What Are Whole Grains?
Continuing our conversation about carbohydrates, I thought it made sense to next dive into one of the most common sources of carbs in our diets: grains. Grains are a mealtime staple. Bread. Crackers. Rice. Pasta. The list goes on and on. However, not all grains are created equal—or at least they are not equal by the time they get to the grocery store and your plate. With whole grain, refined grain, and enriched grain options, how do you choose what’s best for you?
Current dietary recommendations suggest that you make half your grains whole.” (1) Whole grains have been linked to a long list of health benefits, but including enough whole grains in your diet can be a challenge – especially when the claims on packing can be so deceptive about what you are eating.
So let’s start with the basics—what are whole grains?
What makes a Grain a Whole Grain?
Whole grains are grains that have retained all three parts of their kernels: the bran, the germ, and the endosperm. (2) Each part has a role to play in providing nutrients your body needs.
The bran is the fiber-rich outer layer of the kernel that contains iron, copper, zinc, magnesium, B vitamins, and antioxidants. It also contains phytochemicals, which play a role in disease prevention.
The endosperm is the interior layer that contains protein, carbohydrates, minerals, and some B vitamins and minerals. It’s the largest part of the kernel.
The germ is the embryo at the center of the kernel, full of phytochemicals, antioxidants, B vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats.
Whole Grains | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
What Are the Benefits of Whole Grains?
A large body of research has confirmed the link between whole grains and positive health outcomes. (2–4) Eating a diet rich in whole grains can help you:
lower your cholesterol (5)
reduce the risk of heart disease (6,7)
support healthy digestion (2)
reduce inflammation (8)
maintain a healthy body weight (8)
lower the risk of diabetes and some types of cancer (9,10)
I’ll be honest- reading this list makes me want to include only whole grains in my diet! But I know, sometimes they aren’t as accessible or delicious. So let me try a little more convincing about their value by telling you why refining grains makes such a difference.
Whole Grains v. Refined Grains
When grains are refined, the bran and germ are stripped away, leaving only the endosperm. On the surface level, this process sounds beneficial: refined grains are easier to chew and have a long shelf life. However, processing the grains strips away nearly all of the fiber, 90% of the vitamin E, the phytochemicals, and over half of the B vitamins. (4) These are the things that do all the magic that produce the results listed above like reducing cholesterol and inflammation and improving digestion.
Manufacturers often enrich processed grains to replace the nutrients that were stripped away and even fortify the foods to add extra nutrients that don’t occur naturally in the food, such as folic acid and iron. While some of the missing nutrients have been replaced, they’re in different proportions than they appear naturally, and components such as phytochemicals are impossible to replace. (11)
Examples of Whole Grains
Common sources of whole grains are:
Oatmeal (steel cut, old-fashioned, one-minute)
Corn (corn on the cab, corn tortillas)
Brown Rice (or other whole grain rice like black or purple rice)
Wild Rice
Quinoa
Farro (a/k/a emmer – this is a type of wheat you may see on menus)
Whole grain bread, pasta, and tortillas
To ensure that a packaged food item is truly whole grain and not refined, you need to do one important thing. Read the label. Manufactures often advertise things like “100% wheat” and “7-grain” sound healthy, but they don’t actually mean whole wheat. For a food to be genuinely whole grain, choose items where whole wheat is the first ingredient listed on the ingredient label or the grains are completely unprocessed.
You can also look for packaging that includes a stamp from the Whole Grains Council, which confirms that the product has at least half a serving of whole grains. (12) Don’t be fooled by appearance either; brown bread may be brown thanks to coloring, rather than the presence of whole grains.
If you have a gluten allergy or celiac disease, some whole grains- including wheat, barley, and rye- should be avoided. Instead, you can opt for buckwheat, rice, and millet. Oats can be gluten-free, but they often come into contact with gluten during processing, so look for oats labeled as “pure, uncontaminated,” ‘certified gluten-free,” or “gluten free.”
