Health Benefits of Whole Grains and Whole Wheat

The first part of our Healthy Diet Unit will be about healthy (and unhealthy) grains.

Most of the grains and carbs that we eat mainly consist of white flour. According to source 3, the article states, "It is, literally, nutritionally deadly and slowly kills you. If you tried to live on white bread alone for 60 days, you would die of malnutrition." That is some pretty scary stuff. White flour doesn't have the most important and healthy parts of the wheat in it, and it has virtually no nutritional value. Since it is like that, there is a law that requires farmers and millers to "enrich" their flour. These vitamins that are added to the flour basically reaps the vitamins that were in the wheat and replaces it with synthetics.

Don't worry, there are healthy options for grains too. The healthiest types of grains are:

-100% Whole wheat
-Oatmeal
-Brown rice
-Whole-grain barley
-Whole rye
-Buckwheat
-Couscous
-Corn
-Quinoa

Whole wheat and whole grains seem like an easy thing to buy. Just buy bread with the words "whole wheat". Sometimes, "whole wheat" doesn't exactly mean you are getting the whole wheat. When looking at labels, always make sure that the ingredients say 100% whole wheat. If it doesn't say that, then it is not whole wheat. Multi-grain doesn't mean whole wheat either.

Most of the products that we buy only have 60% of the wheat. The other 40% is the bran and the germ, and those are the parts with the most nutrients. Some of the nutrients that are in the whole wheat is vitamin B1, B2, B3, E, folic acid, calcium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, iron, and fiber.

Studies show that a fiber-rich diet decreases the symptoms of diverticular disease, which includes: pain, nausea, flatulence, and constipation. Eating whole grains improves bowel health by promoting the growth of good bacteria. Also, the bran part of the wheat has shown to be an anti-cancer agent.

The benefits of eating whole grains is also very good. The risk of strokes goes down from 30-36%. There is also a lower risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. You will have better weight maintenance too.

So, next time you go to the grocery store and go to the bread isle, make sure you look for the 100% whole wheat. Maybe instead of white rice in your taco mix, try quinoa! A healthy snack to try is 100% multi-grain crackers!

There are many options out there, you just have to look harder then the average American shopper. And for people who are gluten free, Most of the items on the list above are in fact, gluten free.

Thank you for reading, and please comment if you have any questions. Also, please share this blog, and follow us! Take a look at the poll at the bottom of the screen, which will give you some insight about what we will be talking about in the future.

For more information, go to:

(1) http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthy-kitchen-11/reaping-benefits-whole-grains

(2) http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=66

(3) http://www.processedfreeamerica.org/resources.health-news/48-whats-so-bad-about-flour-and-sugar