Amaranth, barley, buckwheat, bulgur, corn, einkorn (an ancient wheat), farro, freekeh, Kamut (it's trademarked), kaniwa, millet (which includes pearl millet, foxtail millet, proso millet, finger millet/ragi, and fonio), oats, quinoa, rice, rye, sorghum, spelt, teff, wheat, and wild rice.

That's the Whole Grains Council's list of cereal grains. While you may not have heard of them all, they make up a great menu of high-fiber, heart-loving choices.

Enjoying grains — such as steel-cut oats for breakfast, barley in your soup at lunch, and quinoa in a dinner stir-fry — is an effective way to reduce body-wide inflammation and cut your risk for cardiovascular disease. That's the conclusion of research published in JAMA Open Network.

Investigators looked at the heart health benefits of the fiber in cereal grains, vegetables, and fruit, and found that only cereal was consistently associated with reduced levels of inflammation — reducing CRP (C-reactive protein) by 14%, for example.

They also found that cereals are associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases. Increasing your intake of fiber by just 5 grams a day has great benefits.

But the anti-inflammatory powers of cereals aren't the only way grains protect your heart — eating more grains knocks less healthy foods off your plate and improves your gut biome too.

The Cleveland Clinic recommends three to six servings a day, and suggests you make sure to eat only 100% whole wheat pasta and 100% whole grain cereals (no sugar, syrup, or honey added).