Tips for Reaping the Benefits of Whole Grains

Eating more whole grains is an easy way to add a layer of "health insurance" to your life. Whole grains are packed with nutrients including protein, fiber, B vitamins, antioxidants, and trace minerals (iron, zinc, copper, and magnesium). A diet rich in whole grains has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and some forms of cancer. Whole-grain diets also improve bowel health by helping to maintain regular bowel movements and promote growth of healthy bacteria in the colon.

Yet only 10% of Americans consume the recommended three servings a day.

Why? For one thing, it's not always easy to tell just which foods are whole grain. Scan the bread, cereal or snack aisle, and virtually every package touts its whole-grain goodness. But not all of them actually are whole grain. Terms like "multigrain," "100% wheat," "cracked wheat," "organic," "pumpernickel," "bran," and "stone ground" may sound healthy, but none actually indicates the product is whole grain.

Further, many Americans have the perception that whole grains just don't taste good, or that it's difficult to work them into their daily diets.

To help you start reaping the benefits of a diet rich in whole grains, WebMD got the skinny on how to tell which foods are made of whole grains, along with suggestions on how to fit the recommended servings into your healthy eating plan.

Know Your Whole Grains

A whole grain contains all edible parts of the grain, including the bran, germ, and endosperm. The whole grain may be used intact or recombined, as long as all components are present in natural proportions. To recognize whole grains, keep this list handy when you go to the grocery store and choose any of the following grains:

Whole-grain corn

Whole oats/oatmeal

Popcorn

Brown rice

Whole rye

Whole-grain barley

Wild rice

Buckwheat

Triticale

Bulgur (cracked wheat)

Millet

Quinoa

Sorghum

100% whole wheat flour

But what about when you're buying processed products, such as a loaf of bread? You probably know to avoid products made of "refined" wheat. But did you know that some manufacturers strip the outer layer of bran off the whole kernel of wheat, use the refined wheat flour, add in molasses to color it brown, and call it "100% wheat" bread? That's true -- but it is not a whole grain.

That's why it's important to check the ingredient list for the word "whole" preceding the grain (such as "whole wheat flour"). Ideally, the whole grain will be the first ingredient in the list, indicating that the product contains more whole grain than any other ingredient.

One simple way to find whole grains is to look for the FDA-approved health claim that reads, "In a low fat diet, whole grain foods may reduce the risk of heart disease and some forms of cancers." This is found on whole-grain products that contain at least 51% whole-grain flour (by weight) and are also low in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol.

Another easy way to find whole-grain products is to look for the Whole Grain Council's whole grain stamp, which shows how many grams of whole grains are in each serving. If all of the grain is whole grain, the stamp also displays a "100%" banner.

The amount of grains you need daily varies based on your age, sex, and physical activity level. Most adults need six servings of grains each day, and at least half are recommended to come from whole grains. You can determine how much you need by checking the U.S. government's My Pyramid Plan.

More Whole Grain Products

The good news is that whole grains are not necessarily brown, or multigrain, or only found in adult cereals. You can find them throughout the food supply, including many processed foods.

Since the 2005 U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommended that Americans eat more whole grains, there has been an explosion of whole-grain options. Even many restaurants now offer brown rice and other whole grains options.

For whole-grain nutrition without the "grainy" taste, there are newly reformulated products that use lighter whole wheats and new processing techniques to make them look and taste more like white flour.

These "white whole-grain" products are a great way to transition into eating more whole grains, particularly if your kids are turning their noses up at them.

Whole Grains and Fiber

Whole grains can be an excellent source of fiber. But not all whole grains are good sources of fiber. Whole wheat contains among the highest amount of fiber of the whole grains. Brown rice contains the least.

For most people, whole grains are their diet's best source of fiber.

Most whole-grain sources yield from 1-4 grams of fiber per serving, comparable to fruits and vegetables, and just the right amount when spread throughout the day.

Can't fiber supplements give you the same benefit? While you get plenty of fiber from these supplements, you'll miss out on all the other nutritional benefits of whole grains. However, if you know you're not getting at least 25 grams of fiber per day, fiber supplements are a great way to help you get there.

8 Easy Ways to Get More Whole Grains into Your Diet

Learning to enjoy whole grains is simply a matter of retraining your taste buds to become familiar with the fuller, nuttier flavor of the grain, experts say.

Whole grains taste and feel different to the mouth, and therefore it takes time to adjust to these new grains.

Here are eight easy ways to work more whole grains into your daily diet:

Choose whole-grain breads, cereals, English muffins, waffles, bagels, and crackers. Enjoy a sandwich at lunch with two slices of whole-grain bread, or a whole-grain pita or wrap, and you're two-thirds of the way toward meeting your goal.

Eat popcorn. What could be easier than eating air-popped popcorn as a snack? A study in the 2008 May issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that people who regularly ate popcorn averaged 2.5 servings of whole grains per day, while non-popcorn eaters got less than one serving.

Make your snacks whole grain. Snacks account for one-third of whole grain consumption - just make sure you choose the right ones. Check the label, because even though it is made with a whole grain, it could still be high in fat, calories, and sodium.

Start your day with a bowl of whole-grain cereal. Members of the National Weight Control Registry who have lost substantial amounts of weight -- and kept it off -- swear by the importance of eating a nutritious breakfast, such as cereal, each day. But keep in mind that even when a product is made from whole grain, it's not necessarily healthy. Read the label and select cereals based on the whole-grain content and amount of sugar it contains. The less sugar, the better.

Add whole grains to your baked goods. Magee likes to blend half whole-wheat flour with all-purpose flour to boost the whole-grain content of her baked goods. You can also use white wheat flour, available in your local grocery store. Another option is to replace one-third of the flour with whole-grain oats.

Choose brown rice and whole-wheat or blended pasta. Cook up a batch of brown rice and freeze or keep in the fridge 4-5 days and if time is an issue, there are great ready brown rice products. Try whole-grain pasta, or some of the blended pastas made with a mix of whole and refined grains. Don't be put off by the dark color of whole-grain pasta that becomes much lighter when it is cooked.

Experiment with different grains. Visit your local health food market and try your hand at some of the less-familiar whole grains available. Try risottos, pilafs, whole-grain salads, and other grain dishes made with barley, brown rice, millet, quinoa, or sorghum, Magee suggests. Add barley to canned soup, then boil to cook the barley. Add uncooked oats to meatloaf or stir oats into yogurt for crunch and added nutrition.

Start your kids off right. Starting off young kids with a diet of all whole grains. For older kids, try the white whole-wheat flour, and incorporate whole grains into foods that have other flavors: French toast; burgers on whole-grain buns; brown rice medley with veggies; in soups or dishes like shrimp Creole; whole-wheat pitas as crusts for make-your-own individual pizzas.