An international team of scientists has discovered that whole grains not only promote heart health, weight loss, and better blood-sugar control, but they may reduce periodontal disease. They reasoned that if blood sugar can be brought under control by healthy grain eating, there might also be a reduction in periodontal disease. They poured through data from the all-male Health Professionals Follow-Up Study begun 20 years ago and administered by the Harvard School of Public Health. Survey data on 51,529 participants was analyzed for lifestyle factors and disease. Data from men beginning the study with periodontal disease was eliminated, and diet histories from the remaining 34,000 participants collected over 4 years were correlated with a periodontal disease diagnosis. Men who ate the most whole grain foods were 23% less likely to develop periodontal disease than men eating one serving a day. The confirming link appeared to be whole grain cereals, eaten at 10 servings per day versus 2.7 servings. There was no link between periodontal risk and dietary fiber. It appears that whole grains limit the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which deposit in the tissue around the teeth, causing inflammation and the cascade effect associated with it. The results were encouraging and indicate a lifestyle factor that can be personally controlled.
(Source: Sciencenews.org, week of June 24, 2006)
