Michael Mosley shares ‘super carb’ that lowers inflammation and blood pressure

Michael Mosley has shared how we can get more of a ‘superfood’ into our diet that can reduce cholesterol and lower blood pressure.

Michael spoke to Caleigh Sawicki, a nutrition epidemiologist from Harvard Medical School, on how eating more grains can also really help people lose belly fat, reports Gloucestershire Live.

Caleigh said that people should get at least three servings of grains in their diet each day in order to see the real benefits of this food. Michael Mosley – famed for his Fast 800 and 5:2 diets – said that eating whole grains can really benefit people’s health such as destroying belly fat and reducing inflammation.

Speaking on the Just One Thing podcast, the expert said: “Eating whole grains cannot only shift belly fat but doing so can also reduce your levels of chronic inflammation. In a study published in 2008, 50 adults with obesity were randomly assigned to eating either refined grains or whole grains for 12 weeks.

“At the end of those three months, the whole grain eaters had lost far more belly fat than the refined group. The scientists think losing all that belly fat meant they released fewer inflammatory compounds. That could explain why belly fat is a key driver of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. So it makes sense that swapping to whole grains can be an effective way to reduce your risk of Type 2 diabetes.”

Michael said: “A large review of 15 studies including data from nearly 100 and 20,000 people linked eating three servings of whole grains every day to a lower body mass index. That’s probably because the fibre in whole grains makes you feel fuller by slowing down how quickly you digest food and potentially influencing gut hormones like cly cytokinin that makes you feel full.”

So how do you add more grains into your diet? Caleigh said that things like wholewheat pasta, wholewheat bread, rolled oats and brown rice can be a good start.

Mosley asked Dr Sawicki: “What advice would you give people to increase the intake of whole grains?”

The expert replied: “The easiest thing is to whatever refined grains you’re eating, switch them out for a whole grain version instead of white bread, switch it out for a whole grain bread or instead of refined pasta, whole grain pasta or maybe switching your breakfast cereal for whole oats.

“I think that’s the simplest, most straightforward way to incorporate more whole grain, try out some of these other grains that could maybe replace white rice as well like quinoa or something like that and have some fun with it. And in terms, if you go into the supermarket, is it fairly obvious when you pick up a food, whether it contains whole grains or not.

“The main thing you want to look at is the ingredients and you should see, ideally, the first ingredient should be whole grain, wheat or whole wheat, flour or something like that. That’s going to indicate that most of the product is whole grain and some products like breads and pastas might use a mix of whole grain and refined grain. But if it’s the first ingredient, you’re still getting a lot of that whole grain. And certainly if it says 100% whole grain, then that’s even better oats are usually whole oats.

“Generally, the most benefit comes from about three servings per day. And a serving is really a slice of bread or about half a cup of cooked oats or pasta or rice. So that would be the goal to start with.

“Another option is to also look at whole grain snacks. So people might not realise, but popcorn is actually a whole grain. And as long as you’re consuming popcorn that’s not totally covered in butter and sugar. It can be quite a healthy snack. It really is such a simple swap and it can lead to such big benefits.”

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