Breads, cereals, rice, and pasta have one thing in common -- they are all made from grains. Any food made from wheat, rice, oats, corn, or another cereal is a grain product. These foods should form the foundation of the diet for several reasons.

First, grain-based foods are rich in complex carbohydrates, your body's best energy source. As the body's key fuel, carbohydrates provide your brain, heart, and nervous system with a constant supply of energy to keep you moving, breathing, and thinking. Grain products also supply B vitamins and iron (especially if they're enriched or include the whole grain), as well as other beneficial phytonutrients (substances in plants with health-protective effects). In addition, many grain-based foods supply fiber.

In this article, we will look at different grain items and how each fits into a healthy diet to make your body stronger. Eating healthier can be part of an alternative treatment against illnesses. Let's start by examining whole grains.

The Whole Story

An important strategy for choosing the best grain foods is to seek out products made from whole grains. A whole grain is the entire edible part of any grain, whether it's wheat, oats, corn, rice, or a more exotic grain. The three layers of a grain kernel each supply important nutrients:
  • The outer protective coating, or bran, is packed with fiber, B vitamins, protein, and trace minerals.

  • The endosperm supplies mostly carbohydrate and protein and some B vitamins.

  • The germ is rich in B vitamins, vitamin E, trace minerals, antioxidants, and phytonutrients.
When whole grains are milled (refined), the bran and the germ portions are removed, leaving only the endosperm. Unfortunately, more than half the fiber and almost three-quarters of the vitamins and minerals are in the bran and germ. When you eat foods made from whole grains, you get the nutritional benefits of the entire grain. Enriched grain products add back some of the B vitamins -- thiamin, folic acid, riboflavin, and niacin -- and iron lost when the grain was milled. But lots of other nutrients and fiber don't get added back.

Whole-Grain Goodness

The individual nutrients in whole-grain foods -- fiber, antioxidants, phytonutrients, and vitamins and minerals -- each offer important health benefits of their own. When they work together in the "whole" food, however, they interact in powerful ways that help protect your health. For example, a diet rich in whole-grain foods is associated with lower risk for several chronic diseases and conditions including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and gastrointestinal troubles. It can also play a role in the treatment of many of these diseases.

A wide array of whole-grain foods is available in today's supermarkets. Examples of foods that can be found in whole-grain versions include breads, ready-to-eat and hot cereals, brown rice, pasta, crackers, tortillas, pancakes, waffles, and muffins. You just need to know what to look for.

Your Daily Grains
The latest MyPyramid guidelines recommend eating three or more ounces of whole-grain foods each day. At least half of your grain choices should come from whole grains. To find the total amount of grains you should be eating, visit www.mypyramid.gov.

A one-ounce serving of a grain food is equivalent to any of these:
  • 1 slice bread
  • 1 ounce (about 1 cup) ready-to-eat cereal
  • 1/2 bagel, English muffin, or bun
  • 1/2 cup cooked cereal, rice, or pasta
  • 1 four-inch-diameter pancake or waffle
  • 1 seven-inch-diameter tortilla
  • 5 to 6 whole-grain crackers
  • 3 cups of popcorn
Be sure to figure how many "ounce-equivalents" are in the portions you eat. You'll probably be surprised at how quickly grains add up.

Now that we have identified your daily grains, it is time to learn, in greater detail, the grain choices you should be making. In the next section, we will look at which breakfast cereals and breads to select for your diet to give you the best disease-fighting potential.


This information is solely for informational purposes. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. Neither the Editors of Consumer Guide (R), Publications International, Ltd., the author nor publisher take responsibility for any possible consequences from any treatment, procedure, exercise, dietary modification, action or application of medication which results from reading or following the information contained in this information. The publication of this information does not constitute the practice of medicine, and this information does not replace the advice of your physician or other health care provider. Before undertaking any course of treatment, the reader must seek the advice of their physician or other health care provider.