How to Eat More Whole Grains
What does it look like to make half your grains whole? An eating pattern that includes enough whole grains doesn’t have to be bland and boring, I promise. The trick is to include flavor with each meal. No one wants to eat a plain slice of whole-grain bread for breakfast, but if you toast that bread and top it with avocado and some pumpkin seeds maybe a soft-boiled egg, you’ve got a mouthwatering start to your day.
Here are some ideas about how to get more whole grains throughout your day.
Breakfast
Begin your day with a bowl of oatmeal topped with some almonds and your favorite fruit.
Overnight oats can be prepped the day before so you have a healthy grab-and-go breakfast!
On a morning that you have time to cook, try a breakfast bowl full of quinoa, egg, and avocado.
Lunch
Add quinoa to your lunch salad for a whole-grain boost with your greens.
If you’re a sandwich lover, take a long look at your bread—is the first ingredient “whole wheat”? If not, consider swapping it out.
Keep in mind that though whole-wheat bread is better than white bread, it’s still a highly processed food, so consider an occasional whole-wheat pasta salad instead.
Dinner
I am a huge fan of whole grain bowls. They are full of all the nutrients your body needs. Just layer brown or wild rice, roasted veggies, and your favorite protein. Pro-tip, cooking brown rice in chicken bone broth adds depth of flavors and a lot of quality protein.
Grains do not have to be at the center of the meal. You can meet the recommendations by adding them on the side, like opting for grilled corn instead of fries next time you cookout burgers. Or wrapping your tacos or fajitas in corn tortillas.
You can find even more inspiration here, where the nonprofit Whole Grains Council has shared dozens of whole-grain recipes.
Want to Learn More?
Are you interested in learning other ways to make half your grains whole grains? Or just have some questions about how to make whole grains fit into your recipe rotations? Let’s chat about how I can support you in that!
References:
1. Make Half Your Grains Whole Grains | MyPlate.
2. Whole Grains | The Nutrition Source | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
3. Garutti M, Nevola G, Mazzeo R, et al. The Impact of Cereal Grain Composition on the Health and Disease Outcomes. Front Nutr. 2022;9:888974. doi:10.3389/fnut.2022.888974
4. Seal CJ, Courtin CM, Venema K, de Vries J. Health benefits of whole grain: effects on dietary carbohydrate quality, the gut microbiome, and consequences of processing. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety. 2021;20(3):2742-2768. doi:10.1111/1541-4337.12728
5. Marshall S, Petocz P, Duve E, et al. The Effect of Replacing Refined Grains with Whole Grains on Cardiovascular Risk Factors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials with GRADE Clinical Recommendation. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 2020;120(11):1859-1883.e31. doi:10.1016/j.jand.2020.06.021
6. Hu Y, Willett WC, Manson JAE, Rosner B, Hu FB, Sun Q. Intake of whole grain foods and risk of coronary heart disease in US men and women. BMC Med. 2022;20:192. doi:10.1186/s12916-022-02396-z
8. Roager HM, Vogt JK, Kristensen M, et al. Whole grain-rich diet reduces body weight and systemic low-grade inflammation without inducing major changes of the gut microbiome: a randomised cross-over trial. Gut. 2019;68(1):83-93. doi:10.1136/gutjnl-2017-314786
9. Khushalani JS, Cudhea FP, Ekwueme DU, et al. Estimated economic burden of cancer associated with suboptimal diet in the United States. Cancer Causes Control. 2022;33(1):73-80. doi:10.1007/s10552-021-01503-4
10. Gaesser GA. Whole Grains, Refined Grains, and Cancer Risk: A Systematic Review of Meta-Analyses of Observational Studies. Nutrients. 2020;12(12):3756. doi:10.3390/nu12123756
11. What’s a Whole Grain? A Refined Grain? | The Whole Grains Council.
12. The Whole Truth About Whole Grains. Cleveland Clinic. Published August 7, 2020.
