie, you bring up some interesting points. There must be some research behind the 3 grain recommendation and perhaps when we learn more about nutrition genomics we will get a better idea of individuals needs and the fact that people may require different amounts.
Woo that's a toughy Kevin. It's difficult to determine. An individual who consumes > 3 oz servings of whole grains per day probably also follows an overall healthy diet; can we attribute the intake of whole grains as the main factor in reducing risk for disease or is it an aggregate of the other nutritional factors? Like Stephanie said, it's hard to imagine that 1/2 slice of whole wheat (0.5 oz equivalent) bread consumed each day can have such a high impact on one's health.
This is a difficult question to wrap your head around. While spending my fall semester as the graduate assistant for Health Promotion and Wellness I have come to realize that doing anything to better your health no matter what state you are in is better than doing nothing no matter how small or insignificant it may seem. While the whole grain intake seems very insignificant with a consumption of 0.5 oz equivalents/day I think that overall especially for someone who hasn’t consumed whole grains in the past this may be able to cause a change in their health. I would like to believe that the minimum recommended amount of three servings of whole grains per day is enough to cause a change. I have come to believe that any amount of whole grain can contribute to your health. Small amounts can start you on the road to better health increasing the likelihood of adjusting your taste buds and taste preferences to whole grain choices versus their bland counterparts.
I think any amount of whole grains will help to prevent chronic disease. With that being said, no I don't think that 0.5 oz a day for the highest group is enough. However, they did not say what those children were actually eating. There average could have been close to the 6 oz rec per day by USDA. However, I think that having these low standards for whole grain consumption in this study is why they probably saw a lot of ambiguity in there results.
I do believe that the 6 oz a day or 48 grams per day of whole grains is enough to cause a change. I believe that eating more grains than that per day may offset eating other "good" foods that would help prevent the diseases as well. So, yes I do believe that 3 servings of whole grains with little other processed grains per day is enough to help improve someones risk for chronic disease development.
I agree with Jamie, I think more research is needed in order to determine the minimum amount of whole grains needed in order to produce a meaningful change. I know from researching topics for other projects that it is usually those that consume 2-3 servings that are at the lowest risk. Perhaps 2 servings is low enough to produce a meaningful change and people could replace the other serving with some more veggies.
It is hard to say if consuming 0.5 oz of whole grains a day would make a difference in preventing chronic disease (perhaps this would be an interesting research study!) But I agree with many people who have posted so far who pointed out that if someone is aiming to meet whole grain requirements, they are probably aware of the other foods they are eating and are therefore eating a relatively healthy diet which would help prevent chronic disease.
I agree with Molly's comment that regardless of the recommendation, encouraging patient's or client's to increase ANY amount of whole grain consumption is a good goal. You have to start with that small goal and work your way up towards the minimum recommendation!
I do not believe that this is providing enough to make any long term change in the health of these individuals. However, knowing that they do consume some amount of whole grains can be a starting point for health promotion and thus create a platform to improve whole grain intake by praising their current intake.
Michela,
I agree. If an individual is aiming to take in any whole grains at all, it is importnat to recognize the overall heatlh of their diet.
I do not think that 0.5oz equivalent would lower an individuals risk of chronic disease. The American Heart Association recommends 7oz/per of whole grains for teenagers. I think that consuming some whole grains is better than none but at those levels it is unlikely to reduce the risk of disease.
I feel like 0.5oz equivalent/day may not be enough to cause a change in chronic disease risk factors but agree that this would be a good area for further research. Maybe adolescents consuming this amount would be more likely to consume greater quantites of whole grains as adults? I feel like that could make an impact. I also agree with others that said that people consuming greater quantities of whole grains are more likely to be making other heathly food choices as well.
To be quite honest I do not know this answer. Studies should be conducted to determine how effective the lowest recommended amount truly affects one's health. I assume if this is the minimum recommendation then it was determined for a reason. If the individuals in this study consuming the lowest recommended amount had positive health benefits then that could be the answer. With every study that focuses on such a specific topic one must keep in mind the other "healthy" things these people are doing to benefit certain labs, such as exercising or eating an overall healthy diet.
Jamie-
You make a great point about individuals and not knowing how much is needed for each individual. Every person is different. We know that some individuals that live a healthy lifestyle still might suffer from heart disease because of their genetics. I think this is why there are such general guidelines.
Kathy-
I wonder what influences these kids to consume whole grains when they are young, is it from their parents or are they aware of the benefits on their own? I'd also like to see if the kids that consume a small amount of whole grains when they are young increase their intake as they age.
Whether the recommendation of 3 servings of whole grain/day is enough to cause change depends on the individual being considered. Because a large percentage of adolescents in this study consumed no whole grains, the 3 serving/day recommendation would likely be enough to cause a positive change in their health. I also think that this is why there was such a difference in the health of those consuming > 0.5 oz per day. When being compared to adolescents who consume none, I would definitely predict that they would have lowER BMIs, lowER fasting insulin levels, highER serum and red blood cell folate levels, lowER C-peptide concentrations, etc. However, I definitely do not think that 0.5 oz/day is enough to be considered "healthy", especially long term.
