Australian scientists have helped develop a new type of wheat with ten times more fibre in a world-first breakthrough.
Everybody knows fibre is good for digestion, but more than half of Australians don't get enough of it.
That's why a team of international researchers headed up by the CSIRO have been growing this grain from the ground up for the past decade.
It's called the amylose wheat and to the naked eye it looks no different.
Researchers say it also tastes the same but its health benefits speak for itself when added to food.
"The products contain more than ten times resistant starch which is actually a type of fibre," Dr Ahmed Regina from the CSIRO said.
"It can protect you from the genetic damage that actually precedes bowel cancer."
That was the aim of this project – to help the millions of Australians who struggle with a healthy diet.
Dietitian Nicola Weedon said people should eat about 25 to 30 grams of fibre every day.
"We're meeting closer to 10 to 15 grams in most cases," she said.
"It's that people are eating too many refined foods, too many white products."
The beauty of the amylose wheat is that health benefits remain the same when added to white or wholegrain foods.
"It was very interesting to see, it didn't matter whether the bread was made using a wholemeal flour or a refined or white flour," CSIRO researcher Damien Belobrajdic said.
Perhaps that's why it's the so-called super wheat that could help Australians meet daily fibre targets without having to change their actual diets.
Scientists say there is no limit to the foods it can be added to and they doubt people would be able to taste the difference.
"It was very hard to find a difference between the product made out of regular wheat as against high amylose wheat," Dr Regina said.
It could soon hit supermarket shelves in the US, but the product is likely to take longer to be developed down under as the CSIRO is still looking for a local licensee to come on board.
