Wheat Aleurone in Cereals and Bread is Healthy

 New clinical trials with ready-to-eat cereals and bread containing wheat aleurone have been performed, and showed increased blood concentrations of tentatively beneficial compounds such as betaine, and decreased homocysteine and LDL-cholesterol which are both associated with heart disease risk.

Buhler produced aleurone fractions in their pilot production plants in Switzerland, which were then incorporated into ready-to-eat cereal by Buhler, and into bread rolls by Barilla in Italy. These products contained 9 g aleurone per portion.  The University of Ulster in Northern Ireland, UK conducted a 4-week randomised controlled clinical study with human subjects, who consumed two portions of bread rolls, and one portion of ready-to-eat cereal as part of their diets. The study showed that, compared to control products, the consumption of the products, which provided 27 g aleurone per day, led to significant changes in a number of plasma biomarkers. Betaine increased, and there were decreases in homocysteine and LDLcholesterol, which are both associated with heart disease risk. Furthermore, there was a decrease in C-reactive protein (CRP), which is a biomarker for inflammation.