How often do you eat wholegain foods?
All types of grains are good sources of complex carbohydrates and nutrients, however wholegrains are the best source of fibre and other important nutrients, such as selenium, potassium and magnesium.
So, whenever possible choose wholegrains over refined grains.
Wholegrains are thought to be useful in reducing our risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and are helpful in lowering cholesterol levels.
They can also help in the maintenance of a healthy body weight, because the fibre causes energy to be released slowly into the blood stream, which helps us feel fuller for longer, and therefore we snack less.
Today’s challenge is to eat more wholegrains
Examples of wholegrains:
- Brown rice
- Buckwheat
- Bulgur (cracked wheat)
- Millet
- Muesli cereal
- Multi-grain bread
- Popcorn
- Quinoa
- Sorghum
- Spelt
- Whole cornmeal
- Whole grain barley
- Whole grain crackers
- Whole oats/oatmeal
- Whole rye
- Whole wheat flour
- Wild rice
So, today try to pick one of these grains, and then add it to your meal.
Here are 6 ways to add more wholegrains to your diet today:
#1 Choose breakfast cereals such as bran flakes, shredded wheat, or go for cooked barley or oatmeal.
#2 Have a tabbouleh salad for lunch.
#3 Go for wholegrain breads, tortillas, rolls etc.
#4 Vary your diet by choosing brown rice, wild rice, bulgur or barley, then add them to soups, stews, casseroles and salads.
#5 Add more fibre to your baking and desserts by using rolled oats, crushed bran cereal, and wholemeal flour.
#6 Search on the Internet for other wholegrain recipes and ideas.
Look for the word ‘whole’ on the labeling and ingredients list of foods, and try to choose those that state wholegrain as the first item listed.
Check out this post on how to choose healthy bread.
How will you add more wholegrains to your diet today?
To transform the lifestyles of a diet-obsessed world by teaching people how to eat healthy and make healthy eating a habit for life.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
My wife and I made a pizza the other day with a whole grain crust. I’m not entirely sure how she made it, but it was very good. It was almost as good as a regular crust!
It’s hard to look at whole grains as difficult when you can have pizza!
Trey – Swollen Thumb Entertainment’s last blog post..How To Start Modeling
of course, you then have to think about the additions…..like if you’ve having oats for breakfast – traditionally it was a heap of brown sugar and milk. The brown sugar coating the bowl of porridge isn’t going to be so great in the long run.
what is being put on the whole grain bread as well – OK if it’s fresh/hot I will more than likely just tear into without adding toppings but sometimes the ’spreads’ thickly spread take away the notion of the healthy breadbased grain!
baking with extra grains also good but what about the quantity of other ingredients….
I’m sure Melanie you are going to write about ‘guarding against’ other ingredients!
Wife and I are having brown rice w/ grilled chicken for dinner tonight. I love the stuff. Thanks for the other ideas on getting whole grains!
Blake’s last blog post..Lifestyle is King
Hey Trey,
Healthy eating’s not too bad when you can find a healthier version of your faviourite foods and they still taste good, is it?
Hi Cathy,
Good points there, you’re absolutely right, it is about getting the overall balance right. Similar to how some people think it’s okay to fill up on so called ‘diet’ products, but they are still calories at the end of the day, and it can put your dieting completely out of whack!
Hey Blake,
I must admit I don’t really enjoy the texture of brown rice, but I know it’s good for me – does your wife simply boil it? Normally I’ll have white rice, sometimes with chickpeas added for extra fibre.
add ‘lite’ to ‘diet’
you think because they are ’saying’ this then it must be OK to heap it on!
I do now drink ‘lite’ milk but I don’t much like ‘lite’ anything else as they don’t always taste that GOOD you feel like something of the goodNESS is missing so you ADD something, probably quite the wrong something.
I look at a regular product and think portion and sometimes even 1/2 portion….
to me it’s all about balance and modoration (sp)
Cathy, who just had delivered her first ‘me’ choice lounge suite and I love them both……the one I had I did buy but when monies were sooooooooo tight that even the Internet was beyond me and I paid $30 for a couch that was losing the stuffing even then!! & it wasn’t even retro – dated synthetic brown/white stripe
))
Hey, I asked my wife, and she used whole wheat flour instead of white flour for the dough. It added a little bit of “sweetness” to the crust. I really enjoyed it, and could get used to it!
Trey – Swollen Thumb Entertainment’s last blog post..Live and Let Live
Hey Mel,
Totally agree with you on point 3. Making the switch to wholegrain bread might be tough at first (especially if you have eaten white bread for as long as you can remember) but it is well worth making the change. Plus you may find your tastes adapt. I really enjoy eating wholegrain bread now.
Tom Parker – Free Fitness Tips’s last blog post..From Vitamin A to Vitamin E: 40+ Vitamin Rich Foods
Hey Cathy,
Totally…balance and moderation in everything!!
Trey,
Thanks for confirming!
Hi Tom,
Yeah, that’s it totally, our taste buds DO adapt. It’s the same with reducing your salt or sugar intake, at first everything seems really bland, but then we get used to it.
Well done for making the switch!
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