WASHINGTON - Two studies presented on Sunday confirm the benefits of a varied, wholesome diet and call into question the wisdom of low-carb and other fad diets that limit what kinds of foods people can eat.

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In one, a team at cereal-maker General Mills found men and women who ate three or more daily servings of whole grain foods were the least likely to be overweight or obese.

In a second, university-based researchers found people who ate a variety of foods were more likely to get the recommended levels of vitamins and other nutrients than people who stuck to a few favorite foods.

Both studies were presented by the American Association of Nutritional Sciences at a joint conference in Washington called Experimental Biology 2004.

Dr. Carolyn Good and colleagues at General Mills Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition in Minneapolis looked at 9,000 men and women taking part in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Continuing Survey of Food Intakes.

Whole grains key to good health
This nationwide study collects information on the consumption of whole grains -- found in packaged cereals, whole-grain breads and crackers. Processed white flour, for example, does not count as a whole grain.

Women who consumed three or more servings of whole grain foods a day had a significantly lower body mass index — calculated by comparing height to weight — than those who ate less than one serving a day, the researchers said.

The trend was similar in men, but not to a point considered statistically significant.

Whole grains may help people feel more full, Good said. They are also more nutritious and higher in fiber.

The researchers said more than half the American population eats less than one serving of whole grain foods each day.

Adequate vitamins and minerals
In the second study a team at the University of Hawaii calculated the nutrients in what 10,000 men and women said they ate. The more variety, the more likely they were to reach recommended levels of vitamins and minerals, researchers said.

People who ate the same foods over and over were less likely to meet the requirements, they found — even if some of the individual foods were themselves high in vitamins.

Dr. Suzanne Murphy and colleagues at Hawaii also used the USDA Continuing Survey of Food Intakes.

Murphy stressed that adding variety does not mean eating more food. It means, for example, eating one banana and one orange instead of two bananas, she said.

People who meet nutritional guidelines through food — mostly by eating plenty of fruit, vegetables and whole grains — have lower rates of cancer and heart disease.

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