Research
Micronutrients & recovery
Low intake of whole grains is the leading dietary risk factor for disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) globally, responsible for 3 million deaths.
Not eating enough whole grains is a major contributor to early death and disability. To improve your health, increase your intake of whole grains to the optimal range of 125g per day, as this is a leading factor in preventing chronic disease.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
low intake of whole grains (3 million [2–4] deaths and 82 million [59–109] DALYs)... were the leading dietary risk factors for deaths and DALYs globally
Why this rating
Based on a systematic analysis of 195 countries using comparative risk assessment.
Source
Health effects of dietary risks in 195 countries, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017
Ashkan Afshin et al. · The Lancet · 2019
DOI 10.1016/s0140-6736(19)30041-8
Meta-analysisCited 5,705×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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