Professor Nadine Sahyoun releases findings from a University of Maryland survey that shows that adults who eat whole grain foods are less likely to report an incidence of diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

According to Newswise, the January edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition looks at the research from Sahyoun's team.

"Ours is the first study that shows the relationship between eating whole grains and the health benefits for older people, whose metabolic characteristics are different from younger adults," says Sahyoun, assistant professor in Maryland's department of nutrition and food science.

"Whole-grain foods contain fiber, vitamins, minerals and other things that are removed during refining," says Sahyoun. "We recommend that whole grain intake should start from a very young age to develop a healthy lifestyle. Cardiovascular changes and diabetes risk are starting to occur earlier now, especially due to the obesity epidemic."