Too Much Grain in Diet

Further, the low concentrations of lectins in edible grains and grain-based foods are not associated with negative health effects. A 2014 research review in the journal Cereal Science concluded that the current data on lectins does not support negative health effects as people consume them normally in foods. "The current scientific evidence is strong and consistent to suggest that whole grains have beneficial effects in individuals with no genetic predisposition for celiac disease, despite the dietary lectin content," the review authors write. "Despite numerous speculative assumptions that wheat germ lectins cause intestinal damage and disease, there is at present neither evidence that this is the case nor reason to recommend the healthy population to abstain from whole grain food products."

In fact, numerous studies show whole grain intake is associated with health benefits, including a significantly lower risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes (more on that later).

While it's true that phytates can cause reduced absorption of some nutrients, this isn't a problem in industrialized countries, where diets are varied and mineral fortification is commonplace.

The major cited downside to phytates is micronutrient malabsorption. During digestion, phytic acid can bind to micronutrients such as zinc, magnesium, and iron and cause reduced absorption. This phytate concentration truly can be a problem, but primarily in developing nations with high food insecurity where the vast majority of food calories comes from grains, and mineral deficiencies are a common result of the lack of diversity in overall diets. For example, research shows that, in certain developing countries, existing zinc deficiencies may be exacerbated by high phytate intake.

However, in industrialized nations, with a plentiful and diverse food supply, as well as food fortification, mineral malabsorption from phytates is much less of a problem. Sometimes when diet bloggers and authors talk about the dangers of phytates, they talk about the molecular mechanisms and look at studies that show mineral deficiencies seen in developing nations with diets very high in grains and very low in animal products, which aren't reflective of modern western diets. All in all, phytates aren't a good reason for giving up whole grains.

There are some illnesses—like celiac disease—that call for the elimination of specific foods. But these issues don't affect the majority of folks, and diets that require eliminating food groups should be done with the help of a health professional, such as your physician or a registered dietitian.

So, there's very little evidence that antinutrient activity in whole grains is affecting your health. On the contrary, whole grain consumption is associated with many positive health outcomes.

In a 2016 meta analysis in the British Medical Journal combining results from 45 prospective studies (these are observational studies that collect data about participants' food intake and then track their health outcomes over time), researchers found that there was a dose-dependent relationship between whole grain intake and cardiovascular disease; that means greater intakes were associated with greater reductions in risk. Similarly, a 2013 meta analysis in the European Journal of Epidemiology combining results from 16 observational studies found an inverse relationship between whole grain intake and risk of diabetes—increased whole grain intake correlated to decreased risk of diabetes.

Because most studies on whole grains look at participants' overall diets and the health outcomes of those diets, it's hard to say exactly why whole grains are good for you.

But what exactly is it about whole grains that helps prevent chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease and diabetes? That's a hard question for researchers to answer, and here's why: The strongest evidence for health benefits of whole grains comes from observational studies, which follow the diet habits and long-term health outcomes of participants, but can't necessarily determine whether the whole grains actually cause better health outcomes.

Too Much Grain in Diet

Source: https://www.self.com/story/whole-grains-antinutrients

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