Ask Well: Choosing the Right Grain for Your Morning (2024)

FAQs

When choosing foods with grains you should try to choose which type? ›

Choose whole grains instead of refined grains.

Whole grains offer a “complete package” of health benefits, unlike refined grains, which are stripped of valuable nutrients in the refining process. All whole grain kernels contain three parts: the bran, germ, and endosperm. Each section houses health-promoting nutrients.

Look for higher fibre whole grains. Foods labelled "whole grain" are not always high in fibre. Check the Nutrition Facts table on package labels to find the amount of fibre per serving and choose the higher fibre products. A food "source" of fibre has at least 2 grams of fibre per serving.

It's best to vary often and use them all. Barley is considered the grain with the most nutrients, oats have a lot of healthy fats, wheat and rye can be used to bake bread, rice has diuretic effects but is low in minerals. Ancient varieties such as spelt, emmer and kamut contain more nutrients than modern varieties.

Brown rice

Whole grain rice such as brown rice is less processed and refined than white rice. As a result, brown rice contains more nutrients such as fiber and minerals such as magnesium, iron, and zinc.

The good-for-weight-loss whole grains are those, like brown rice, whole oats, unhulled barley, and buckwheat groats, that have not gone through the grinding, or processing, of their kernels into flour. These whole grains contain only about 500 calories per pound.

Grain-free diets may limit nutrient intake, increase your risk of constipation, and be difficult to sustain in the long term. Unnecessarily demonizing grains for purported health reasons may also promote orthorexic eating behaviors.

When comparing total nutrients per 100 calories (nutrient density), the vegetables won, containing significantly more of a broad array of vitamins, minerals, fiber, antioxidants and other nutrients than did the fruit. Carrots were the winningest vegetable, while strawberries came out on top for fruit.

Is oatmeal a grain? ›

Oats, formally named Avena sativa, is a type of cereal grain from the Poaceae grass family of plants. The grain refers specifically to the edible seeds of oat grass, which is what ends up in our breakfast bowls.

The three most important food crops in the world are rice, wheat, and maize (corn). The three cereal grains directly contribute more than half of all calories consumed by human beings.

Grains to avoid are wheat (such as wheat berries, spelt, kamut, farro and bulgur), rye, barley and triticale.

Start your day with a hearty, satiating whole grain foods for breakfast that'll keep your motor running until lunchtime. Quinoa, farro, whole wheat, oats, amaranth, and more make their way into both sweet and savory breakfast dishes from pancakes to porridge.

At least half the grain foods you eat should be whole grains. Whole grains provide iron and many B vitamins, and they have fiber, too. Examples of whole grains include whole wheat, whole oats, whole bulgur (also known as cracked wheat), and whole cornmeal.

Any food made from wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, barley or another cereal grain is a grain product. Bread, pasta, oatmeal, breakfast cereals, tortillas, and grits are examples of grain products. Grains are divided into 2 subgroups, Whole Grains and Refined Grains.

Grains are the edible seeds of plants in the cereal family. There are many types of grains, but the most common ones are wheat, barley, oats, quinoa, rye, and rice. Grains are a good source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals and the largest source of food and nutrition in the world.

For foods with multiple whole-grain ingredients, they should appear near the beginning of the ingredients list. Choose foods that list "whole" or "whole grain" before the grain's name, such as whole rye flour, whole wheat flour, or whole buckwheat.