highly refined grains Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Is Sorghum a Healthy Grain?

The AHA! Team — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 05:11:56 +0000

Michael Greger M.D. FACLM via Nutrition Facts – How does sorghum compare with other grains in terms of protein, antioxidants, and micronutrients? And the benefits of red sorghum compared to black and white varieties? Sorghum is “the Forgotten Grain.” The United States is the top producer of sorghum, “but it is typically not used to produce food for American consumers.” Instead, it’s used mainly “to produce livestock feed, pet foods, household building materials…but it is a preferred grain for human diets in other parts of the world, such as Africa and Asia.” There, it’s been a staple and eaten for thousands of years, making it currently the fifth most popular grain grown after wheat, corn, rice, and barley, beating out oats and rye. Sorghum is gluten-free Because sorghum is gluten-free and “can be deﬁnitively considered safe for consumption by people with celiac disease,” we’re starting to see it “increasingly used” as actual human food in the United States, so I decided to look into just how healthy it might be. As you can see below and at 0:59 in my video Is Sorghum a Healthy Grain?, it is comparable to other grains when it comes to protein. Since when do we have to worry about getting enough protein, though? Fiber is what Americans are desperately deficient in, and sorghum does pull towards the front of the pack, as seen here and at 1:06 in my video. The micronutrient composition is relatively “unremarkable, relative to other cereal grains.” As shown below and at 1:15 in my video, you can see how it rates on minerals, for example. Where sorghum shines is its polyphenol content. Polyphenols are plant compounds and “their regular consumption has been associated with a reduced risk of a number of chronic diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and neurodegenerative disorders.” It’s also been shown to have “a protective effect…on all-cause mortality.” If you compare different grains, sorghum really does pull ahead, helping to explain why its antioxidant power is so much higher, as seen here and at 1:40 in my video. Now, sorghum gets its grainy butt kicked by fruits and vegetables, but when compared to other grains, a sorghum-based breakfast cereal, for example, might have about eight times the antioxidants than a whole wheat-based one. What we care about, though, isn’t antioxidant activity in a test tube, but antioxidant activity within our body. If you measure the antioxidant capacity of your blood after eating regular pasta, it goes up a little. If you replace 30 percent of the wheat flour with sorghum flour, it doesn’t go up much higher. But, if you eat 30 percent red sorghum flour pasta, the antioxidant capacity in your bloodstream shoots up about 15-fold, as seen below and at 2:22 in my video. Red sorghum? Yes. In fact, there are multiple types of sorghum—such as black sorghum, white sorghum, and red sorghum. Below and at 2:31 in my video is how they look in grain form (including yellow sorghum). Red sorghum and especially black sorghum have extremely high antioxidant activity, comparable to fruits and vegetables, as seen here and at 2:41. The problem is I can’t find any of the colored sorghum varieties. I can go online and buy red or black rice, purple, blue, or red popping corn, and purple or black barley, but red or black sorghum can be harder to find. White sorghum is widely available for about four dollars a pound, though. Does it have any “unique nutritional and health-promoting attributes”? It’s promoted as “An Underutilized Cereal Whole Grain with the Potential to Assist in the Prevention of Chronic Disease,” according to a study title, but what is the “effect of sorghum consumption on health outcomes”? Epidemiological study As you can see below and at 3:20 in my video, an epidemiological study in China found lower esophageal cancer mortality rates in areas where more millet and sorghum were eaten, compared to corn and wheat, but that may have been due more to avoiding fungal contamination of corn than from any benefit of sorghum itself. Though, it’s possible. “Oats are the only source of avenanthramides,” which give oats some unique health benefits. Similarly, sorghum, even white sorghum, contains unique pigments known as 3-deoxyanthocyanins, which are strong inducers of some of the detoxifying enzymes in our liver and can inhibit the growth of human cancer cells growing in a petri dish, compared to red cabbage, for instance, which just has regular anthocyanin pigments. White sorghum didn’t do much worse than red or black varieties, which have way more of the unique 3-deoxyanthocyanins, so it may just be a general sorghum effect. You don’t know until you put it to the test. Researchers found that sorghum suppresses tumor growth and metastasis in human breast cancer xenografts. What does that mean? They concluded that sorghum could be used as “an inexpensive natural cancer therapy, without any side effects. We strongly recommend the use of [sorghum] as an edible therapeutic agent as it possesses tumor suppression, migration inhibition, and anti-metastatic effects on breast cancer” for humans. However, xenograft means human breast cancer implanted in a mouse. Yes, the human tumors grew more slowly in the mice-fed sorghum extracts and blocked metastasis to the lung. Yes, sorghum did the same for human colon cancer that, again, was in mice, but that can’t necessarily be translated to how human cancers would grow in humans, since not only do these mice not have a human immune system, they hardly have any immune system at all. They’re bred without a thymus gland, which is where cancer-fighting immunity largely originates. I mean, how else could you keep the mouse’s immune system from rejecting the human tissue outright? But this immunosuppression makes these kinds of mouse models that much more artificial—and that much more difficult to extrapolate to humans. And that’s a lot of what we see in the sorghum literature—in vitro data from test tubes and petri dishes, and data from rats and mice. There has been “a critical missing piece of the puzzle” needed to link laboratory data to actual beneﬁts in humans. Missing, that is, until now. Thankfully, we now have human interventional studies, which we’ll explore next. Stay tuned for The Health Benefits of Sorghum. Should we all be seeking gluten-free grains? See related posts below. Key Takeaways Sorghum, especially red and black varieties, has high antioxidant levels, comparable to some fruits and vegetables, which may benefit chronic disease prevention. Sorghum contains 3-deoxyanthocyanins, unique pigments that may help inhibit cancer cell growth and enhance liver detoxifying enzymes, especially in red and black sorghum. Animal studies show sorghum extracts may slow tumor growth and prevent metastasis, though these findings need confirmation in human studies. Sorghum is gluten-free, making it a suitable grain for people with celiac disease, and its fiber content may aid overall digestive health. Despite its nutritional benefits, sorghum is mainly used for farm animal feed in the United States, though it is a dietary staple in parts of Africa and Asia. To read the original article click here.

