Tier 2 — strong

Impact of wheat aleurone on biomarkers of cardiovascular disease, gut microbiota and metabolites in adults with high body mass index: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial

Francesca Fava, Maria M Ulaszewska, Matthias Scholz, Jan Stanstrup, Lorenzo Nissen, Fulvio Mattivi, Joan Vermeiren, Douwina Bosscher, Carlo Pedrolli, Kieran M Tuohy
European journal of nutrition 2022 61(5):2651-2671

Bibliography

PubMed
PMID 35247098
PubMed Central
PMC9279244
DOI
10.1007/s00394-022-02836-9
Funding
Reported funding/support: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100004387cargill http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100010661horizon 2020 framework programme31965/7303/16TuohyKieran M.
Competing interests
Reported disclosure: The authors declare no conflict of interest. However, two of our authors worked for Cargill R&D Centre Europe (Vilvoorde, Belgium) at the time of the study. Their contribution was restricted to the initial outlined plan of the trial, provision of the test foods (including oversight for the safe manufacture of the test foods), and critical reading of the final manuscript.

Study snapshot

DesignRandomized controlled trial
ModelHuman participants
Sample67 adults with high BMI
InterventionFoods providing wheat aleurone 27 g/day versus cellulose control
Duration4 weeks
EndpointsHomocysteine; Cardiovascular biomarkers; Gut microbiota

What the study showed, in plain terms

Published in 2022, this source examined food sources, absorption and nutrient metabolism. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Sample/model: 67 adults with high BMI. The exposure or intervention was Foods providing wheat aleurone 27 g/day versus cellulose control. Follow-up or treatment period: 4 weeks.

Some microbiome and metabolite measures changed, but homocysteine and conventional cardiovascular biomarkers did not improve.

Short food trial; favorable microbiome changes cannot substitute for clinical outcome benefit.

Continue with TMG Data Center

Continue with Foods High in Betaine: TMG Amounts and Practical Portions

Key findings

  • Some microbiome and metabolite measures changed, but homocysteine and conventional cardiovascular biomarkers did not improve.
  • The recorded outcome domains were Homocysteine; Cardiovascular biomarkers; Gut microbiota.
  • The result applies to the tested exposure: Foods providing wheat aleurone 27 g/day versus cellulose control; 4 weeks.

What this study can and cannot tell us

  • Short food trial; favorable microbiome changes cannot substitute for clinical outcome benefit.
  • An individual controlled trial must be interpreted alongside its comparator, sample size, endpoint selection and independent replication. It does not validate a different commercial formulation or a general longevity claim.
  • Source basis: Accessible full-text extract plus indexed bibliographic data. Missing method details, funding information or participant denominators are not inferred.

Related papers in the corpus

Tier 2
Pharmacokinetics of oral betaine in healthy subjects and patients with homocystinuria
Bernd C Schwahn et al. · British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2003
Tier 4
Cereal foods are the major source of betaine in the Western diet--analysis of betaine and free choline in cereal foods and updated assessments of betaine intake
Alastair B Ross et al. · Food chemistry · 2014
Tier 2
Choline and betaine concentrations in plasma discriminate levels of dietary choline intake in healthy adults: analysis of a double-blind randomized crossover controlled feeding study
Isis Trujillo-Gonzalez et al. · The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2026
Tier 4
Dietary Sources of Glycine Betaine and Proline Betaine in Plant Foods and Their Potential Biological Relevance in Human Nutrition
Bruna Laratta et al. · Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026
Tier 4
Concentrations of choline-containing compounds and betaine in common foods
Steven H Zeisel et al. · The Journal of nutrition · 2003

Editorial review

Reviewed by the Biohack Blueprint research team

Last verified

Dr. Khaled Mahmoud, MBBChCritical Care Medicine, Longevity Science & Editorial Direction Dr. Amr Yasser, PhDCardiometabolic, Musculoskeletal, Gut & Bioavailability Dr. Abdulla Mostafa, PhDCellular Senescence, Neurological, Mitochondrial & Brain-Ageing Biology