In the December issue of CSPI’s Nutrition Action Newsletter there is a 3-page feature on whole grain hot cereals. ‘Oatmeal and beyond’ is the title. It’s a review of the coolest hot cereals in the US. The intro includes: ‘Face it. Hot cereals arn’t excately hot. But if they’re whole grain, not smotheres on sugar or salt you got yourself one heckuva healthy, cheap, and convenient breakfast’.

Unfortunately the newsletter is not available online. But you can sucscribe to the printed version or buy back issues here.

Great job, CSPI.

By the way. In the November issue CSPI gave the Starbucks oatmeal thums up and 5 stars.

A coalition of UK consumers, bakers and campaigners is joining together to launch the Real Bread Campaign to challenge the giant industrial baking companies that dominate the modern bread market. Sustain takes part in the campaign (http://www.sustainweb.org/realbread).

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The HEALTHGRAIN project just published data on fiber components and a range of phytochemicals (tocols, sterols, phenolic acids, folates, alkylresorcinols) in 150 bread wheat lines and 50 other lines of small-grain cereals (spelt, durum wheat, Triticum monococcum, Triticum dicoccum, oats, rye, and barley).

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50 obese adults with metabolic syndrome were randomly assigned to receive dietary advice either to avoid whole-grain foods or to obtain all of their grain servings from whole grains for 12 wk. There were a 38% greater decreases in CRP and percentage body fat in the abdominal region in participants consuming whole grains than in those consuming refined grains. C-reactive protein is used mainly as a marker of inflammation.

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293,703 US men and 198,618 US women participated. Of these 165 individuals developed small intestinal cancers. Intake of fiber from grains and whole-grain foods was inversely associated with small intestinal cancer incidence.

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Based on 25,278 postmenopausal Danish women with a mean follow-up time of 9.6 years and 978 breast cancer cases. Danish researchers found no that intake of whole grain products was not associated with risk of breast cancer.

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Kellogg Company paid LSRO to prepare this review. Using the FDA definition for whole grains as a selection criterion to evaluate the scientific literature is limiting because most of the studies use a broader concept of whole grains. The few studies that meet the FDA whole grains definition provide insufficient scientific evidence to support a CVD health claim. A short extract is avalliable for free. The 35 page report costs 35 US$ to download. Latest: The report is now available for free.

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600 low-income pregnant women in Pennsylvania enrolled in a cohort study at <20 weeks' gestation. These women reported usual dietary intake in the three months around conception on an FFQ. Cereal eaters had significantly higher intakes of folate, Fe, Zn, Ca, fibre and vitamins A, C, D and E. Read more