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Whole Grains don't stop you getting fat

Well that is how I read this abstract:

Whole grains and adiposity: little association among British adults

Objectives:

To examine associations of whole-grain intake with body weight and adiposity in two nationally representative samples of British adults.

Subjects/Methods:

A total of 2064 adults aged 16–64 years in 1986–1987, 1599 adults aged 19–64 years in 2000–2001. Whole-grain intake (g day-1 and 16-g amounts) was estimated from consumption of all foods with greater than or equal to10, greater than or equal to25 or greater than or equal to51% whole-grain content, using 7-day weighed dietary records. Body weight, body mass index (BMI) and, in 2000–2001, waist circumference (WC) were measured. BMI and WC were considered as continuous and categorical variables. For each survey, associations of whole-grain intake with body weight and anthropometric indices were examined in men and women separately, before and after adjustment for age, occupational social class, smoking habit, region, season and, in 2000–2001, misreporting.

Results:

In 1986–1987, whole-grain intake was inversely associated with percentage of men classified using BMI as obese (P=0.008, trend), independent of other factors. However, intake was not associated with body weight or prevalence of overweight. No corresponding associations were observed among women. In 2000–2001, whole-grain intake was not associated with body weight, BMI or WC.

Conclusions:

Two national surveys of British adults, with detailed quantitative estimates of whole-grain intake, provide little evidence of an association of whole-grain intake with body weight or measures of adiposity.
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Comments

Anonymous said…
To be honest if could be worse. They didn't appear to find a positive relationship between grain consumption and excessive weight either.

I'd be interested in seeing the raw data to see if this was in fact the case. While I'm dreaming, I'd also like to see a large scale study examining trends of grain consumption and immune diseases.
February 9, 2009 at 12:14 PM
Chris said…
I may have been making something more of it than is jsutified....but it is interesting nevertheless. What I was trying to get at is this idea that people need to eat more whole grains to lose weight. At first glance this study does not bear that out.

This related study is perhaps also relevant and shows that these studies focussing on associations can never really prove causation.
February 9, 2009 at 12:19 PM
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