Healthy Breakfast Cereals Reduce the Risk of Heart Failure
November 17th, 2007 | by David Reiner, M.D. | 
Heart failure is the leading cause for hospital admissions in the elderly. It is well recognized that the consumption of whole grain products high in dietary fiber can reduce the risk of high blood pressure and heart attacks. This study evaluated the association between developing heart failure and the amount of breakfast cereal intake in 21,376 participants in the Physicians Health Study.
This study was conducted by surveying physicians over an average follow-up period of 19.6 years. A statistically significant reduction in the development of heart failure was seen as the amount of cereal intake increased. However, the benefit was only seen with the consumption of whole grain cereals, not refined cereals. For an average consumption of 7 or more portions of whole grain cereal per week a 29% risk reduction was seen in the incidence of heart failure, when other standard cardiac risk factors were corrected for.
Additional studies are warranted to confirm these findings and determine what specific nutrients are responsible for such a protection.
Reference: Arch Intern Med. 2007 Oct 22;167(19):2080-5