The Study
Healthcare Cost Savings Associated with Increased Whole Grain Consumption among Australian Adults
This study didn't watch people eat or see if they got sick—it just did math. It said, 'If everyone ate more whole grains, and if that reduced disease (like in other studies), then we might save this much money.' It's like guessing how much you'd save if you stopped buying candy, but you never actually stopped buying it.
Analysis score
Maximum 0 for a computational/algorithm study.
Where the score came from
Most Australians eat way less whole grain than doctors recommend. This study figured out how much money Australia could save if everyone ate enough whole grains to meet the target.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 50 / 100
Quality score
Based on clinical experience or non-systematic literature reviews. The lowest level of evidence as they are most susceptible to bias and personal perspective.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — that’s enough money to fund hundreds of hospitals or free thousands of medical treatments annually, just by swapping white bread for whole grain.
- 2If everyone ate 48g of whole grains daily (up from 21g), Australia could save $750 million on diabetes costs and $717 million on heart disease costs each year.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Nutrients
Year
2021
Authors
Mohammad M H Abdullah, Jaimee Hughes, S. Grafenauer
Related Content
Claims (6)
People who eat whole nutrient-dense foods have better health outcomes and lower healthcare expenses compared to those who do not.
If all Australian adults aged 20 and over increased their daily whole grain intake from 21 grams to 48 grams, annual healthcare costs would decrease by AUD 750.7 million and lost productivity costs would decrease by AUD 717.4 million due to fewer cases of Type 2 Diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
If Australians increase their daily whole grain intake to 48 grams, the country could save between AUD 35.9 million and AUD 750.7 million annually in healthcare and lost productivity costs related to Type 2 Diabetes and cardiovascular disease, depending on how many people meet this target.
Most Australians eat less than half the recommended amount of whole grains each day, with an average intake of 21 grams, and 3 in 10 adults eat no whole grains at all.
Increasing daily whole grain intake by 27 grams from the Australian adult median level to the recommended amount is associated with a 32% lower relative risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and a 13% lower relative risk of cardiovascular disease.
When people replace refined grains with whole grains to meet the daily 48 gram recommendation, their total calorie intake does not increase if they eat the same amount of food by volume.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.