By Staff Reports
(Hawaii)– From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.
Whole grains have more fiber, and have been linked to a lower risk of heart disease. But there are several whole grain stamps and labels on foods with whole grains and other ingredients, so choosing can be a bother.
At the Harvard School of Public Health, Rebecca Mozaffarian examined nutrition label information on 545 products. The best indicator was the American Heart Association’s ratio of no more than 10 parts carbohydrate to 1 part fiber. But it may require math:
“For example, a serving of cereal with 20 grams of carbohydrate and 5 grams of fiber – 20 divided by 5 is 4, which is less than 10, so it’s a healthy choice.”
The study in the journal Public Health Nutrition was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.
Learn more at healthfinder.gov.
HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.