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Get the grain, the whole grain and nothing
but the whole grain.
Why do you care?
- Grains are the most commonly consumed food worldwide and
are rich in energy-generating starch and complex carbohydrates,
fibre and essential vitamins and minerals.
- Whole grains are grains in their natural state and
have all three components intact: bran (fibre), germ
(concentrated with nutrients) and hull (starch).
- The germ of a grain contains 90% of nutritional content
(the vitamins, minerals and protein) and healthy phytochemicals
and oils.
- Refined grains are whole grains that have been stripped
of the bran and germ and left with only the starchy hull.
- Under current Canadian regulations a product labeled "whole
wheat" can have as much as 70% of the germ removed. Isn’t
the germ the nutrient-rich part of grain?
- Consumers may have problems finding healthier whole grains
amongst all the refined grain foods and to decipher what exactly
contains whole grains.
The Know How
- Eat plenty of whole grains each day – at least half
of the recommended 3 to 7 grain servings each day.
- Be label savvy to get the Whole truth:
- Look for: "Whole grain, Whole wheat" on the
label.
- Look for a whole grain to be listed as the first ingredient.
The higher up on the ingredient list, the more the product
contains.
- Choose breads and crackers with at least 3g of fibre
per serving.
- Misleading - the healthiest sounding cereals and
breads may not be as nutritious as you think.
- Wheat flour, cracked wheat and multigrain do not mean
whole grain.
- Whole wheat flour is not necessarily whole grain.
- Enriched wheat flour - flour adds nutrients that have
been destroyed in the refining process, such as thiamin,
riboflavin, niacin and may include Vitamin D, iron and
calcium.
- Try new whole grains like brown rice, amaranth, oats, barley
and quinoa.
Know and Tell
- Patti just read the labels on the bread in her bread bowl.
The spelt bread is made with “whole grain spelt flour"
(thumbs up), the buns the kids typically have for lunches
are "whole wheat" not whole grain whole wheat (thumbs
down) and the raisin bread is "enriched wheat flour"
(outta there!).
- Tamey she is happy to report that her bread is whole grain
and the kids like it!
- Reality check – on our summer holiday, the local corner
store near the cottage we stayed at only sold white loaves
of bread – the kids had never had this and thought they
died and gone to heaven – peanut butter and jam sandwiches
on fresh white loafed bread … what a treat!
Written by Stephanie O'Manique who has recently published
a 2008
Nicely Nourished recipe calendar answer the notorious question
"What's for dinner?" every day of the year.
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