Potential benefits of cereal foods for human health: the HEALTHGRAIN project

Cereal foods are a major energy and dietary fibre source in our diet. Intake of both cereal dietary fibre and whole grain are increasingly shown to protect against rapidly expanding chronic diseases related to sedentary lifestyle, such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and colon cancer. In addition to fibre, the protection has been suggested to be due to many bioactive compounds in grains such as lignans, phenolic acids, alkylresorcinols, phytosterols, folates, tocopherols and tocotrienols, other vitamins, trace elements and minerals. These compounds are concentrated in the outer layers of the grain, and are thus removed in production of white wheat flour. The EU integrated project HEALTHGRAIN develops ways of producing cereal foods which would assist in prevention of diseases associated with metabolic syndrome. The role of cereal food structure and other factors in retarding postprandial glycemia are also studied as possible mechanisms to improve insulin metabolism and satiating properties.