Molecular biologists in Mexico set out to study the bioactive peptides in amaranth and, in 2008, were the first to report presence of a lunasin-like peptide in the protein in amaranth.  Lunasin is a peptide previously identified in soybeans and is widely thought to have cancer-preventive benefits as well as possibly blocking inflammation that accompanies several chronic health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.  Additional bioactive peptides in amaranth protein were found to have antihypertensive properties.
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, February 27, 2008; 56(4):1233-40.  Epub January 23, 2008.

Researchers in Mannheim, Germany carried out a dietary intervention with 14 patients who had uncontrolled type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance. The patients were introduced to a diabetes-appropriate diet containing oatmeal during a short hospital stay, then examined again four weeks later. On average, patients achieved a 40% reduction in insulin dosage – and maintained the reduction even after 4 weeks on their own at home.
Experimental and Clinical Endocrinology & Diabetes, February 2008; 116(2):132-4

At the Department of Food and Nutrition at Hanyang University in Seoul, Korean researchers randomly assigned forty overweight adult women to two groups. For six weeks, one group ate meals containing white rice, while the other consumed otherwise-identical meals with a mix of black and brown rice. While both groups showed significant reductions in weight, BMI and body fat, the whole grain rice group surpassed the white rice group in all three measures. The whole grain group also saw an increase in HDL (good) cholesterol and in antioxidant activity.
Nutrition Research. February 2008; 28(2): 66-71.

Asian countries have been transitioning to a Westernized diet, which may be related to the increased incidence of colorectal cancer.  Korean researchers evaluated data regarding meat and cereal consumption in Korea and Japan, along with the incidence of colorectal cancer in those countries.  The transition in Korea is about 20 years behind Japan, but reflects a similar pattern of increased cancer with increased meat consumption and decreased cereal consumption.
Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. 2008 Jan; 23(1):138-140. (Lee et al.)

In a clinical study conducted at Penn State, researchers put 50 obese adults on a reduced calorie diet for 12 weeks, during which time half the group was asked to eat all their grains as whole grains, and the other half was advised to avoid whole-grain foods. Body weight, waist circumference and percentage body fat decreased significantly in both groups, but the whole grain group saw a signicantly greater decrease in abdominal fat, and a 38% decrease in C-reactive protein (CRP), an inflammatory marker for cardiovascular disease.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, January 2008; vol 87(1): 79-80

A double-blind, randomized, cross-over study at the University of Reading, UK, divided 31 healthy adults into two groups. Half the volunteers ate 48g of whole grain cereal daily; the other half ate the same amount of wheat bran cereal daily for three weeks. After a two-week washout on normal diets, the groups were reversed for a second period of three weeks. The study concluded that whole grain cereal promoted increases in bifidobacteria and lactobacillus, while the bran cereal did not.
British Journal of Nutrition, January 2008; vol 99(1):110-20. Epublished August 29, 2007.

In a Korean study, rats on a high-cholesterol diet were divided into four groups, a control group and three experimental groups which were fed (1) sprouted giant embryonic rice, (2) giant embryonic rice, or (3) conventional brown rice.  (Giant embryonic rice is rice with a larger germ than normal.)  Rats fed the sprouted rice saw a rise in their plasma HDL-cholesterol (“good cholesterol”) and other markers that led researchers to conclude that “consumption of germinated giant embryonic rice is effective in lowering atherosclerosis cardiovascular disease risk.”
Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, 2007; 51(6):519-26. Epub 2007 Dec 20.

A team of scientists in Boston and Baltimore led by PK Newby studied data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, and found that seniors consuming the most whole grain had lower body mass index (BMI) and weight, and smaller waist circumference. More whole grain consumption was also associated wtih lower total cholesterol, lower LDL cholesterol and improved glucose response.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, December 2007; vol 86(6): 1745-1753

Up to one percent of the U.S. population (and about ½% worldwide) is believed to have Celiac Disease, an autoimmune reaction to gluten proteins found in wheat, barley and rye. While sorghum has long been thought safe for celiacs, no clinical testing had been done until researchers in Italy made a study. First, they conducted laboratory tests; after those tests established the likely safety, they fed celiac patients sorghum-derived food products for five days. The patients experienced no symptoms and the level of disease markers (anti-transglutaminase antibodies) was unchanged at the end of the five-day period.
Clinical Nutrition. 2007 Dec;26(6):799-805. Epub 2007 Aug 24

UK researchers Janice Harland and Lynne Garton pooled data from fifteen studies on whole grain intake and BMI or adiposity, and found that in 119,829 male and female subjects age 13 or older, a higher intake of whole grains (about three servings per day) was associated with lower BMI and less central adiposity (abdominal fat).
Public Health Nutrition, November 16, 2007; 1-10. Epublished ahead of print.

Pancreatic cancer is the most fatal cancer in the U.S., but eating two servings or more of whole grains daily may cut the risk of this swift and deadly killer by up to 40%. That was the finding of researchers at UC San Francisco led by June Chan, who compared diets of 532 pancreatic cancer patients with 1,701 people not suffering from the disease.
The American Journal of Epidemiology, November 2007; 166(10):1174-1185

After following 21,376 male physicians for almost 20 years, Luc Djoussé and J. Michael Gaziano at Harvard found that those eating two to six servings of whole grain cereal a week reduced their risk of heart failure 22%, while those eating whole grains daily reduced risk by 28%. For this study, cereals with at least 25% whole grain or bran by weight were classified as whole grain.
Archives of Internal Medicine, October 2007; 167: 2080-2085