Heart Health Becoming a Major Concern for Aging Baby Boomers

By: Rory Gillespie, Contributing Editor / Food Processing

Food and beverage manufacturers look to grains and soy to help boost formulations.

The Baby Boom generation has made great strides and had great impact across the globe. The group of post-World War II children, generally identified as being born from 1946 to 1964, has reached or is nearing retirement today and is focusing on being healthier, especially in the areas of the heart. The boomers are demanding a healthier way of life.

Lowering cholesterol is one major way of increasing heart health. Medicines are an effective way to help, and the leading heart associations recently released new guidelines that are reshaping the cholesterol-lowering statin medicines. But usually the first recommendation out of a doctor's mouth is, "Can you change your diet?"

The American Heart Association very clearly states the importance of heart health in a letter on its website:

"Dear America,

"More than half of you will likely suffer a cardiac event. One in every three of you will die of cardiovascular disease. We don't share these statistics to alarm you. We share them to arm you. We want you to have the knowledge you need to avoid becoming a statistic."

People in general seem to be more focused on their health, and definitely one of the keys is heart health," says Rajen Mehta, senior director-specialty ingredients in the Eugene, Ore., office of Grain Millers Inc. And he notes that besides advances in the medical field, consumers can do much to help themselves by eating better.

Changing your diet may not be the easiest or most fun way to change your life, but it can be the simplest. "I personally eat a bowl of oatmeal every day," he says. He should; oats are perhaps Grain Millers' highest-volume ingredient. Other grains include wheat, barley and rye, which are milled into flours, flakes, brans and fibers.

Grains are getting a great amount of attention, as a product by themselves and in the formulation of new aids to food production.

"Indirect evidence is that the steel cut oatmeal, for example, are becoming a lot more prevalent in the channels of consumption. Many of the health-oriented grocery stores and restaurants seem to have more and more steel cut oatmeals on their list of products or on the menu," Mehta said.

Oats are rich in beta-glucan which helps lower cholesterol. Along with oats, barley is another grain with beta-glucan benefits. Just as many are going back to the traditional breakfast of oatmeal in the morning, Grain Millers is looking even farther back to what it calls "ancient grains."

"We are also looking at the ancient grains, such as chia. Chia has been associated with anti-inflammatory properties. We offer a whole line of ancient grains and we are looking at anything you can do to reduce that risk of heart disease."

Convincing numbers come not only from the medical community but from the ranks of baby boomers, themselves.

"I pulled some statistics that show more than half of the boomers show concern about heart disease," says Pam Stauffer, corn milling global marketing and communications manager at Cargill Inc., Wayzata, Minn. "The numbers are higher than the total was in 2012 when it was up at about 47 percent, so it appears the overall concern about heart disease is increasing.

"Those personally affected by heart disease have gone up as well, from 7 to 10 percent," she adds. "Another statistic that has gone up is that 'heart healthy' is extremely or very important on the label of a food or beverage product, and that has gone up from 43 to 46 percent from 2010 to 2012. It does appear boomers are a more interested party in heart health." (READ MORE...)