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Could a Diet High in Carbohydrates Increase Your Risk of Heart Disease?

AHA Publisher — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 08:00:16 +0000

Dr. Mahshid Dehghan interview conducted by Emily Henderson, B.Sc. via News-Medical Net – In this interview, News-Medical speaks to Dr. Mahshid Dehghan about her latest research into diet, and how a diet high in carbohydrates could increase your risk of heart disease. What provoked your research into diets? Diet is one of the most important modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease and other non-communicable diseases. In 2017, we published results of the PURE study in the Lancet and reported the association between the number of carbohydrates and health outcomes. We found those who consumed more than 60% of their energy from carbohydrates had a higher risk of mortality and CVD. A month ago, we published the results of another study in BMJ. In that study, we assessed the relationship between the quality of carbohydrates as refined, whole grains, and rice and health outcomes. We reported that highly refined grains, compared with a low intake (<50 g/day v >350 g/day) were significantly associated with a 27% higher risk of total mortality, 31% non-cardiovascular mortality, 33% major cardiovascular disease events, and 47% higher risk of stroke. In the present study, we were interested to indicate the extent to which the glycemic index has any value as a marker of carbohydrate quality related to chronic disease in general and cardiovascular disease in particular. By better understanding the harmful effect of poor quality carbohydrates on health outcomes, we will able to prevent premature death and CVD. Why is having a healthy balanced diet so important for our health? Diet is one of the most important modifiable risk factors of chronic disease and premature death. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality worldwide, with 80% of the burden in low-income and middle-income countries. Therefore, the impact of poor quality diet maybe more profound in those regions and among low-income families around the world. Please could you give some examples of poor-quality carbohydrates? Poor-quality carbohydrate foods include those that contain a low amount of fiber, a higher percentage of refined grains than whole grains. Poor quality carbohydrates are mainly processed grains such as refined grains (e.g. white bread) with a high glycemic index. By contrast, low glycemic index foods are a rich source of fiber such as fruit, vegetable, legume, and whole grains. Low glycemic index foods gradually increase blood glucose and this is one of the reasons that they are healthier than refined grains. Can you describe your latest research into carbohydrates and heart disease? Using data from a large prospective cohort study that included 137,851 people in the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study, we assessed the association between glycemic index and health outcomes. During a median follow-up of 9.5 years, about 9000 death and more than 8000 cardiovascular diseases were recorded. Dietary information was obtained using a country-specific food frequency questionnaire at the beginning of the study. Our study population is unique because it includes people from 20 low-, middle-, and high-income countries throughout North America, Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia. What did you discover? After performing extensive adjustments, we found that a diet with a high glycemic index was associated with 28%, 25%, 14%, higher risk of stroke, major CV events, and death due to cardiovascular disease respectively in all participants. Associations were even stronger among those with preexisting CVD with a 71% higher risk of stroke and 49% higher risk of CV events. Results concerning glycemic load were similar. Your study geographically is the largest study of this kind. Why is it important to study a large and dietary diverse population for this type of research? The study population is unique because it includes people from 20 low-, middle-, and high-income countries throughout North America, Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia. We know that burden of non-communicable diseases is higher in low and middle-income countries. 