Why should you care about whole grains?

A whole grain food goes through less processing and still retains the three parts of the grain seed. The three parts that are retained from the entire grain seed are the bran, endosperm, and germ.

Refined grains have only the endosperm, whereas the bran and germ (which contain most of the nutrients) have been removed. Some nutrients are added back in when a grain is enriched or fortified, but still will not contain all the nutrients that a whole grain does.

A whole grain provides fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Some of the nutrients in a whole grain are B-complex vitamins, vitamin E, protein, magnesium, and iron. When a grain is processed, it loses 25% of the protein and seventeen other nutrients.

Color or name is not an indication of a whole grain. Brown bread or wheat bread are not necessarily whole grains. You must read the ingredient list to determine if a food is 100% whole grain. The first ingredient should have the word "whole" in it.

It can get confusing because some foods have whole grains added to them, but are not 100% whole grain. These foods may have a little more fiber and a few more nutrients, but is not as good as 100% whole grain or 100% whole wheat. It can be a good choice for those who want more nutrients than an enriched grain, but aren't ready for a 100% whole grain.

Another confusing whole grain is white whole wheat. It is milder in flavor but similar nutritionally to the whole wheat we are used to. It's sort of an albino wheat. Even though it has the word "white" in it, it has not been processed like other non-whole grains (or what we sometimes called "white" grains). Many breads are made from white whole wheat, but make sure you read the food label and look for the first ingredient to have the word "whole" in it. If the first ingredient is enriched or refined flour, then it is not whole wheat.

You can also look for the Whole Grain stamp on some foods to tell how much of the food is whole grains. There is a 100% stamp and other stamps indicating 8 grams of whole grains per serving and up.

Some well-known and readily available whole grains include:

• whole grain/whole wheat bread
• whole wheat pasta
• whole wheat crackers (Wheat Thins are not necessarily a whole grain, you should read the food label)
• oats
• whole grain cereals
• whole grain, brown, or wild rice
• corn
  

Some lesser known whole grains that you could try include:

• barley
• bulgur
• quinoa
• buckwheat groats (kasha)
• millet
  

These may not be available at all grocery stores, you may have to purchase them from a specialty health store or large grocery store, like HyVee.

You should aim for half of your total grains to be whole grains. For most people, this would be about 3 to 5 servings of whole grains. Children need about 2 to 3 servings of whole grains. A serving of whole grains should contain about 16 grams of whole grains.

Try to add more whole grains to your healthy eating plan slowly. You can mix whole grains with refined grains if you aren't used to eating any whole grains. Or, try a new whole grain listed above.

To find out more information about whole grains or for some easy ways to get more whole grains, check out the Whole Grains Council website.