Healthy eating is one of the most important habits to adopt if you want to avoid heart disease and stroke -- but just be sure to add whole-grain cereals in your breakfast.
Yes, researchers in the United States have carried out a study and found that regular consumption of whole-grain breakfast cereal lowers the risk of heart failure in the long run.
"Our recommendation is that a lay person consuming breakfast cereal should look at fibre. At least four grams of fibre (per serving), that should be sufficient," according to lead researcher Luc Djousse.
In fact, Djousse and his co-researchers at the Harvard Medical School came to the conclusion after analysing data from from the Physicians' Health Study, which included more than 21,400 male doctors followed for 18 years.
During the period, 898 of the doctors were diagnosed with heart failure. Compared to those who ate no whole-grain cereal, men who consumed two to six servings per week saw their risk of heart failure fall by 21 per cent, while those who ate seven or more servings per week reaped a 29 per cent risk reduction.
"The Physicians' Health Study shows that even in a population with overall healthy behaviour, it is possible to see less heart failure in those who eat a whole-grain cereal breakfast," Djousse said.
"This effect is due, in part, to the high levels of magnesium, potassium and fibre in those breakfast cereals. While the study included only men, there is no reason at all why the results shouldn't apply to women," he said. The findings have been reported in the latest issue of the 'Archives of Internal Medicine' journal.
