How To: find which whole-grain foods are best
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| Shopping for whole grains (Handout) |
Main Points:
- There are several different recommendations to identifying healthy whole grains
- Foods with a ratio of 10 grams carbohydrate:1 gram of fiber tend to have less sugar, sodium and trans fats
- Whole grains provide nutrients, keep us fuller for longer, and help fight against disease
What's the best way to
identify a healthful whole-grain food? There are several competing
recommendations.
The Dietary Guidelines for
Americans says to choose grain products that have the word "whole"
before any grain in the ingredient list. The USDA's MyPlate plan recommends
choosing grain products with a whole grain as the first item in the ingredient
list or listing whole grain as the first item and containing no added sugars.
The nonprofit Whole Grains Council promotes the Whole Grain Stamp, which a
company can place on its packaging if the product contains at least 8 grams of
whole grains per serving.
But there's a better way.
Use this rule when choosing whole-grain foods: For every 10 grams of
carbohydrate, there should be at least one gram of fiber. Why 10:1? That's
about the ratio of fiber to carbohydrate in a genuine whole grain: unprocessed
wheat. This recommendation comes from a new report from the Harvard School of
Public Health published online in the Journal Public Health Nutrition.
The Harvard researchers
evaluated 545 grain products from two major grocery store chains, Stop and
Shop, and Wal-Mart. They tallied up grams of whole grains in each product,
along with the amounts of carbohydrates, fiber, added sugar, trans fat and
sodium, plus the number of calories. Foods that met the 10:1 ratio tended to
have less sugar, sodium and trans fats than those that didn't.
The information needed is
easily found on food labels, which list both total carbohydrates and fiber.
Divide the grams of carbohydrates by 10. If the grams of fiber is at least as
large as the answer, the food meets the standard. (ie: 28 grams carbohydrate / 10 = 2.8 grams of fiber as your target number. If a label says 3 grams, that would meet the ratio.)
Why bother eating whole
grains? They deliver everything an intact grain has to offer: fiber, vitamins,
minerals, antioxidants and other phytochemicals. As long as they aren't
overprocessed, the body digests them more slowly, which can delay hunger. And
large, long-term studies have shown that consuming whole grains is one way to
help reduce the odds of developing heart disease, diabetes and other chronic
conditions. They also taste better than processed grains.
Intact grains — wheat
berries, oat berries, brown rice, quinoa and the like — are the best sources of
whole grains.
"They're a slam
dunk," says Rebecca Mozaffarian, lead author of the report. Ground whole
grains come next, as long as they still deliver a good dose of fiber and don't
also deliver added sugar, trans fats or sodium.
Read the full article, "Whole truth about which whole-grain foods are best" by Harvard Health
Best Teen Diets recommends healthy well balanced eating that includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, protein and low-fat or fat-free dairy. We offer nutrition information for teens, parents and educators that emphasizes the importance of healthy eating for teens. For more information visit www.bestteendiets.org
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