Whole grains may curb belly fat, inflammation

[allen green]

Cutting calories helps people lose weight, but doing so by filling up on whole grains may be particularly heart-healthy, new research suggests. Those who trimmed calories and increased their whole-grain intake shed more belly fat and lowered their blood levels of C- reactive protein or CRP.
CRP is a marker of chronic, low-level inflammation in the blood vessels, and both abdominal fat and CRP, in excess, are linked to heart attack and stroke.
In contrast, dieters in the study who mainly ate refined grains, like white bread, were able to lose weight, but they trimmed less fat from the middle and showed no change in CRP.