Simple Health Investment – The Whole Grain Story
We all want to eat healthy and we should. But this change needs to be easy so we can fit it into our busy lifestyle or we will not stick with it.
Health claims are picked up from scientific studies and packaged into appealing food products. The media picks up the headlines and sensationalizes the study. All of these daily and contradicting news items leave consumers confused and guessing at what truly is good for them and what will negatively impact their health.
As a dietitian, I get frustrated with all of the hype and feel that we, from the nutritional profession, need to start teaching consumers the right things – to enjoy food for both, its science-backed goodness and for its gastronomical appeal. In other words, we should practice Nutrition as an Art and a Science.
Today, I decided to write something about whole grains since grains, and products made from grains are so ubiquitous in everyone’s diet plans. By making a few subtle changes in the types of grains that we eat, we can all eat a lot healthier.
First and foremost, whole grains derive their names from having an intact seed grain. This means that it did not go through the route of milling and processing. It retains the outer bran or the fiber-providing layer and the germ which provides B vitamins, antioxidants, vitamin E, and some good unsaturated fats. Now this grain is a wholesome grain providing many nutrients. You want to eat such grains because tons of research has provided evidence that these whole grains help reduce the risk of some chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, cancer and more.
We all eat bread or bread products made from the grain family at practically every meal. For example, common breakfast choices are toast, cereal, a bagel, or a waffle. For lunch, we often eat sandwiches or wraps. We also add croutons to the soup or have crackers with the soup or grain products in our salad. For dinner, common sides are rice, noodles, pasta, or dinner rolls. Now, all that we need to do is to start using the whole grain variety for the same favorite bread or starch product at a given meal. It is that simple a change.
For example, you can start out by eating quick-cooking oatmeal or a whole-grain cereal for breakfast. Request a whole wheat or whole grain bread for sandwiches and a whole wheat tortilla for wraps. Use whole wheat pasta or brown rice for dinner. There you have it – a simple way of including 3 servings of whole-grain foods in your diet. So every time you have a grain product or a product made out of flour, request the whole grain variety.
But do remember that whether it is whole grain bread or regular enriched bread, they both practically give the same calories and the simple rule of balancing calories in with equal calories out prevails to prevent weight gain
Eating out is a big part of today’s lifestyle and fortunately, whole grains are now available as a choice at many restaurants. Brown rice is commonplace in Asian restaurants. Bulgar and barley are often found in the soup or salad section of the menu. Buckwheat pancakes are seen at breakfast places and Tabbouleh- a Middle Eastern salad is a favorite side dish with falafel in Middle Eastern restaurants. At a Japanese restaurant, ask for Soba noodles. Some of the above-mentioned grains, not so common in American diets so far, are being increasingly consumed as the benefits of whole grains become more known.
The easiest way of buying whole grains is to learn how to read nutritional labels on food packages. This is good for lots of reasons – you are not only learning how to get the right whole grain product, you are also reading the ingredient label to avoid unnecessary items that you would want to avoid.
I will have to teach you to read nutrition labels another time, but in order to buy the right kind of whole grains, look for the word whole in front of any flour or grain. Preferably, those words will be in front of the first three ingredients on the list, and if so, you have a great whole-grain product in your hand.
This is simple, right? But what if you say that you are pressed for time and you do not read labels and quickly go in and out of the food store? Like any other change, this process is going to take some time initially, but it is going to help you big time in the long-term health. Go to the food store once with some time on your hands. Read some labels of your favorite food items and find the same items in whole grain variety by reading the labels and making a note of them. That’s it. Then every time you go, you know what you have to buy and it will not take you any longer than before to do food shopping. Consider this as an essential research step for your health investment.
Consumers are supposed to take full responsibility for what they buy and eat. So let’s all start out by learning how to read labels and how to buy good food. Business is a simple game of demand and supply. If we, the consumers demand healthy food, food manufacturers will put it out there.
Did I come out sounding very idealistic? Not really. Look at the fate of man-made trans fats in the food industry. Once the nutrition educators, consumers, and lawmakers got together, they made the unnecessary trans fats disappear from the food industry, didn’t they?
For a journey towards a healthful lifestyle, this is a baby step. Just DO IT!
Kanan Thakore, RDN, CDCES
