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Use Your Brain, Go

for Whole Grains!

April 20, 2015 by Dinner Tonight

There is a lot of controversy in the media over whole grains. Some
wonder whether or not they will cause weight gain, and what the
health benefits are. Labels can even make it difficult to identify a
whole grain. Whole grains are an important part of a nutritious diet
and there are many benefits that whole grains can provide to your
health. Let’s go over the basics: whole grains vs. refined grains, how
much you need, and where you can find it.

Whole grains vs. Refined grains
Whole grains are grains which have not gone through the milling
process. Milling removes most of the nutrients in a grain including
fiber, B vitamins, Vitamin E and minerals (aka all the good stuff).

Refined grains have been stripped from the bran and germ. Products
of refined grains are white flour, white rice and many packaged
products. Refined grains are used often in processed foods due to
their longer shelf life.

How much do I need?
C o u r t e s y o f
According to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans at least half of h t t p s : / / b e a r y g o o d s t u f f . w o r d p r e s s . c o m /
your grains should be whole grains. Recommendations for the
average adult are 6 oz of grains per day. This is only a
recommendation, you can always set a goal of all of your servings to
be whole grain.

How to incorporate whole grains in a meal plan?
Try the whole grain options listed above in side dishes, salads or
incorporated into your entree. When looking at the nutrition label,
look for the words whole grain, whole wheat, whole [other grain], oats
ore wheat-berries. If the ingredients have the words enriched flour,
germinated, bran or wheat germ. You are NOT getting a whole grain
product.

Examples of whole grains
Amaranth
Barley
Bulgur
Corn C o u r t e s y o f 2 0 1 0 D i e t a r y G u i d e l i n e s
Farro
Freekeh
Oats
Quinoa
Brown and wild rice
Spelt
Wheat