"... we found convincing evidence of an inverse association between whole grain consumption and risk of type-2 diabetes and colorectal cancer; possible evidence of decreased risk of colon cancer and cardiovascular mortality with increased whole grain intake, as well as increased risk of prostate cancer."
Whole grains have been associated with a number of health benefits. We systematically reviewed existing meta-analyses of observational studies and evaluated the level of evidence for their putative effects based on pre-selected criteria. Of the 23 included studies, we found convincing evidence of an inverse association between whole grain consumption and risk of type-2 diabetes and colorectal cancer; possible evidence of decreased risk of colon cancer and cardiovascular mortality with increased whole grain intake, as well as increased risk of prostate cancer. Limited or insufficient evidence was available for all other outcomes investigated. Overall findings are encouraging for a positive effect of whole grain consumption on certain diseases, especially highly prevalent metabolic diseases, however, uncertainty of some negative associations deserves further attention.
WOW that abstract reads straight out of the Grain Asso''s operating manual, systematiclly updating the USDA's food peramide with more and more modern GMO'ed grains. This is completely opposite of all the authors, wholistic practicioners personal experience with inflamation vs reducing inflamation we've been studying for 10+ yrs. Completely opposite!! But thanks Peter for your digging up research. So much is ginned up, culled for targed result, famous names glued to bad data, decades to reverse one bad paper (fat is bad,, leading to decades of disease from high carb/high grain diets)....
Please watch this recent docu/video/movie on the genesis of how fat became vilified. Guess what happens when you vilify fat? Guess what humans ate little of and mostly of prior to organized farming and during our DNA formation years? Anyway.... Its a complete Fobar messed up system out there.
I wanted to be sure its clear I'm thanking Peter for all the effort and great stuff he posts. I'm just commenting on the conclution of this grain paper. Tnx Peter.
People started calling me "Peter" 60 years ago. I don't know why. It started with a teacher. Mostly, he would correct himself. I used to think that I must look like a Peter, but this also happens online where people don't know my face. I'm used to it. It's amusing - a mystery I will never solve.
Exactly. What was it - publish or perish? A poor excuse. All I could access was the abstract, but not even a minimal effort to explain the wildly opposite associations? Colon cancer good, prostate cancer bad - it makes no sense. Just confuses and alarms people - gosh, maybe it's whole grains making prostate cancer worse? Maybe we should all stop eating whole grains, after decades of being told to eat whole grains because, y'know, healthy? So yeah, why say anything?
Recently discredited by--was it Harvard cardiologists?
How long have humans cultivated, processed, stored and eaten grains of different types?
It was said that the Roman Army marched on it's stomach.
"Generally army rations consisted of little else than wheat. The soldiers themselves would ground the grain they were given and made it into things such as porridge or bread. Whenever possible this monotonous army diet was supplemented with whatever was locally available like pork, fish, chicken, cheese, fruit and vegetables.
Lifespan wouldn't have been overly long because soldiers who ate grains were killed by other soldiers who ate grains - and also by diseases like plague, smallpox and malaria, which are associated with - wait for it - grain consumption! I mean, it's amazing humans have survived for thousands of years since they started eating grains. Maybe because there were no university pseudo-studies associating everything they did and ate with fatal diseases.
HOWEVER, this "Umbrella Review" screened 407 studies from PUBMED down to 23, of which only 3 of the 23 looked at prostate cancer, where the average RR was 1.10. The authors caution:
"The present study has some limitations that should
be addressed. The results shown in this report share
the common issues of the original meta-analyses
included through the systematic search, such as (i)
lack of homogeneity in measurement methods (for
example food frequency questionnaires vs. dietary
recalls for collection of dietary data), (ii) disagreement
in quantification of a serving of whole grains among
studies, (iii) lack of information regarding type of
whole grains (i.e. wheat, oat, rye, etc. as whole grain
ingredients alone or incorporated into grain-based
products). Furthermore, whole grain consumption is
generally a health-conscious choice, which tends to
cluster with lower prevalence of smoking, higher
physical activity levels, lower fat and higher fibre
intakes (Harland and Garton 2008). Thus, uncon-
trolled or residual confounding cannot be excluded.
Finally, the definition of whole grains or whole grain
foods is not univocal, thus the original papers may
incur in misclassification and overall heterogeneity of
exposure. It has been suggested that for future whole
grain studies, grams of whole grain on a dry weight
basis must be calculated and that use of whole
approximations based on whole grain food definitions
or “serves” of whole grains are not suitable (Ross
et al. 2015)."
I think I will have a second bowl of Bob's Red Mill Extra Thick Rolled Oats, since most PCa patients die of Cardio Vascular Disease, and this study showed the RR of whole grain consumption on CVD to be 0.79.
I highly recommend the book "Grain Brain". We incorporated that into our life and have to say that my mind and emotions have never been clearer, not to mention that extra energy I felt. Obviously I'm not the one with the cancer and this is anecdotal, but my husband also said he felt the same.
I almost had whiplash when I read this. It does not appear to make sense. The authors mention that the definitions for carbohydrate may be the cause of the unexpected result for PCa, but the same definitions were likely used for the other types of cancer. Perhaps, this should be delved into further. Cheers, Phil
I am eating whole grain pasta, couscous, bread, etc together with potatoes, etc and I have reduced processed grain products as well as sugar, crisps, etc because after about six months on ADT my blood sugar soared to the point where I was close to being type II diabetic.
On this diet plus two 500mg metformin a day and four months after my last Firmagon injection I am back to close to the normal range.
There is no disputing that a fibre rich diet is good for intestinal health and helps limit blood sugar and there are known mechanisms for this.
Does it promote prostate cancer?
Well maybe it does but unless there is some sort of proposed mechanism that can be tested then it might or might not be a statistical quirk between two unrelated phenomena.
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I mean, it's amazing humans have survived for thousands of years since they started eating grains. Maybe because there were no university pseudo-studies associating everything they did and ate with fatal diseases.
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