Whole wheat flour and long-term disease risk
What it found
People who eat more whole wheat tend to have lower rates of obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
The benefits are credited to natural plant compounds and fibre in the grain.
What they found
Studies in people
Lower disease rates
Population studies found that people who eat more whole wheat have lower rates of obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
Other findings
What provides the benefit
The health benefits of whole wheat foods are credited to bioactive components such as phytochemicals and dietary fibre.
Processing can help
Newer processing technologies may be able to boost the nutritional quality of wheat and wheat-based foods.
What the authors conclude
“Epidemiological studies have found that whole wheat consumption is inversely associated with the risk of chronic diseases, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say this review may promote research, development and consumption of whole wheat foods to reduce the risk of chronic diseases in people.
How it was done
The authors wanted to pull together what is known about the bioactive parts of whole wheat and how they may help lower the risk of long-term disease.
They reviewed existing studies on the bioactive components of whole wheat, their health effects and how they work, plus newer processing methods that may improve the nutritional quality of wheat foods.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- These are population studies that follow people over time, so they can show a link between whole wheat and lower disease rates, not that whole wheat causes the lower risk.
- The review does not show how much whole wheat a person would need to eat, or for how long, to get any benefit.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- Beijing Technology & Business University (BTBU), People's Republic of China; University of Maryland, United States
The paper
- Title
- Bioactive Components and Health Beneficial Properties of Whole Wheat Foods
- Type
- ReviewThe authors read earlier studies and describe what they found. It isn’t a new study.
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Liu J, Yu LL, Wu Y (2020). Bioactive Components and Health Beneficial Properties of Whole Wheat Foods. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry. doi:10.1021/acs.jafc.0c00705PubMed 32324395DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error