I think we need to keep in mind what constitutes as an ounce equivalent: 1 slice of bread, 1 cup of ready-to-eat cereal, ½ cup of rice, pasta or cooked cereal. So when you think about 0.5 oz equivalents/day of whole grains, you can understand that it is not very much at all. I think that every little bit helps as far as decreasing disease risk factors but I cannot see how it would cause a significant decrease. On the other hand, I think 3-1 oz servings of whole grains per day would help to improve someone’s health and lower their risk for chronic disease. Like everyone else, 3 servings is not what is recommended but I think it is a great start, especially if a “high” intake was considered anything more than .5 oz equivalents/day.
I do not think that 0.5 oz/equivalent/day is enough to make a large change in the long term, although something is better than nothing. As far as aiming to consume 3 servings of whole grains per day, I think it's a good starting point but I don't think that 3 servings is the most a person should be consuming. I think that all big changes have to start somewhere and aiming for 3 servings per day will make people aware of what they are consuming and push them to make healthier choices in general. Then as 3 servings of whole grains per day becomes more normal, increasing the number of servings would be next step.
I agree with Kelsey that when you think about it, an ounce equivalent is not very much when thinking about whole grains. However, like everyone seems to be saying...anything is better than nothing.
I do not think that 0.5 oz equivalent/day of whole grains is a large enough amount to change risk factors for chronic diseases. As many people have previously mentioned, I tend to think that those people who are consuming at least half of their grain servings as whole grains tend to have diets that include fruits, vegetables, leaner protein, and not as many simple carbohydrates and saturated fats. This "group effort" of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals will aid in preventing chronic disease. I think that three servings of whole grains per day can make a difference if other nutritious foods are included in the diet, not just whole grains.
A 0.5 oz equivalent/day would seem to have an unlikely affect on chronic disease because it is a rather insignificant amount. However, like many of you have said, this could be a good starting point for adolescents to increase their whole grain consumption through adulthood. It is important that awareness of proper whole grain consumption is promoted throughout the adolescent population in order to encourage an increased consumption.
I agree with others that individuals consuming 3 oz of servings of whole grains per day are likely following a healthy diet including fruits and vegetables, which could also be a contributing factor in lowering the risk for chronic disease. In response to Amanda’s question about attributing the intake of whole grains as the main factor in reducing risk for disease or is it and aggregate of other nutritional factors, I think it would be an interesting area to study because I think individuals consuming at least 3 oz. of whole grains per day but also have completely different nutrient level diets could make a difference in lowering levels of chronic disease.
I think dividing the intake into quartiles or quintiles would have made the data analysis results much stronger (as opposed to just "low" and "high"). I would be interested to know what the range of intakes is in that "high" intake group. We could have drawn more conclusions about associations with whole grain intake if we could have seen more groups.
Here is a link to a study regarding whole grain intake and disease risk in adult women. http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/121/20/2162.full.pdf+html
It uses a FFQ and divides the intake in quintiles. This study is much stronger than the one we are discussing.
If the entire aim is to see if we we can get results for adolescents as significant as they are for adults, it would be wise to design the studies similarly to the studies on adults.
As most of you have said (I think Amanda summarized it well), 0.5 oz whole grains/day is most likely not enough to affect chronic disease risk, especially because whole grain intake patterns are usually closely tied with that of other foods mentioned here (fruits and veggies, etc.). Again, if we had the quartiles/quintiles, the highest group may have been around 3 oz (I sure hope there are SOME adolscents out there consuming that much whole grains...), and we may have seen drastically different results for that group. But, we obviously have no idea what the raw data is like. Sometimes we just have to trust the researchers and statisticians know what they're doing.
I doubt the consuming 0.5 oz of whole grains/day is enough to reduce disease risk in the long term. I think the overall diet of participants needs to be taken into consideration when evaluating factors affecting chronic disease. That being said, I agree with what Stephanie said regarding 0.5 oz being better than none at all. Considering that 0.5 oz was considered "high" whole grain intake, I think 3 servings a day is a realistic target to encourage. As Molly discussed, small amounts can begin to change a persons palate from despising the flavor and texture of whole grains to accepting them.
I agree with most everyone else that those with higher intakes of whole grains are probably diet-conscious and are also consuming fruits, veggies, lean meats and so on. Thus,this overall healthful diet is contributing to lowering the risk for chronic disease. It would be difficult to give all of the credit of a low disease risk to whole grains when so many other factors play into it.
Some grain food for thought: I am part of the integrative and functional medicine group through the ADA or academy. On their list serve there is recent talk (nothing evidence based) about the way grains are processed on our country. The processing may be making these grains more resistant to our digestive enzymes (possibly why many people have issues with grains- including gluten) Like I said, nothing evidence based but some discussion happening among RDs that I found interesting.
I agree with Alana, that people who focus on consuming more whole grains are probably focusing on improving all other aspects of their diet as well. This, collectively, will provide the best defense against chronic disease.
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