If you’re pondering what the key to a longer life may be, a major study claims that a bowl of oatmeal a day could be it.
According to a study done by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, eating more whole grains could lower the risk of death, mostly from heart disease, by 15 percent.
The study, published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine, also found that Bran, which is high in dietary fiber, can cut the overall death rate by 6 percent.
“This is an interesting study and reinforces existing dietary recommendations to eat more foods high in fiber,” said Victoria Taylor, senior dietitian at the British Heart Foundation.
The Telegraph noted that in 1984, around 100,000 people enrolled in the long-term study to have their diets monitored. When researchers followed up in 2010, 26,000 of those participants had died.
While the data showed that whole grain intake reduced the risk of overall mortality by 9 percent, the study did not find that eating the grains reduced the risk of cancer related-deaths.