Eating grains - good or bad?

[Guest guest]

Taken from http://www.whfoods.org:

 

Q. I'm confused as to whether grains are good for your health as there seems to be a lot of conflicting perspectives. Can you please help clarify this issue for me?

A. The area of grain consumption is indeed confusing. In general, we believe that eating too many grains may not be beneficial to a person's health. That's not because there is anything inherently problematic about whole grains. Whole grains are natural foods. They are also natural foods with a long history of consumption, and in many cultures they form a staple part of the daily diet. When you look at the bran and germ portions of a whole grain, you also find a fairly impressive variety of nutrients.

At the same time, from a historical point of view, grains have required extensive cultivation in order to become a major dietary component. Diets like the " Paleolithic Diet " don't include many grains, because in paleolithic times, grains were not a dietary staple. Cultivated foods like grains were simply not a feature of man's earliest eating patterns. Those patterns pushed more in the direction of non-cultivated plant foods like nuts, seeds, roots, and berries, as well as wild game and fish. From this historical point of view, the idea of grains as the foundation for a diet is at least questionable.

In terms of their nutrient composition, it's clear that whole grains can provide many, but not all, necessary nutrients. Grains are fairly low in many important phytonutrients, including flavonoids and carotenoids. They are also fairly low in protein when compared to legumes, nuts, or seeds. As long as they are 100% whole grains, however, they can be good sources of several minerals, many B vitamins, the amino acid tryptophan, and other nutrients.

When it comes to grains, however, most people eat too many refined grains, which don't provide much in the way of nutritional value and are rich in the simpler carbohydrates that elevate blood sugar levels. Refined grain flours are usually defined in terms of " percent extraction. " Wheat flour is 60% extraction when only 60% of the original whole grain remains in the flour, and the other 40% has been removed. Most of the wheat flour products in the United States have been made from 60% extraction flour. Unfortunately, over half of the original nutrients in whole wheat are lost from 60% extraction flour, because extraction involves the removal of the germ and bran, and these locations are the primary sites for nutrient storage in the grain. There is absolutely no doubt in our mind that refined grain products cannot serve as the basis of a healthy diet.

Another concern when we speak about grains is over-emphasis on wheat. Adverse and allergic reaction to wheat lies near the top of most food allergy studies. It's not always clear that wheat itself is the problem. Sometimes the issue of whole wheat versus processed wheat seems equally important in understanding the allergic response. However, adverse reaction to wheat is a problem that may go undetected in many meal plans and can be a contributing factor to many different problems including joint pain, skin rash and skin irritation, mood disorders, and bowel problems.

What is our conclusion, given all of the above considerations? We believe that most individuals can benefit from the inclusion of some whole grains in their weekly meal plan. We doubt that a diet in which 50-60% of all calories come from whole grains can be optimal for most people, and we know that for some individuals, fairly limited consumption of whole grains may work best. We encourage consumption of a variety of grains and not simply (or even predominantly) wheat. Whole grains such as oats, barley, rye, quinoa, amaranth, corn, kamut, and spelt can provide a variety of nutrients (please note that some foods that we refer to as grains-such as quinoa and amaranth-are not technically grains from a botanical perspective but since they are prepared like true grains we referred to them as such). For example, oats and barley contain beta-glucans that can help to lower cholesterol. Other grains like amaranth contain ferulic acid that can act as an antioxidant. Plus, most whole grains are rich in fiber, which not only has its own special benefits but as part of the grain helps to blunt the blood elevating effect that the grains' carbohydrates would otherwise have. (Refined grains are lacking in fiber and therefore can cause blood sugar elevations).

We encourage you to experiment with differing amounts of whole grains in your weekly meal plan, de-emphasizing wheat if that is your only current grain, and avoiding processed, refined grain products as much as possible. You might also include an experiment where you reduce whole grains to a much more limited amount, while still keeping your meal plan nutritionally rich, and see how that type of balance works for you.