Diets rich in whole grains promote good health and well being. In fact, Canada’s Food Guide recommends Canadians make at least half their grain products whole grain each day.

Whole grains are just that – the whole grain.  This means that all three parts of the grain are present: the bran, endosperm and germ.  The fibre-packed outer layer is the “bran”. The inside of the grain is the endosperm which contains mainly starch and some protein.  The germ is the nutrient-rich inner seed of the grain. The most nutritious parts of the grain (the bran and germ) are often removed in refining and milling leaving only the endosperm.  Some of the nutrients are added back in after processing, but these refined products, such as white breads and pastas, may still not be as nutritious as their whole grain counterparts.

Loaded with fibre, vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and anti-oxidants, whole grains can provide your body with many disease-fighting benefits.  For example, research shows eating whole grains can reduce LDL cholesterol (or “bad” cholesterol) and your risk for heart disease, certain cancers, and type 2 diabetes.  Whole grains are also low in fat naturally, which can help with reaching and keeping a healthy weight. 

Knowing what is actually “whole grain” can sometimes be harder than you think.  Often the grains we choose are not as whole as we are led to believe.  Here are some tips for getting the “whole truth”:

• Read the Ingredients List on the label: Look for the word “whole” before the grain name.  Words like “pumpernickel”, “organic”, “bran”, “multi-grain”, and “twelve-grain”, may actually contain little or no whole grain.  In fact, “enriched wheat flour” is just a fancy name for white flour.
• Choose breads that have at least two grams of fibre per slice, and cereals with at least three grams of fibre and less than eight grams of sugar per serving.
• Try using brown rice, quinoa, kasha, bulgur, or kamut instead of white rice or pasta.  You can usually find these in the health foods section of your grocery store.
• By substituting just half of the all purpose flour with whole grain flour when baking, you add a nutritional punch without affecting the taste.

Written by Heather Stiles, RD as published in the Windsor Star, August 2007.