Popular food could boost heart health, but the amount you need to eat may surprise you

A bowl of oatmeal, a sandwich on whole-grain bread and a side of brown rice may do more for your heart and overall health than you think, according to a new study.

Eating four to six servings of whole grains each day may offer the greatest benefits for heart health, lowering body weight, cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure, a large meta-analysis published in the European Heart Journal found.

The analysis reviewed data from 87 randomized trials involving more than 6,500 people across Asia, Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia and Brazil. 

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It found that many of the greatest benefits occurred when people ate about 60 to 100 grams of whole grains daily — about what you would get from a bowl of oatmeal, two slices of whole-grain bread and a serving of brown rice, according to the researchers.

"This is the largest and most comprehensive meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials on whole-grain intake and cardiovascular risk factors," lead author Helda Tutunchi, of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in Iran, said in a statement.

A new study suggests eating more whole grains each day may improve heart health and several other cardiovascular risk factors. (iStock)

People who consumed more whole grains had lower body weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, total cholesterol, LDL ("bad") cholesterol, triglycerides, blood glucose and levels of interleukin-6, an inflammatory marker, the study also found.

One key finding, Tutunchi noted, was that whole grains appeared to boost heart health through "several modest improvements acting together, rather than through one large effect on a single factor."

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The researchers cautioned, however, that most of the studies they looked at were short and did not measure heart attacks or strokes directly. Longer-term research is still needed, they said.

Whole grains such as oats, brown rice and whole-grain bread may help lower cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure. (iStock)

Four to six servings of whole grains is more than the two to four servings the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend — and many Americans don't even hit that, said Lauren Manaker, a South Carolina-based registered dietitian nutritionist.

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"Going from zero to six is a lot," Manaker, who wasn't involved in the study, told Fox News Digital. "My recommendation is to start slow. Two servings is better than zero servings."

Simple swaps can include starting the day with oatmeal or overnight oats, or replacing refined grains with whole-grain sides such as sorghum or brown rice, she said.

Researchers found the greatest health benefits among people who consumed about four to six servings of whole grains per day. (iStock)

Consumers should also be careful not to assume every brown-colored loaf at the supermarket is whole grain, Manaker added.

"We want to look at the ingredient list and make sure one of the first ingredients is a whole grain," she said. "We also want to look at the nutrition panel and make sure there's some fiber in there."

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Whole grains contain all three parts of the grain kernel — the bran, germ and endosperm — rather than having some parts removed during processing, the researchers noted.

While researchers say more studies are needed, they concluded that increasing whole-grain intake is "a relatively simple, accessible and affordable dietary strategy" that can complement other heart-healthy habits.

Nutrition experts recommend reading bread labels carefully. (iStock)

In an editorial that accompanied the report, Cecilie Kyro of the Danish Cancer Institute in Copenhagen and her colleagues encouraged policies that make minimally processed whole-grain staples accessible, affordable and culturally acceptable while also "avoiding a drift towards ultra-processed products."

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Fox News Digital reached out to the study's authors for comment.

Deirdre Bardolf is a lifestyle writer with Fox News Digital.