Intestinal health and disease prevention: a story of wheat and oats

Samenvatting

During the last decades, the prevalence of nutrition-related chronic diseases, such as diabetes type 2, obesity, coronary heart disease, hypertension, and food allergies and intolerances (such as celiac disease), as well as some types of cancer, has been gradually increasing, with a growing impact on healthcare costs. It is generally agreed that these diseases are a negative consequence of economic prosperity with the prevailing Western lifestyle, which is characterized by limited exercise; over-consumption of, in particular, highly refined processed foods and sugar-sweetened beverages; high hygiene; unlimited application of antibiotics; and stress. This Western lifestyle seems, among other things, to affect the proper functioning of the digestive and immune systems. Factors that can contribute to disease prevention should be identified and explored. A key aim of Wageningen University and Research Centre (Wageningen UR) is the improvement of quality of life, in which the prevention of chronic diseases plays an important part. And it’s in this context that this story of wheat and oats takes place (Gilissen et al., 2010).