Step 4: Whole Grains
Oh the diet gurus get really upset when I start touting grains. They've spent years convincing people how bad they are, but that just doesn't hold up in the clinical data.
First, let's clarify:
I agree with Atkins, Dukan, Sears, and all the other gurus that American's eat WAY too many refined grains. They drive blood sugar up, make you crave more, wear out the pancrease, and raise the risk of type 2 diabetes, and some cancers. However, these are the refined grains- the man made grains if you will- that are causing this, not the whole grains.
Time for a definition then.
Whole grain = a product derived using the entire grain as God grew it: The bran, the germ, and the endosperm.
Refined grain = a product derived only using the endopserm.
If you dissect a grain, you'll find it has the three parts named above, all designed to work together to fuel the human body and prevent disease. The endosperm is the starchy center and contains virtually all of the calories, the bran and the germ make up the rest which contain all the vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, fiber, protein, etc.
When the railroads were finally developed to the point that food distribution allowed food to be consumed miles and years from it's source of origin, people found out that flour was turning rancid due to the small amount of fat contained in the germ/bran. The solution was to remove those parts and "white flour" was born. 150 years later we now know that eating only the endosperm causes disease and weight gain.
By eating products that use the whole grain (cereals, pasta, brown & wild rice, corn, etc) we are eating grains they way they were intended.
The problem is, Americans have become so accustomed to eating refined grains, they don't like the taste of whole grain, at least initially. Good news is that whole grains are catching on and are much more available than 10 years ago, but don't expect to be able to eat fast food/junk food and get whole grains.
Some stats on whole grains:
1) A Finnish study on 21,903 men (huge sample size) found that the men who ate the most fiber rich foods (whole grains are fiber rich; refined grains are fiber deficient) suffered 1/3 fewer heart attacks than men with the lowest fiber intakes.
2) A US study on 43,757 men found that those who ate more than 29 grams fiber per day had a 41% lower risk of developing heart disease than those who consumed the average American intake of 12 grams fiber per day.
3) In the HUGE Nurses Health Study (238,000 participants- see
http://www.channing.harvard.edu/nhs/ ) researches found that the women who had the highest fiber intakes had a 23% lower risk of dying from heart disease.
I could go on with this, but suffice to say that the best evidence show that whole grains are great for the human body. We just have to get them in place of the refined grains so common to the American diet.
While F & V are also high in fiber, it's hard to get enough in to meet the fiber guidelines for Men and Women (38+ for men, 25+ for women) and whole grains taste great and bring a lot of variety to the diet.
The only down side to whole grains are the caloires, which average about 100 per ounce. We only need about 6-9 servings per day- with a serving being 1 ounce (6 for lower weight individuals and 9 for heavier)
Examples of servings:
-avg slice of bread
-1/2 of small bagel (average bagel is like 3 servings!)
-1/2 of bun (so a whole grain hamburger bun is 2 servings)
-1 ounce of dry cereal (about 1/2 cup)
- 1/2 cup rice or pasta.
If you measure your food, you'll see you are probably eating 2-4 servings at every meal, so it's easy to get the minimum.
If you're trying to lose weight, stay closer to the 6 ounces per day as the calories add up fast.
This is why the fad diets virtually eliminate grains- they know if they can get you to drop the biggest portion of calories most Americans eat, you'll lose weight and buy the books/products associated with the diet. Problem is, you get bored and start eating grains (likely refined grains as that is what's mostly available).
So in summary,
get rid of the junk in your diet as it's likely refined grains and fat and is killing everyone who eats it more than once in a while.
Go for the whole grains, you'll have to learn to identify them and change cooking/baking methods a little (it's very easy to overcook whole wheat pasta and biscuits aren't as "fluffy" but taste better) and enjoy having the variety in your diet that humans have enjoyed for thousands of years. If you doubt that, read the book of Genesis in the Bible and you'll see at least how long we've been eating whole grains.
Till next time