80% of CVD happens in low and middle-income countries where poor quality carbohydrate consumption is high. Therefore, people in those regions benefit more by lowering their intake of high glycemic index foods such as refined grains and this would be the same for low-income families in high-income countries. Also, our results are robust in different populations with varying dietary patterns, which suggests that the findings are widely applicable. What advice should be given to people regarding their diet and heart health? Intakes of a combination of cereal grains with a lower intake of refined should be encouraged while promoting a higher intake of whole grains. Reduction in quantity and improvement in the quality of carbohydrate is essential for better health outcomes. We always encourage choosing minimally processed foods, higher consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains over refined grains as often as possible. Do you believe that with continued research, people will have a better understanding of harmful diets? We are providing new evidence and we hope that dietary guidelines in North America, with its multicultural population, consider these findings and encourage individuals to lower their refined grain and sugar intake and promote a higher intake of whole grains. Also, public health policies should encourage a diversity of sources of carbohydrate consumption, meaning consumption of foods from all types of grains, legumes, roots, tubers in moderation. These messages should be distributed to the public by media as well. What are the next steps in your research? Currently, I am investigating associations of foods with varying degrees of processing and health outcomes and am hoping to publish the results of this research soon. Where can readers find more information? Jenkin D, Dehghan M, Yusuf S. et al. Glycemic Index, Glycemic Load and Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality. NEJM 2020 Swaminathan S, Dehghan M, Yusuf S. et al. Associations of cereal grains intake with cardiovascular disease and mortality across 21 countries in the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological Study: A prospective cohort study. BMJ 2020 Dehghan M, Mente A, Yusuf S. et al. Association of egg intake with blood lipids, cardiovascular disease, and mortality in 177,000 people in 50 countries. Am J Clin Nutr. 2020 Dehghan M, Mente A, Yusuf S. et al. Association of dairy intake with cardiovascular disease and mortality in 21 countries from 5 continents: The PURE study. The Lancet. 2018 S0140-6736(18)31812-9. Dehghan M, Mente A, Yusuf S. et al. Associations of fats and carbohydrate intake with cardiovascular disease and mortality in 18 countries from 5 continents: The PURE study. The Lancet. 2017. 4;390 (10107):2050-2062. Miller V, Mente A, Dehghan M et al. Fruit, vegetable, and legume intake and cardiovascular disease and deaths: The Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study in 18 countries. The Lancet. 2017. 4;390 (10107):2037-2049. About Dr. Mahshid Dehghan Mahshid Dehghan is an investigator for the Nutrition Epidemiology program at Population Health Research Institute and the nutrition lead of the PURE study and the INTERSTROKE study. Her main interests are the development of methods to measure the long-term dietary intake of individuals around the world and understand the impact of dietary factors in the cause and prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer. She has published 64 papers and 2 book chapters. She holds two Masters of Clinical Nutrition and Health Research Methodology and received her doctoral degree in Clinical Nutrition from Newcastle University, England, and completed post-doctoral training in Nutrition Epidemiology at McMaster University in Canada. To read the original article click here.

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